Chapter 8
Leave and report to the Gang: 62%
“If we stick around too much longer, we ain’t ever goin’ back to camp,” Kestrel said, scooting away from the edge. “We know where their camp is, we know they got a lotta ponies, and they got a lotta gold. Let’s just get this news back to Tumbleweed and let him figure out what we gonna do with it.”
Silver Wings seemed at once both disappointed and relieved. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Still, that’s a lotta gold to just be leaving there…”
“I don’t think this lot is gonna move it anytime soon,” Kestrel assured her. “Maybe we’ll have a chance to go and get it later. Now c’mon, let’s get moving.”
That was when she heard the click of a revolver’s hammer being pulled back.
Did Silver and Kestrel miss something important when approaching the gulch? Yes
The two mares froze in place at the telltale sound, wings slightly extended. Hooves shifted over the ground, along with shaky breathing. “Turn… turn around!” a mare’s voice ordered. “I’ll shoot ya, I swear to Celestia I will!”
Kestrel took care not to make any sudden movements and slowly looked over her shoulder. A scrawny earth pony mare stood behind her and Silvie, her coat as richly brown and red as the mesas and buttes around them. No wonder they hadn’t noticed her on the way in; if she stood still, she was nearly impossible to distinguish from the landscape.
But she wasn’t standing still now. She’d widened her stance into something resembling a gunslinger’s stance if one only knew what a gunslinger was from the moving pictures. She was also quite young, maybe twenty-five at best—younger even than Silvie. But the red-brown of her face was broken up with white scars like she’d been in a fight with a pack of wild dogs or even a cougar and had somehow lived to tell the tale. Underneath all of that, however, she was nervous, and the shaky grip on her revolver didn’t exactly make her intimidating.
“Alright, alright,” Kestrel said, turning around to face her. She held her wings up and away from her sides an attempt to calm the mare—if she got startled, she was likely to shoot, and even if the bullet didn’t kill her, Kestrel knew that the noise would attract the attention of the camp below, and they would certainly kill her and Silvie. “We, uh, ain’t gonna cause any trouble. Let’s not do something we’re gonna regret now, okay?”
“Who are you?” the earth pony asked. “What are you doing here? This is Viper Gang territory!”
If she found out that we were responsible for shooting up her gang over the wagon, this ain’t gonna end well, Kestrel thought to herself. She glanced at Silvie for an idea, but the young mare only chewed on her lip and eyed the revolver nervously. She likely had come to the same conclusions that Kestrel had. “We’re uh… treasure hunters,” Kestrel said. “Saw this gulch through here, wondered what was at the end. The buffalo, you see, they used to hide gold all over places like this.”
Is Kestrel’s lie convincing? Yes
The earth pony took a step back, but she didn’t lower her gun. “I… I guess that makes sense,” she said, carefully speaking around the bit grip in her mouth. “But Rattlesnake’s still gonna wanna see you two. Ain’t nopony pass through his territory without him knowing about it.”
“That sounds like a lot more hassle than it’s worth,” Kestrel said, slowly walking to the left. The earth pony turned to watch her, and Kestrel had to keep her smirk hidden as Silver began to creep around in the opposite direction. This young mare wasn’t nearly as experienced as her two captives; the smarter thing would have been to back up and keep both mares in her sight. But if Silvie was going to get behind their captor, then Kestrel needed to keep her attention. “Think you can just let us go and let us be on our way?”
Kestrel attempts to keep the mare’s attention: Fail
The earth pony suddenly spun around, her revolver settling on Silver, who had just started to approach her from behind. “No! Stay back!” she shouted, forcing Silver to retreat a few steps. “I don’t like this at all! You’re comin’ with me, and then we’re gonna see the boss, and he’s gonna decide what to do with you!”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Kestrel said.
Kestrel attempts to draw her weapon while the mare is distracted: Success
The earth pony turned back to Kestrel, only to stare down blackened steel. Her pupils shrank and her ears fell flat on her head as Kestrel let the barrel kiss her nose. “You smell that?” she asked her. “You know what that smell is? That’s gunpowder. Unlike you, I already been shootin’ today. And I bet you a million bits that I know how to use a gun much better than you, filly. You so much as think about shootin’ that thing, I’m gonna give you a third nostril. You understand me?”
