Chapter 43
Talk to the three drunkards: 8 Votes
Kestrel waited until the three drunks had wandered out of the light of the saloon and into the shadows of the streets before she left the alleyway, beckoning with her wing for Roughshod to follow. Again, she made sure her hat was tilted down to shade her face as best it could, and she rolled her shoulders as she approached the group. Drunk or not, they likely could still put up a tough fight if it came to blows, and Kestrel didn’t plan on taking any hits if it came to it. She’d been beat up enough over the course of the train robbery, and she wasn’t interested in more bedrest.
The drunkards didn’t notice Kestrel and Roughshod step out into the street; they were too busy hooting, hollering, and staggering into each other. Kestrel smirked and slightly shook her head. They were piss drunk, and hopefully that would make them easy to deal with. The alcohol would loosen their tongues and slow their hooves, and if need be, Roughshod was good at doing both as well. For now, however, they simply waited in the dark of the street for the ponies to approach them.
They only stopped when one of them bumped into Roughshod’s chest and fell to his flank, nearly taking the pony next to him down with him. The third backpedaled and almost tripped over his own hooves, cursing and glaring down his muzzle at Kestrel while his friends slowly picked themselves up. “Whachu wan’?” the stallion slurred, drunken eyes scanning over Kestrel and Roughshod. “I know you?”
Do the drunks recognize Kestrel and/or Roughshod? No
“Naw,” Kestrel dissuaded him. “Might be you seen somepony we’re lookin’ for.”
“Blue unicorn,” Roughshod grunted. “He’s got a beard and a snakeskin hat. We need to talk to him.”
“Piss on you, big boy,” the middle drunk growled, swaying back and forth. “Your problems ain’t ours. Go cry to that birdy sheriff if you’re missin’ somepony.”
Kestrel frowned at them, looking over their clothing and weapons to see if she could get a better look at what she was dealing with.
Are the drunks Vipers? Yes
There wasn’t anything special about their clothing, but each pony carried a revolver at their side, and each holster had been made out of snakeskin—like the hat on the Viper they were looking for. Snakeskin holsters weren’t common, but for a gang that called themselves the Vipers, led by a stallion named Rattlesnake, it seemed like a purposeful choice for the members to identify each other when out and about incognito.
“You’re Vipers,” Kestrel flatly observed, and that statement got the stallions’ heads to turn. “Pony we’re lookin’ for is a Viper. So spit it out. You seen him? Where’s he at?”
“Ain’t seen him,” the last drunkard said, finally managing to get to his hooves with the help of his wings as extra legs. “So how’s about you run on home, pretty thing? Unless you want me work that tail of yours, fill you up real good…”
Kestrel rolled her eyes at the drunk’s words; being an outlaw mare had desensitized her to threats of rape and other lewd catcalling. Instead, she just glanced sideways at Roughshod. “You want a go?”
“With pleasure.” Roughshod stomped forward, making the three flinch back. “You’re gonna tell us what you know, or I’m gonna hurt you. I’m gonna hurt you real bad. Rattlesnake’s gonna need a whole team of oxen to pull you outta each other’s asses when I’m done with ya.”
Roughshod uses Sweet Talker (4+2) to intimidate the drunks into spilling what they know (Hired Muscle skill)
The three stallions couldn’t seem to get out of Roughshod’s reach fast enough. Kestrel didn’t blame them; one was a pegasus and two were unicorns, who were on average smaller than earth ponies, and Roughshod was big for an earth pony. Magic and wings don’t help so much when drunk as can be, and somewhere in their addled minds, the Vipers must have realized that. “Alright! Alright!” The first drunk cursed under his breath when Roughshod ceased looming over them. “We ain’t gettin’ our tails torn out on Adder’s behalf.”
“He the unicorn?” Kestrel asked him. When they nodded, she took a step forward. “Where is he?”
Is the unicorn in the saloon? Yes
As one, the three Vipers glanced toward the saloon before they even knew what they were doing. Kestrel stifled a curse at that. As much as she had hoped it wouldn’t come to it, it looked like it came down to the saloon. “What’s he doin’ in there?”
“He was drinkin’ with the rest of us,” one of the Vipers said.
“Was there a red pegasus with him?” Roughshod asked.
Two Vipers slowly nodded after a beat, while the third squinted as he struggled to remember. “Think so,” one said. “They was in there for a bite to eat, then they went out back. Only Adder came back.”
