Advent Of A Gunslinger

“Well?” said the secretary from behind the four escort options, “Take your pick, Mr. Remington~”

“Wait, did you just say--?” the biggest minotaur asked, and was interrupted by her fellow taurette with the leash.

“Remington? Moooooohh! I call dibs!” she squealed while biting her lip.

“Fuck off,” the one with the riding crop said, “His balls are practically aching to get spanked if that’s who that really is.”

The light brown one simply shrunk into the background as the other three argued. Axel took note of this, and…

“You…” he stepped around the three who had been arguing, and towards the less confrontational minotaur woman. “You.”

“M-me? Really?” the nervous bovine squealed, and nearly leapt backwards with her cheeks rosy from blushing. “Oh my goodness, is this real?! Am I finally gonna have a customer?!”

The other three minotaurs glanced at each other with annoyed grumbles, and continued to eye up Axel as they went back into the hallway to remain on standby.

The albino one with the leash made one last comment. “...pin me down and fuck me up when you’re done with--WAOH!”

But before she could finish, the gray, gothic minotaur pulled her by the leash and into the hallway.

“Oh you made yourself a fabulous choice, dear,” the secretary minotaur stuck her tongue out and winked, “Show her a good time now okay, Mr. Bronco?”

“...Yeah, I think I will.”

The escort he had selected held his claw, and walked with him to one of the rooms with an excited smile on her face. “W-well, here we are!”

It was a standard bedroom with a deep red carpet, a closet that contained all sorts of tools to the left, and a vanity on the right. The bed itself had a fluffy mattress, silky purple sheets, and the frame was made of solid gold mixed with other metals such as steel.

Axel took a look around, and noted the peculiar bed frame. “Hot damn,” he said, “Ya’ll must’ve wrecked some poor souls and destroyed loads of beds to get to this point.”

“Oh yeah--” the minotaur said with a giggle, “We couldn’t afford to keep replacing them, so we had our local blacksmiths create us some new metals we could use for beds.”

“Pretty darn smart if I do say so,” Axel turned to make eye contact with her, “By the way, what’s yer name?”

She was surprised by this. Most clients didn’t even bother with that much and stuck to using words such as ‘babe’ and ‘honey.’ It was unexpected for that to be the first thing out of a client’s mouth. “O-oh! My name is Clarabelle!” she put her hands together with her arms at her sides, squeezing her breasts within her sweater. “Why don’tcha get undressed and put her clothes on the dresser right over here?” she gestured her hand towards the vanity, “I’ll be right back with something special for ya!”

The Caregiver

“Alrighty,” he said with a nod, “Thank ya ma’am.”

Clarabelle smiled back, and left the room for a moment.

Axel removed his gear, reverting him to his more harmless-looking, au natural hippogriff state. He wasn’t foolish, though. There was no way he was going to let his guns out his sight, so he placed them in the nightstand drawer next to the bed. “...Wonder what sorta surprise she was talkin’ bout.”

Meanwhile, on the ship…

Vido had been hard at work trying to write a note of apology to Celaeno, but had no luck on what to say exactly. “Ay, ay, ay…”

Kora eventually appeared, and entered their shared quarters. “...Vido. Is everything alright?”

“No, not very much. The tension that I’m getting from Celaeno feels...palpable,” he said as he tapped the tip of the pen against his forehead. “But I should be more worried about you. After all…”

The she-cat shook her head. “Listen...that’s not something I want you to concern yourself over, my friend.” She sat down on the lower bunk bed next to him. “We have lots of things we need to worry about--chiefly of which, being Axel’s success on this little bounty he’s after. And I know you’re probably emotionally distraught over the destruction of your father’s airship, so…”

Vido raised an eyebrow. He was unable to comprehend the fact that she was concerned about him regarding his airship when she lost her sister. “...Are you serious? Gata, losing a person is incomparable to losing an inanimate object.”

“But that wasn’t just some inanimate object,” she persisted, “...That was very important to you. The last remnants of what you had with your father. A man who’s cause of death you aren’t even aware of...I’m sure it hurt.”

Vido looked down at the floor beneath his paws. “...Actually. I think I may have an inkling as to what may have led to his death.”

The she-cat flicked her tail, and sat up with her knees on the bed. “...You do? What do you think it could be?”

“Griffonstone is stuck in a similar state of underdeveloped ruin even more so than Klugetown. I wonder…”

“You wonder...what?” Kora asked as she desperately wanted to hear a conclusion from Vido’s own beak.

“...My father told me something when I was younger.” He held that bracelet in his left claw, and clenched it within his fist. “According to him, ‘the destiny of the griffons is to suffer.’ At the time, I didn’t know what it meant. But now…I think I see what he was saying.”

