Advent Of A Gunslinger

YOINK!

Spitha had successfully grabbed onto one of Rongu’s wings and drove her knee into his back, forcing him into the ground.

“AAAAIEEE!” Given that they were sensitive parts of a dragon’s body, he squealed at the top of his lungs once he landed on the ground.

Then, Spitha grabbed ahold of both wings--one in each hand while looking him dead in the eye. “While I can’t kill you...I’m going to make you feel just as much pain as those you’ve tortured over the years.”

His eyes went wide and he tried to wriggle to get free but to no avail. All he could do was pitifully look up at the red dragoness and plead. “...P-please no...don’t…”

“Isn’t that how Lexi felt when you violated her?” Spitha asked in a low, cold voice, “Are you finally starting to see the error of your ways?”

“Y-yes...yes!” Rongu cried out as he desperately tried to bargain, “I-I understand...I understand completely…”

Mio had stopped running by then, and walked upright. Now standing above Rongu, he stared down at the dragon man with nothing but contempt plastered onto his face. “I don’t think you do.” He looked up at the dragoness. “Spithy--make sure this filth is incapable of escaping, please?”

The dragoness nodded and stared down at the cowardly man. “This is only the start of what we have in store for you, you...thing.”

RRRRIP!

“YAAAAGH!”

With a slow, but strong grip, Spitha yanked both of Rongu’s wings clean off of his body, leaving veiny, open wounds in their place. The pain was so immense, that his body was forced into a state of convulsing until he went into shock, and froze on a dime.

Spitha stood upright, and tossed his wings aside. “Leona. You might want to make sure he gets medical attention once you’re done with the girls. He won’t die from this, but we still need him to be conscious when we get back there.”

“Understandable,” Leona said from her end of the room as she wrapped up work on Lexi’s body. “We’ll trek back through the desert and make our way to the castle once more. The king and queen should be more than willing to send more units here to storm this place and save as many ponies as they can.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to work out.

“Negative on that,” Mio spoke regrettably, “Rongu isn’t the one in charge here. The boss will return soon so sending troops back here isn’t exactly a good idea. If they get caught, it’ll be very bad.”

“We’ll have to try,” Tabs persisted, “I don’t like this place and don’t want the ponies to be stuck here a second longer than they have to be.”

Baretta decided to throw some logic into the conversation. “Standing around and yapping our gums doesn’t solve anything. We’re soldiers and we should follow the orders of our superiors. Staying here doesn’t help much.”

Spitha let out a small sigh, and stepped away from the dragon’s body. Her face dropped with a heavy tinge of regret as she thought hard about the events that had taken place.

“Alright. Let’s get going,” Mio said to rally everyone, “We have a suspect in custody and an injured witness who will provide evidence...hopefully she’s not hurt too badly.”

And so, our group of rag-tag soldiers gathered up both injured subjects and made their way out of the mines and subsequently Klugetown itself. It wasn’t a complete victory, as the location was still in a state of ruin, but they had an advantage now that Rongu was in their possession. An important source of information.

Once they got back to the castle, Rongu was given medical treatment and was promptly imprisoned temporarily as Mau and Bombay needed to weigh out the evidence in regards to what had been happening in Klugetown.

Lexi was given medical treatment also and placed into a witness protection program. Since she was being taken care of by Ms. Mona and Leona, the lizard woman wouldn't be suffering for much longer.

Mio, Spitha, Tabs, and Baretta were the ones having a meeting with King Mau and Queen Bombay in a conference room about what went down the day before.

“...And that is the long and short of it,” Mio said as he wrapped up his explanation. “I believe that we need to interrogate Rongu first before we send any troops out there to take the area.”

However, Tabitha would provide her own take on the situation. “At the same time, though, their defenses are weakened right now. If we send soldiers to retrieve some of the ponies while they’re in ruin, then it’ll be much easier as opposed to waiting and sending them later.”

“Hm…” Mau stroked his paw against his chin as he thought about it. “It’s going to take around 48 hours to mobilize a battalion to head out there regardless. We need to be organized.”

Bombay nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Both of you make good points about the situation. So here’s what we’ll do: I want you all to get some rest this evening and we’ll go ahead and interrogate the dragon man tomorrow. Does that sound agreeable?”

“No issues with me,” Baretta said as she leaned back in her seat, “My job is done.”

Tabs gave it some thought and couldn’t disagree with something so reasonable. “Understood. Do you mind if I lead this battalion?”

“...You just came back from a mission,” Bombay leaned forward with a concerned, motherly inflection in her voice, “We wouldn’t want you to hurt or overwork yourself…”

“You’re right, you’re right. Sorry…” the she-cat shook her head, “I respect your orders, my lieges.”

Mau looked over in the direction of the tom and dragoness. “How about you two? I can’t imagine how hard that must have been on you…”

“Hm? Oh...yes…somewhat…” Spitha gave a half-hearted reply, clearly not fully paying attention to the discussion at hand.

“...If you need some time to yourself, then it’s no problem,” said the king, “Out of all of us, I’m sure this hurts you the most.”

“It…” Spitha inhaled, then exhaled and got up from her seat with her eyes shut. “I’m sorry...I have a lot to think about right now.” Without another word, she left the conference room--much to the confusion of the remaining individuals.

Except Mio. He knew exactly what was eating at her soul. “...I should go speak with her,” he lamented as he stood up from the table, “There were a lot of things said back and forth between herself and Rongu that I can’t share.”

“Completely understandable,” Mau responded with a nod, “Go to her and keep her company.”

Bombay got up, and walked over to Mio to quietly tell him, “...Embrace her. Help her feel a sense of belonging. She matters, understand?”

“Yes...I’ll do my best,” the tom replied right before leaving the room.

Once he did, Mio returned to the guest room they had been generously offered by the king and queen. Sure enough, the dragoness could be seen there--sitting on the bed and sobbing into her claws.

“...Spitha…” Mio called out to her as he stepped in, “Talk to me...please?”

The dragoness dried her tears as she wiped her face and spoke in a hushed tone. “...I should’ve spoken up for myself far sooner. Then I wouldn’t be in the mess that I’m currently in now. I just...oh, I don’t even know anymore, Mio…”

He sat down next to her, and rubbed one of his paws against her back. “...It’s okay. The fact that you’re willing to admit your mistakes automatically makes you a better person. It’s not the past that dictates who we are. It’s what we do in the present.”

“...Mio?” she turned to him with an unstable, quivering lip.

“Yes, Spitha?” he asked with a concerned tilt of his head.

“...Why do you...why do you care about me so much?”