Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus

Chapter 90

Leave the Chatter gun at the camp: 8 Votes

“Well, to be quite honest, I reckon it’s best if neither takes it,” Kestrel said, earning a few raised eyebrows from the rest of the Gang.

“Leave our biggest gun here?” Roughshod asked in disbelief. “What’re you on, Kessie? Still a little tired from your nap?”

“That’s exactly the problem, the gun bein’ too big,” Kestrel explained, shifting her weight from one pair of hooves to the other. “The distraction team is gonna need to cause a ruckus and scoot outta there fast. The conference team is gonna need to snatch our haul quick as we can and scoot outta there fast, too. The only way we move the Chatter gun around is to mount it in a wagon or have Rough carry it around; it’s too damn heavy any of the rest of us to move it. And that’ll only slow us down if speed is what we’re after.”

“Pinks’re likely to be faster than us no matter what we do,” Roughshod countered. “You’re gonna be slowed down by the haul you take from the job. We’ll be slowed down by havin’ to find our way ‘round the city without gettin’ boxed in. I’d rather have the extra firepower to deal with the law comin’ after us than skedaddlin’ a little bit faster.”

Tumbleweed snatched a beer with his magic and popped off the cap as he listened to Kestrel and Roughshod go back and forth. But after taking a sip or two, he cleared his throat to contribute his own two bits. “I think Kestrel’s got the right idea ‘bout this one,” he said. “A little bit of speed could make a world of difference over a little extra firepower. Not only that, but if we bring the gun out on this job, we risk losin’ the thing altogether if things go sideways. We’ve been spendin’ a lot of time thinkin’ about the upcoming job, and rightly so, but we need to also think about what comes afterwards. I think we all know that the deal ain’t gonna be signed and sealed once we make it back here after the job. The Pinks’ll be real riled up that we pulled one over on ‘em, and the Apple Conglomerates ain’t gonna forget this one either. We’ll be kickin’ the hornets’ nest, and kickin’ it pretty hard, with what we’re doin’ on Friday. We might have to defend what we stole ‘fore everythin’s all said and done.”

“If we’re gonna be bringin’ that much heat down on ourselves,” Silvie began, eyes staring into the fire as she thought, “should we get set to get outta here when the job’s done? Hit the road ‘fore anypony can find us?”

Kestrel shook her head. “It’s too early to plan for that right now,” she said. “Lotsa things could change durin’ the job. Might be safer to sit in place for a day or two to let some heat cool off ‘fore we run. Might be that we’ve got to pack what we can and scram soon as we’re back. Might be that we have to sit tight and fight for our lives first ‘fore an openin’ presents itself to us.”

“But we’ll have plans for everythin’,” Tumbleweed interjected. “Plans might be made useless by extenuatin’ circumstances, but plannin’ itself is mighty useful. Now, regardless of what happens for our two teams, first thing we gotta make sure of is each team can look out for themselves. Rough, Snap, Trixie, soon as the three of you start drawin’ the Pinks back into town, get the hell outta there and get someplace safe. We’ll be startin’ our part of the plan a few minutes after the Pinks clear out of the conference so that we have a little wiggle room to work with, and then we’ll be fleein’ with what we can get ‘fore the Pinks can get back. We should find a safe spot to hunker down in and wait for some of the heat to clear up, then move to a meetup spot some ways away from the camp once it’s dark. That way we can group together and head back to camp in full strength in case there are Pinks about.”

“We ain’t done much explorin’ ‘round Hoofston to know of any real safe meetup spots, though,” Kestrel said. But then she turned to Trixie and raised an eyebrow. “Unless our wanderin’ magician’s been ‘round these parts before and knows somethin’?”

Is Trixie familiar with the area surrounding Hoofston (Scholar: 6+2 from Explorer): Yes

“I’ve been through here before, yes,” Trixie said. The magician shifted her weight into a more comfortable position on the stool. “It was quite some time ago, though I was planning on heading in this direction after my show in Rock Ridge. But yes, there are lots of good places we could hide around Hoofston until it’s dark. For the distraction team, we could go north out of Hoofston and hide around the abandoned quarry up there. It’s well out of the way and there’s lots of places to hide up there. Trixie thinks it would be very difficult for anypony to find us there if that’s where we went.”

