Chapter 3
Use a distraction: 47%
“What I’s thinkin’ is we shouldn’t go pissin’ off the Law this quick,” Kestrel said, ruffling her feathers.
Roughshod spat at the ground and raised an eyebrow. “What’s a matter, Kessie? Lost your nerve? Gone soft on us?”
Kestrel bristled and whipped her head in his direction. “I ain’t fixin’ to get us wanted again so quick-like after we shook the Law!” she growled. “We start shootin’ and somepony gets away to tell the Law, we’s back to havin’ bounties on our heads here in no time!”
“So what’s your brilliant plan, then?”
Kestrel let her eyes wander over the rest of the Gang. “We get somepony out into the road, get ‘em to stop. Get their attention away from the back of the wagon. I’ll sneak up there and break open the trunk, see what I can pull out.”
“Most of the money’s gonna be in the armored cabin,” Silver Wings observed. “How are we gonna get to that?”
“I’ll… think of somethin’,” Kestrel said, waving her wing. She glanced to her left, where a cloud of dust thrown up by hooves and wagon wheels was slowly approaching, and turned to Tumbleweed. “Well, boss? What do you think?”
Tumbleweed frowned as he thought it over. “It’s risky… but I always loved me some show biz.” His expression brightened, and he tugged on Silver’s bandolier. “Come on, my fairest wife, shed those guns and stand by your husband’s side.”
Silver blinked in surprise, even as Tumbleweed began to move toward the road. “I… what?”
“We’re gonna have ourselves a little marital spat,” Tumbleweed said with a wink. “I’ll be the tough husband who doesn’t want to ask for directions, you be the worried wife who got us lost looking for our runaway little girl. If these guards got any heart, we’ll keep ‘em occupied long enough for Kestrel to do her thing.”
“And what are we supposed to do?” Roughshod asked. “Just stand back and let the sun burn us alive?”
Tumbleweed rolled his eyes. “You and Snapshot will take cover and keep an eye on us, discreetly. If it looks like this whole thing’s goin’ south, I’ll start shootin’ and I’m countin’ on you two to cover me and Silvie here. But don’t show yourselves ‘til then, got it?”
Roughshod sighed and checked his shotgun. “Try to stop ‘em close to the wrecked wagon, then. You don’t want me tryin’ to shoot from far away with this thing.” He turned to Snapshot and gestured in that direction. “Right, let’s go. Good luck, you dramatic idiots.”
Snapshot hopped to his hooves, his magic fidgeting with his six-shooters, and the two ponies took position by the wagon and out of sight. Silver Wings finished shedding her weapons and bandoliers of bullets, then pulled a comb out of her attire and tried to clean up her mane a bit as she joined Tumbleweed in the road. She shot Kestrel an awkward smile, then fluffed out her wings in mock indignation and took an argumentative stance with her ‘husband’ as the wagon drew nearer.
Kestrel, meanwhile, placed herself behind the rock and checked over her gear, shedding anything likely to make a sound while sneaking behind the wagon. Leaving her canteen, satchel, and bandolier of spare ammunition in the dust, she checked her revolver just in case and kept her knife close to her reach. Then, all she had to do was wait.
Soon, the wagon grew close enough for her to make out the creaking of its wheels and the plodding of the guards’ hooves across the dirt road. At the same moment, Tumbleweed and Silver began their bickering, and Kestrel watched as the young mare moved her wings in exaggerated movements and let her voice rise. What exactly they were screaming at each other, Kestrel didn’t pay much attention to; her focus was solely on the wagon as it rolled to a stop nearby.
“What the Tartarus is going on out here?” one of the guards shouted; Kestrel couldn’t see where he was from behind the rock, only watch the shadows of the guards at the rear of the carriage, waiting for them to move forward.
The screaming stopped, and she heard Tumbleweed’s voice rise to address the guards. “Oh, gentlestallions, pardon me, pardon me. It’s nothin’ that needs concern you. My wife is rippin’ me to shreds about a familial matter here that is very much her own fault.”
