Advent Of A Gunslinger

The next morning…

Axel awakened without his gear, and flexed his wings to make sure they were in good condition. “Yea…that’s about right…” As he looked at himself in the mirror, he chuckled as he shook his head to frizz up his mane. “What a crazy little life I lead. Don’t know how we survived this long. But if ya’ll are out there…I’mma find ya.”

Tap-tap-tap.

A sudden knock at his room door interrupted his train of thought. “Hm?” Axel went to answer it, and found Flechette on the other side. “Mornin’. What’s the tea, sis?”

The green pegasus looked down at the floor, rubbing her hoof idly into the carpet. “I need to talk to ye for a second. It’s…about the rest of our family.”

The hippogriff turned his head left, then right to look down the halls. No one was there. The coast was clear, so he quickly pulled Fleche into his room and shut the door.

“You startin’ta remember somethin’?” he asked with a pleading set of eyes, “Where are they? Do ya know?”

“...Ma and pa are dead, brother,” she replied with a long face, “And the wee twins? So are they. It’s been over two decades--I’m frankly lucky to be alive but…” Tears started rolling down the sides of her face--her voice began to break as she sniffled. “It should’ve been me…our twin brothers should’ve been here to enjoy life. But now they can’t…”

Axel fell silent, and simply walked up to his sister to give her a hug. This was it. All of his hopes and desires up to this point had been crushed.

And yet…while saddened, he didn’t allow it to consume him. For he knew that he had gained another family through this errant walk of life. The companions that were with him along every step of this deadly journey. Maybe, just maybe, that made it all worth it…

For the moment though, he focused entirely on comforting his sister in their time of distress. “...Don’t go feelin’ sorry for yerself now. Campbell and Friar wouldn’t want ya down in the dumps, now would they?”

Those were the names of Axel’s older (and Fleche’s younger) twin brothers. Upon hearing them, the pegasus mare sobbed even more. “N…no. They wouldn’t. Yer right…” She sniffled, and stepped away from him for a moment. “It’s just…hard to accept that things won’t ever be the same again, ya know?”

“...I know…” was all Axel could say, “Won’t be easy, but we gotta keep goin’. For their sake as well as our own.”

Once her tears had stopped, Fleche tightly embraced her brother once more. Squeezing his body with both hooves. “I ken. I just…need some time to mahself, for a while. Don’t let lil’ ol’ me ruin your social life.”

Axel was losing breath from the strangling hug, and only managed to sputter a few words out. “Agh! My…what?”

Fleche finally let him go, “Oops. Sorry, dear. And I mean your friends. And…” she gave him a smug grin, “Your lady friends.”

“Ahem…” Axel scratched the back of his neck. “...I ain’t got no clue what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Oh you!” she giggled in response, “Pa would be proud of ye. Ma as well, believe it or not.”

He raised a brow and asked, “You serious?”

“For sure--it wasn’t often that they conducted business with the minotaurs. I think pa was a wee-bit scared of ‘em, honestly.”

“He always didn’t enjoy talkin’ about work, did he? ‘Ccordin’ta Ms. Martha, she actually got a few things from him.”

Fleche’s eyes sparked, and she flicked her tail upon hearing that. “Did she now? I wonder what kinda history she has with us…”

Axel began to stretch his legs and his wings. “Rrgh…well, whatever ya do, might be best’ta ask her yerself once you get the chance. Oh, and make sure ya get somethin’ta eat. I know how you get when you’re stressed.”

“Oh dear, ya remember that about me, eh?” she replied with a scoff as she trotted towards the door, “Don’tcha worry now, Ax. I’ll make sure’ta eat lots. Wonder if they have any spuds down yonder…”

“Good. Speak with ya later.”

Not long after his sister left the room, the hippogriff exited as well. “Now what to do…” he thought to himself. “Guess I’ll check on the others. See if they already downstairs.”

So he did just that, heading downstairs to see if his companions were already up that morning. But before he could make it there…he would be stopped by a familiar voice.

“Oh, Axie!”

“Hm?” he turned his head left, and saw Clarabelle--now wearing a red sundress with white polka dots and a straw sunhat. “Ah, Ms. Clara. How are ya, ma’am?”

“I’m quite well, thank you,” she replied with a smile as she gently patted him on the head. “I’ve got a quick question for ya--and forgive me if it comes off as random.”

“Chr!” Axel let out a small chirp upon being petted, and weaseled his way out of the embrace by tilting his head upwards. “Ahem--uh, that’s fine, I s’pose. What’s the question, ma’am?”

The minotaur lady broke eye contact, looking away with a nervous smile on her face. “Well…it’s got’ta do with clowns. Do ya like ‘em?”

As she had said, it did come off as random. Axel slightly recoiled out of confusion from the question. “...Clowns? What brought up that barrel’a monkeys?”

“N-nothing in particular!” Clara replied with a shaky smile, “So. What’s your opinion of them? I only ask because I know a lot of folks out there are afraid of ‘em…”

Surprisingly?

“No, I’m not afraid,” he replied with a rare, genuine smile on his face, “In fact, I enjoy clowns. And mimes. And all them side-show performers. They kept me entertained when I was a young’un. Some of ‘em even helped me navigate the South when I was all alone…” He tilted his head. “Why? What makes ya ask?”

“Oh…no reason! Gotta go!” Clarabelle moo’d and quickly left the room, walking as fast as possible, leaving a confused Axel behind.

“...What?”