“You don’t know what they did?” Kestrel raised an eyebrow, but the ponies only shook their heads.
“That’s it, then,” Roughshod said, and he took a step forward while the three Vipers took two steps back. After a moment, he tilted his head to the side. “Run off,” he said. “Go find a cactus to pass out under, or I’ll give you more permanent dwellin’s in the ground.”
That got them to scamper off with their tails between their legs, and they only tripped over their hooves and ate dirt two or three times before they disappeared from sight. That left Kestrel and Roughshod in the street, watching as a gaggle of young mares spilled out of the saloon, laughing and giggling as a few young ranchhooves tried to entice them back inside for a few more drinks. “That fucker must’ve done somethin’ to Wanderer,” Roughshod growled. “If he saw him off after dinner, that was hours and hours ago. Wanderer woulda made it back to us otherwise.”
Kestrel nodded in agreement. “Those drunks don’t know nothin’ about it,” she said. “But this Adder pony… might be we make him talk.”
“Oh, I’m lookin’ forward to that,” Roughshod said with a grin plastered across his muzzle. “How we wanna make him dance?”
1. Go in together and drag Adder out. Rough and I together can probably take on a whole saloon of drunks. Might make a ton of ruckus, but we been outlaws together for so long we’re naturals at watchin’ each other’s backs. Adder don’t stand no chance.
2. Send Roughshod in alone to flush Adder out. Rough knows how to stage a drunken brawl. Might be he can get Adder outta the saloon in a fight, and I can help secure him outside.
3. Go in alone to lure Adder out. Bandits and outlaws are always lookin’ to sex up a country girl when they come to town; their own mares are too tough to take easy. If I pull my hair down, shape it up a little, might be he won’t recognize me and I can bring him out to Rough on the promise of some tail.
4. Try to find Tumbleweed and Silvie first. We need more backup if we’re gonna drag Adder out of the saloon. We can grab the Boss and Silvie and head there in force. I just hope Adder don’t get up and leave while we’re lookin’ for ‘em, else we’re back to square one.
Stats
Page generated in 0.063 seconds
Total duration
1,135 users online
2,222,532 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Going with option one on this one. Was at first thinking about 3 but with Kess's sweet-talker stat of 4 I'm not feeling it. And going and grabbing the others would leave us to the risk of Adder leaving and us losing our lead to Grandpa. So yeah lets go grab Adder and hope there's no other Vipers or drunks looking for a fight.
I'd say option 2 so that there is less of a chance some random recognises Kestrel as a wanted mare.
4. If he can command a gang of 50, dud must be a bada**
Option two. Let Roughshod have a bit of fun cracking skulls, and get your target outta the saloon all at once.
Im gonna have to go with option 1 here. It’s risky, but we can’t afford how the other options might not get Adder out of the saloon.
Originally, I was leaning towards option 2, but that leaves Roughshod alone in a saloon that could completely turn on him. It’s not worth the risk of losing the trail.
Option one
Option 3. We cant afford to draw too much attention to ourselves, if we can get him quietly out it would help us keep incognito.
I say option 2. Roughshod can probably handle whatever is thrown at him, and if he can’t Kestrel is just outside.
Good rolls so far.
Oh yes.
Send Roughshod in. Too much of a chance Kestrel will get recognized from the wanted posters, and we can't let this lead slip away by taking time to go find Tumbleweed and Silvie.
Option 2 is probably best.
Reasoning
1. Nope, too big a risk getting Kessie recognized.
2. Best option; Roughshod should be able to get him out by force.
3. Super nope; same reasoning in option 1 and Kessie is still injured, which might bite us in the ass.
4. Second best option but no; we'd lose time looking for them and Adder might leave during that time.
1. Go on in there and get this over with. Fate isn't gonna give us much of an other option and it's safest if the two of them go at it together rather than alone.
Hummmmm...lacking my preferred option of setting the saloon on fire and watching the exits, I guess I'd go for option 1, but with some strategery...e.g. have Kessie enter a little later (or through another entrance if such exists), and try to keep to the background while Roughshod tries to wrangle Adder on his own at first. I can't shake the feeling this could be a trap, so it could pay off having a lookout, if possible.
Yes, caught up!
I'm going to have ta go with option 2. Roughshod can probably handle this on his own, and that leaves Kestrel in a place where she's both less likely to get pegged as wanted and can kick the door in to help if the dice aren't with us.