Kestrel attempts to intimidate the other pony: Fail
Despite how much her jaw trembled, the earth pony refused to back down. Kestrel didn’t know if she was brave, or just stupid… or maybe stupidly brave. “If you shoot that, then everypony in the gulch is gonna know you’re here,” she said, her voice wavering.
Kestrel saw Silver approach from behind, knife in her teeth, and the earth pony gasped when she felt the blade under her jaw. “I don’t need a gun to kill ya,” Kestrel said, smirking. “My friend here can do that in the blink of an eye. Now. Drop the gun.”
Kestrel and Silver combine to intimidate the other pony: Success
Jaw trembling, the young earth pony finally opened her mouth and let the revolver clatter to the ground. Kestrel reached forward with her hoof and swept it out of reach, then holstered her own weapon. “Keep that knife on her, Silvie,” she said as she stepped back. The silver pegasus nodded, the motion making the earth pony gasp as the blade danced along her throat.
“Please…” the other mare murmured, eyes squeezed shut. “I don’t… d-don’t wanna…”
“Oh, I know,” Kestrel said, slowly pacing to the earth pony’s other side. “I know exactly what that’s like. Believe me, I’ve had more weapons pulled on me than you got years to your name. What exactly is your name now, friend? I feel it’s only proper to get to know your name.”
“S-S-Sienna,” the earth pony stammered. “Sienna, ma’am.”
“Sienna, beautiful name.” Kestrel smiled and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a match struck off of her horseshoe. After taking a drag on it, she blew the smoke into Sienna’s face, making the mare whimper and shrink back. “Sienna, Sienna, Sienna. What’re we gonna do with you, Sienna?”
1. Kill her and be done with it. Can’t risk having her make any noise and alerting the camp below. All Silvie’s gotta do is pull that knife back and it’s done.
2. Let her go. We scared the piss outta her, she ain’t gonna put up a fight. Let her run back with her tail between her legs, we’ll be long gone by the time she can tell anypony.
3. Tie her up and take her back to camp. Seein’ the camp is one thing, but talkin’ with one a’ these ‘Viper Gang’ ponies might give us something more interestin’. We got rope, we can tie her down and haul her back with us, let Roughshod work her over some and see what she squeals.
(Confidence Required: 30 Votes)
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Wrong place at the wrong time, Sienna.
I'm conflicted on this one. Killing a Viper Gang pony at their camp feels like it's likely to escalate the situation way past what killing some gang members on a job would have done. On the other hand, letting her go quite possibly means Kestrel and Silver end up known by description by this huge existing gang, which also could cause future problems. Plus, it could make getting away right now more difficult. And on the third hand, taking her with also sounds like a good way to get caught, and while kidnapping a Viper at the same time.
3 I suppose, even though I know it's probably a bad idea.
Hmm...knowledge is power. We're obviously in no shape to fly her back, so it'd up to Silvie, and we don't have a good idea of her strength... But eh, fug it, fly her back. Make sure to tell Silvie (and victim at the same time) to feel free to drop her if she struggles at all or gets too heavy.
Also make sure to blindfold her so she doesn't see anybody else in the gang, nor where our camp is (just in case).
(edit: ...or I guess per Discord maybe we are still better-suited than Silvie to carry a hoss back? Either way, make sure to work the "behave or y'all gon git dropped" thing into conversation.)
I say we haul her home and see what she knows.
[X] Tie her up and take her back to camp.
It's not the most tactically sound option here, in my opinion, but she's cute sooo..
Bring her back and interrogate her
...Hooooboy...This is a rather challenging choice.
One that is made even more difficult because you made the antagonist a cute.
Curse you once more, 24.
Well, letting her go is a bad idea. Sure, the Viper Gang already seems to be aware of Tumbleweed's gang being in the area, but now Sienna's seen two members and has ways to identify them, so that would just be trouble in the future if they let her blab. Killing her is an option. But thinking about it, in the position they have her now, she can still make enough noise to being the proverbial house down on Kestrel and Silver. Also, she's just too heckin' cute to kill.
Guess that leave option three, but she'll be extra weight on an already slightly exhausted Kestrel and Silver. She might still make a loud fuss when they tire her up. They'll probably have to blindfold her, too so she can't spill the location of the camp.
Poor little thing looks like she might have been abused or had rough encounters. Maybe it's remotely possibly to recruit her...