Is Tumbleweed’s distraction convincing? No
“Your wife?” the guard captain asked, and Kestrel chewed on her lip as she saw the shadow of the rear guard reach for their holstered weapon. “Is that so? Not sure what a husband and wife are doing out by the crossroads so far from town. Where’s your wagon?”
Is Silver Wings able to improvise? Yes
“We had it robbed from us by some no-good devils!” Silver screeched in exasperation, and Kestrel heard the crack of hoof on bone, followed by a startled grunt from Tumbleweed. “And my no good, lousy husband weren’t smart enough to figure out which end of the gun to point at the bad ponies! We’re lost and I’m about to tan his hide!”
“Honey, don’t—!”
Hooves scuffed across the hard ground, and the guards at the back of the wagon trotted forward as Silver launched herself at Tumbleweed. Kestrel had to suppress a chuckle; so much for the Boss’ plan for a familial dispute. With the coast finally clear, Kestrel slipped out from behind the rocks, giving only a quick glance at the scene in front of the wagon as the guards tried to separate Tumbleweed and Silvie.
The wagon was armored all around, seemingly pristine, but upon closer inspection, Kestrel noted that the latch on the back doors was rusted beneath the white paint. Drawing her knife, she wedged it in the seam between the doors and started to force it open.
Can Kestrel force the latch? Yes
Gain the following skill: Lock Breaker
Kestrel grunted as she pulled the knife back and forth, and when that didn’t work, she jammed it into the gap as far as she could and turned around. As soon as Silvie started streaming again, she bucked the protruding handle hard and was rewarded with the cracking of rusted iron. The knife clattered to the ground, and Kestrel carefully opened the doors after checking once again that the guards weren’t looking her way.
How many bags are in the wagon? 2
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting—this was just a little coach stopping at all the small towns across San Palomino before dumping the collective haul on a train for Manehattan, after all. But only two bags of bits? Either this wagon was early on its route, or Miss Belle’s fashion empire hadn’t caught on quite as quickly as she’d hoped here in the Southwest.
But that wasn’t all. As Kestrel hopped into the back of the wagon, her eyes settled on a safe built into the front. Her mind wondered at what could possibly be locked up tight inside a locked, armored wagon. Bonds? Gold bars? Deeds? Whatever it was, it might be worth a lot more than just two bags of bits.
Is the distraction still working? No
Her ears twitched, and that was when she realized she couldn’t hear Silvie screaming in rage anymore. All of that was replaced by the muffled voice of one of the guards giving the couple a warning and a stern talking to. Worse still, she could hear the crunching of hooves on dirt and grit as the guards walked back to their positions at the back of the wagon.
She only had a few seconds.
1. Grab a bag and run. I can probably get one bag outta here and fly into the sky before the guards can get their weapons ready. Not sure what’ll happen to Tumbleweed and Silvie on the ground, but they got Rough and Snapshot lookin’ out for ‘em.
2. Try to grab both bags. It’ll be a little harder to get goin’ with all that weight, but I might be able to manage it still.
3. Close the doors and wait for an opportunity to escape. I can get them doors closed tight and nopony will be the wiser, but I’ll be on my own for the getaway. Might get a chance to crack open that safe while I’m at it.
4. Jump the guards and start shooting. They ain’t gonna expect some bandit to hop outta their wagon and start shootin’, that’s for damn sure. We clean ‘em up and we can take our time with everything inside, including that safe.
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Silvie's improv bought us some time; we might as well make the most of it. No need to escalate here when the haul we've actually got Kestrel's hooves on isn't too impressive.
[X] Close the doors and wait for an opportunity to escape.
Jump them. We can take the whole lot if we just kill 'em all
1. Grab a bag and run
Been sitting here a while thinking it over, but those are options that could go in so many ways.
Fuggit', let's have some adventure. Hide and wait.
Man, those dice really didn't like the distraction plan.
Feels like any of these could go badly for someone, but only Hide and Wait has Kestrel putting her own self in danger by her own (aka our) decision.
As much as I'm enjoying the drastic twist of an old western story played out in pony, I really wish you HADN'T included the Gamer bits midway through the chapter. It really throws off the flow of the story. Not the CYOA parts, but that crap with unlocking the door and if the distraction was working.