Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus

Chapter 87

Leave the conference preparations to Starlight and her ponies: 13 Votes

The choice, to Kestrel, was obvious. “Well, if you’re offerin’,” she said, shrugging at the revolutionary. “Usually I’d see we’d take care of things ourselves, but with the Pinks in town and the law on high alert for us, it ain’t the best of ideas for us to get involved. So long as your gang’s competent enough to pull it off.”

“We’ll be fine,” Starlight assured her. “Under my leadership, things will go off without a hitch.”

Tumbleweed chuckled at that. “And you was insultin’ our magician for makin’ terrible illusions and you yourself can’t do much better,” he said with a shake of his head. “I hope you don’t take it too personally when I say my faith in your words has diminished some as of late.”

Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be an expert in something to say that it’s poorly done,” she said. “Otherwise nopony in this world could criticize another without having the same qualifications, and I feel we can all agree that doesn’t make sense. Just because illusions aren’t my forte doesn’t mean that I can’t point out poorly-cast ones when I notice them. You don’t have to be a fat and wealthy capitalist to critique the rigged and exploitative system that we live under today.”

“Alright, alright, forget I said nothin’,” Tumbleweed said, waving his hoof. “At any rate, it sounds like we have our plan. You and your ponies will go get the uniforms tomorrow night after the conference winds down for the evening, and then we’ll go from there. I’d recommend coming straight back here when you’re done with the job so we can organize ourselves one last time and set out as a group on Friday morning. Might be some things change between now and the end of Thursday.”

“Double-checking our plans is always the best way forward,” Starlight agreed. “I’ll keep an eye out for any changes when getting the uniforms and inform you all when I return. That way we can make any last minute adjustments.” With that, she stood up from her stool and stretched her back, rolling her shoulders along with the motion. “Do we have any last things we need to discuss, or should I be on my way to inform my allies about our plan?”

Kestrel thought for a few moments, but ultimately came up with nothing. “Nothin’ pressin’, at least,” she said. “There’ll be a few details to figure out when we’re closer to doin’ this thing, I’m sure, but ain’t nothin’ right now. We got a solid foundation to work with, for what it’s worth.”

“It’ll be worth a whole lot, Kessie,” Tumbleweed assured her. “Certainly beats chargin’ headfirst into a den full of Pinks and gettin’ ourselves shot full of holes.”

“That’s exactly what we’re doin’, just with a few more steps.” Kestrel then turned to Starlight and touched a wingtip to the brim of her hat. “Well, thanks for comin’ along and helpin’ us get this whole thing sorted out. And thanks for aidin’ us in the job. With the Pinks in town, we weren’t ever gonna be able to do this by our lonesomes.”

“I could say much the same thing,” Starlight told her. “The Revolution needs allies if it is to succeed. Before your Gang came to town, I could hardly get ponies to listen to me. But now…” Kestrel didn’t miss the gleam in her eye as she smiled to herself. “Soon Hoofston will be the birthplace of equality. And it begins in two days.”

Kestrel and Tumbleweed shared a look, but neither bothered to say anything about Starlight’s proclamation. She was pulling her own weight to help out, after all, and losing her support by being too derisive toward her ideals wasn’t exactly the best way to pull off the job on Friday. Besides, not much harm would come just from letting her talk. “Well, best of luck to you and your revolution,” Kestrel said, likewise standing up to walk her out of the camp. “Hopefully this job gives us both what we want.”

The two mares plus Tumbleweed started moving along the path to the main road, and Starlight casually regarded Kestrel as they did so. “I’m sure it will, though I’m surprised your group hasn’t found a higher calling. Wouldn’t you want your lives to mean something? There’s always a home for you in the Revolution.”

“Right now, the only thing on our minds is gettin’ outta this whole mess with our heads on straight,” Tumbleweed said. “Survival’s our only goal. We ain’t exactly got the luxury to get political, you see.”

“Things can change quicker than you think.” The three ponies made it to the edge of the trees, and Starlight turned to face them before departing. “If we can bring about true equality to Equestria, that means a clean slate for everypony. Especially those that help with the cause. Think about that.”

The pink unicorn winked at them and then turned around, setting off for the main road while humming some tune that Kestrel couldn’t place. Tumbleweed and Kestrel watched her go, and only when she was out of earshot did Tumbleweed laugh and turn away. “That mare’s got delusions bigger than our wildest dreams,” he said as he trotted back into the camp. “I don’t know what she thinks this all is gonna accomplish, but I don’t think it’s gonna create her perfect equality state she so desperately believes it will. But if she thinks helpin’ us is gonna make it a reality, then I ain’t gonna say nothin’ ‘bout it.”

Kestrel nodded quietly to herself as he walked away. She didn’t think Starlight’s plan for revolution in Equestria would be all that successful… but who knew, really? Perhaps only time would tell. For now, though, she was more interested in getting the money the Gang needed to flee Equestria and hopefully evade the Law for good. Friday would be a very important day to determine if they’d live or if they’d die.

In the meanwhile, Kestrel looked around the camp, noting that most of the Gang members were keeping to themselves for the afternoon, taking care of whatever they felt needed taking care of. They’d come together later tonight as a group, but if she wanted to talk to somepony one on one, now would be the best chance to do so.

1. Tumbleweed

2. Roughshod

3. Silver

4. Snapshot

5. Wanderer

6. Miss Irons

7. Trixie

8. Nopony

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

[Quick Fix]

Well, that meeting went smoother than anticipated overall. I'm just dying to see how Lady Luck screws us over for it.

On point, I say we talk to Silver. We still need to clear the air with her over that chat and honestly, I feel like any other discussion we have with her will help improve the mood best.

[Jaro45]

Option three ( 3 ). Try to patch things up with Silver.

[SolarisLunaris]

3

[Gearsmash King]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we need to talk to Silver. I'm not sure if she's forgiven us for that stunt we pulled, but it's best she heard our apology anyway. If things do go wrong and death comes for us, it'll be a little better to know that we tried to heal a relationship.

[djthomp]

Tumbleweed chuckled at that. “And you was insultin’ our magician for makin’ terrible illusions and you yourself can’t do much better,” he said with a shake of his head. “I hope you don’t take it too personally when I say my faith in your words has diminished some as of late.”

Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be an expert in something to say that it’s poorly done,” she said. “Otherwise nopony in this world could criticize another without having the same qualifications, and I feel we can all agree that doesn’t make sense. Just because illusions aren’t my forte doesn’t mean that I can’t point out poorly-cast ones when I notice them. You don’t have to be a fat and wealthy capitalist to critique the rigged and exploitative system that we live under today.”

Lol, sure, sure.

Is it finally time to talk to Silver? Let's try.

[Hahapie]

I vote Trixie. How anyone can be voting for anything other than that boggles my mind. She’s very obviously having second thoughts about all this and we need to ensure we don’t gun down another member of the gang for desertion because that’ll ruin our morale, especially now that people have warmed up to her.

[M4Tiger4014]

Silver?

[Sane Marbles]

Option 3, she needs to talk to Silver.

[N4rwh41]

1. The boss. We haven't really had the chance to talk with him yet

[Merula]

Lets try and talk to Silver. Option 3