Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus

Chapter 9

Capture Her: 58%

Sienna trembled under Kestrel’s stare, her eyes squeezed shut and her lips wordlessly moving in a silent, pleading prayer. She was young and scared, and she definitely seemed far out of line with the hooded ponies that had attacked the wagon earlier. Kestrel had killed a lot of ponies in her life, but she never liked killing in cold blood. Especially not on a mare who was barely an adult.

Instead, she dug through her bags and pulled out a length of rope. “On your side,” she ordered Sienna, and when the trembling mare didn’t move, Kestrel stomped over and roughly pushed her to the ground. “I said, on your side!”

Sienna cried out in fear, and Kestrel immediately struck her nose. The mare whimpered, hooves rushing to her muzzle as her nose began to bleed, and a terrified eye looked up from the ground at Kestrel leaning over her. “Killin’ you ain’t gonna be worth it,” she said, offering the young mare an intimidating, predatory smile. “And we can’t just let you go. Even if we tie you up here, you’re a dirt pony. I wouldn’t trust these ropes to hold you for very long, and then you’d run off and let your gang know all about us. So what you’re gonna do is, you’re gonna lie there and be nice and quiet while my friend and I tie you up, and then you’re gonna keep your trap shut while we fly you back to our camp.”

She grabbed her knife out of its sheath and let the sun glint off of its razor sharp blade in front of Sienna’s face. “I want you to understand that the only reason we’re keepin’ you alive is that we don’t want you to scream. But if you feel like makin’ a noise, just the slightest bit of noise, then me and my friend here, well, we ain’t got any reason to keep you alive no more.” She leaned in and raised an eyebrow at Sienna. “You understand?”

Have Kestrel’s threats secured Sienna’s cooperation? No

Despite all that, the earth pony tried to writhe away, nearly throwing Silver off of herself. “No!” she shouted. “No! Please! You can’t!”

Kestrel bared her teeth and stomped over to Sienna, kicking her in the ribs. The young mare coughed and clutched at her chest, and soon the point of her knife was under the earth pony’s jaw. “That weren’t wise,” Kestrel growled at her, and then she glanced at Silver. “Silvie, make sure nopony’s comin’. If anypony heard that, we gotta deal with this mare and get goin’!”

“Got it,” Silvie said, quickly scurrying to the rocky edge overlooking the gulch. Kestrel turned her attention back to Sienna, who had begun to cry as she felt the knife digging into her throat. “All you had to do was keep your damn mouth shut,” Kestrel hissed at her.

Did Sienna’s shouting attract any attention? No

Eventually, Silvie came trotting back. “Looks all clear,” she said, eyes narrowing on Sienna. “You’re lucky.”

“Good,” Kestrel said. She took a length of rope out, cut it, and tossed it to Silvie. “Help me bind up her legs. I’ll carry her back to camp, you scout ahead and make sure we have a clear way outta here. Don’t wanna get caught by anymore sentries, ain’t that right, Sienna?”

Sienna could only close her eyes and whimper as the two pegasi tied her up.

Soon, Kestrel grunted and moved toward the rocky edge, Sienna securely tied and draped over her back, and Kestrel’s bandana covering her eyes. She’d given her weapons to Silvie to remove a little weight, and she was just thankful that Sienna was as scrawny as she was. Earth ponies were dense and muscular, but given how small and thin Sienna was, she barely weighed more than Kestrel herself. The young mare froze in terror as she heard Silver take wing and began to scout ahead, and she blindly whipped her head back and forth. “Y-You’re n-n-not gonna…!”

“Oh, we are,” Kestrel said with a smirk. “I know heights and all ain’t an earth pony’s best friend, so why don’t you stop squirmin’ and stay quiet so I can focus on not droppin’ you, eh?”

Then she took wing, and for once, Sienna stopped wriggling and finally fell deathly silent as she felt her stomach drop into her hooves.

Silver scouts ahead to find a clear path out of the gulch: Success

Thankfully, burdened as she was, it wasn’t too difficult to slip out of the gulch with Silvie to make sure that the path was clear. The silvery mare darted ahead, using the rocks for cover, and would scrutinize an area for a minute before waving the all clear to Kestrel and moving onto the next stretch of dry ground. Bit by bit, the two mares cleared Viper Gang territory, until finally, Kestrel could see the road up ahead, complete with the still bodies of the gang members they’d gunned down earlier.

Kestrel attempts to resist further exhaustion: Fail

Kestrel is now Exhausted, suffering a -2 penalty to athletic checks until resting for several hours

Silver flew back a bit to join Kestrel, her brow furrowing as she watched the brown and gray mare pant under Sienna’s weight. “Want me to take her for you?” she asked. “I know I ain’t as strong a flier, but you look like you’re ‘bout to keel over any second.”

Though Kestrel was reluctant to force that burden upon Sienna, she nevertheless relented; the camp was still a bit of a flight away, and she didn’t know if she could carry the earth pony that long and not accidentally drop her. “Alright,” she grunted, and she held out her trembling wings to glide to the ground. “She’s all yours.”

The two mares landed on the dusty road, and Sienna almost started weeping with joy. “We’re on the ground!” she squeaked. “Ground! Precious ground!”

“Don’t get too used to it,” Kestrel grunted as she helped transfer the mare to Silvie’s back. “We still got a long flight ahead. At least now, we don’t have to worry ‘bout being seen.”

Were the two mares spotted on their flight out of the gulch, despite Silver’s best efforts scouting ahead? No

“Looks like we’re still all clear,” Silvie said, squinting back in the direction they came from. She rolled her wings and shrugged her hindquarters as she tried to center Sienna’s weight, then patted the young mare on the shoulder. “C’mon, Sienna, I think it’s about time you got to meet the gang!”

[NO POLL FOR THIS CHAPTER]

Author's Note:

There wasn't a good way to put a poll in this chapter without coming up with something contrived, so there is no decision here. Our heroes and their captive will return to the camp, and there will be a poll in chapter 10.

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/RsVkdDP

Comments

[RoboRed]

[NO POLL FOR THIS CHAPTER]

Well, that went alright. But poor Kess is in dire need of a nap.

[Dustyhooves]

birb nap time, time for Kess and Silver to finde a nice shady spot and snuggel up for a ehcking nap. Let the boss deal with Sienna.

[djthomp]

It's a miracle that worked, I say as someone who voted for this exact course of action.