“Well, that’s well and good, then,” Tumbleweed said with a nod. “I assume you can lead the others there on Friday when the time comes. Got any places for us at the conference?”

Trixie thought for a moment, then bobbed her head. “Mmhmm. The conference is southeast of the city, right? Well, if you keep going further to the south, there’s a river that cuts between the hills to the south and the plains to the east of the city. The ground gets really rough over there. It’d be a good place to lie low for a bit.”

“Then we’ll take your word for it,” Tumbleweed said. “Thank you, Trixie, for that.”

Kestrel noted that the praise seemed to make Trixie perk up a little bit. The magician might have been exceptionally worried about the Pinks and quite aggressively crossing the law and a lot of very powerful ponies, but helping to contribute to the Gang’s plans appeared to make her a little more confident. That was good; they needed Trixie to be confident before Friday if she was to perform to the best of her abilities.

Wanderer and Miss Irons walked over from the wagons, Wanderer carrying the stew pot in his wings while Miss Irons set a stack of tin bowls and spoons down on the ground next to the fire. The old pegasus set the pot on the hook over the fire and grunted, rolling his wings as he worked some of the tension out of his aging muscles. “I tell you, I’m almost about done with living it rough and on the law,” he said, smiling lazily at the rest of the Gang. “When can I retire? I’ve worked long enough to provide for you whippersnappers.”

“Maybe after Friday,” Tumbleweed said, gesturing for the old couple to sit down and join them. “Who knows how much we can bring in?”

“Not anywhere near enough, I can already feel it,” Wanderer said. “We’ll still need at least one more job after this if we want to get out of Equestria for good. I’m unfortunately all but certain of that.”

“Well maybe we’ll get lucky.” Then Tumbleweed raised his beer in his magic and toasted the Gang as they sat around the fire. “We’re a day and a half away from robbin’ some of Equestria’s fattest cats blind. Tomorrow, we’ll finalize a few things and be ready to go, but tonight, let’s relax and enjoy ourselves. This will likely be our last chance before we put the show on the road!”

A cheer went up from the Gang, and the crates of beer, whiskey, and gin were dragged out and opened up once again. Alcohol passed from one hoof to another as everypony grabbed a drink, and soon the music of Wanderer’s guitar filled the air.

Kestrel took a moment to pry the cork off of a bottle of whiskey and spit it onto the ground, tilting the amber glass back and taking a few straight gulps of the potent liquor. Tumbleweed was right; tonight would be her last chance to relax until after the job on Friday. She already knew the next night would be a tense one, a sort of calm before the storm moment. If there was anything she wanted to do during the more upbeat mood, then now was the time to do it.

1. Watch magic tricks with Trixie, Roughshod, Wanderer, and Miss Irons

2. Play drinking games with Tumbleweed, Silver, and Snapshot.

3. Take the night easy and see what Starlight and her friends have to say tomorrow.

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

[Jaro45]

Option two ( 2 ). Enjoy a bit of whisky and have a fun night.

[M4Tiger4014]

Idk, 1. Boost Trixie’s confidence a little

[Quick Fix]

There we go Trix, proving your value again.

Option 2. I still want to see what kind of drinking games the gang has, that and if Snapshot'll speak up a little.

[RoboRed]

option 1

[MrCakeandRice]

Option one.
I still think Trixie is prime romance

[Merula]

Option 1. Lets kick back for now

[Hahapie]

1. As said in the chapter, increased confidence could be really good for her.

[SolarisLunaris]

2

[djthomp]

Is Trixie familiar with the area surrounding Hoofston (Scholar: 6+2 from Explorer): Yes

Don't let Starlight hear this or she'll just find some way to be a wet blanket about Trixie again.

1, watch some magic by Trixie.