Kora adjusted the outside lens of her glasses as she thought about his words, and eventually came to a conclusion. “...You believe that what’s going on in Klugetown with those gangsters is likely to be the case with Griffonstone as well?”

“...” Vido didn’t respond verbally. He simply nodded in silence.

Kora threw her arms around him, and gave him a hug. “Listen, friend. We will be able to restore your home one day. If you will it, we shall make it so.”

“...Do you really think that’s possible?” he asked, “Would Axel be up for such a thing? You know how he gets...”

She purred with a grin. “Well, I have a feeling that he’s gonna be a lot more agreeable once he returns.”

“What makes you say that, gata?” he asked.

“...The main draw of Milk Ranch is the massive Madam’s Manor that lies at the heart of the village. I believe he will be much easier to communicate with once he’s had some...how do you say--sexual healing?”

Vido stifled a snicker. “Him? Them? No way they’ll get him to crack! He’s too stiff.”

Kora got up and off of the bed. “Yes. He is very stiff--though not in the way that you might think. For now, we should get to know our generous hosts a bit more, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’ll catch up,” Vido lied down on the bed. “I’m going to think more about what I should say to Señorita Celaeno.”

“Fair enough,” the she-cat replied as she headed to the door, “I’ll try to put in a good word for you so she doesn’t try to shoot you the next time she sees you.”

“...I’d appreciate that. Gracias, Kora.”

“No problem, my friend.” She left the room, and thought to herself as she walked. “...We’re all a bunch of troubled misfits aren’t we?”

Back in the Milk Mansion…

Axel had waited patiently within the bedroom. Within a few minutes of Clarabelle leaving, he could already smell the strong scent of cinnamon sugar and apples.

“...Wait a sec...apple pie?”

The door opened to reveal the light-brown minotaur woman holding a plate. Axel had been close with his mental guess--as Clarabelle was holding a plate of two, steamy apple turnovers loaded with cinnamon sugar. It was essentially the same as apple pie but far less messy since it was folded into a triangle.

“Here we go, honey!” she said with a smile as she locked the door behind herself, “Made these mahself so now we can get started.” She turned to look at the now gearless hippogriff, and felt her heart jump. “...Oh mah stars…”

“Somethin’ the matter?” Axel asked, sitting on the bed’s right side which was straight in front of the door.

She giggled nervously as she took a few steps forward. “N-nothin’ it’s just...yer quite the look if ya don’t mind me saying so…” She then sat down next to him on the bed. “...You really are a Remington, huh? Everyone’s seen your photos on them wanted boards. But no one ever expected to see you here in the flesh. What brought you here?”

Since he was here, and the conversation was private, he figured that he may as well offer an explanation. “...I’m here to get revenge on the bastards that took my family away from me. But thanks to a series of events, I’m here on business’ta figure out the deal with another bounty first.”

“Oh…” Clara’s ears drooped along with her frowning face. “I’m...so sorry that happened to you. Do you know who you’re after? You’re not lost in your search are you?”

“Not at all,” he replied, “My only problem is gittin’ where I need to be...and bringin’ ‘em outta hiding. Once I do that, then it’ll be all over.”

“...I’ve heard of you, you know,” she admitted with a regretful tone, “We all have. A hippogriff bounty hunter who doesn’t play by Mt. Aris or Equestria’s rules. Some say that you’re a ruthless, cold-blooded killer and others call you the best thing since sliced bread ‘cuz of how helpful you are. Is...that…?”

Axel crossed his arm-claws and scoffed. “...Believe what ya wanna believe. I don’t cotton to rumors.” He neither confirmed nor denied what Clarabelle had said, which essentially meant that all the descriptions were plausible.

“They call you ‘The Last Remington’,” Clara went on, and tried to force a smile, “Super uncreative nickname. But I’d like to think you’ve earned the title. Your turned out well despite what you’ve been through…”

“Hmph...guess you could say that.” The smell of the apple pie pastries was too overwhelming. Axel couldn’t ignore it any longer. “...You made them for me?”

“Well, er...sort of?” she said with an awkward smile as her eyes lit up, “As soon as I saw you walk through the doors, I could tell just from looking at you that you like apple pie. So I hurried up and made some--they only took about twenty minutes to bake! Help yourself, darlin’!” she offered the plate to him, holding it up to his nose.

Clarabell’s culinary senses were sharper than a hunting knife. Her estimation was correct, as the hippogriff couldn’t resist at all.

“...” He licked his lips, and grabbed one of the triangular treats. “...Thank you…” And he bit into it… “...Mm...this is…hot dayum this is good!” he couldn’t help but smile as he ate it. In a flash, the second one was gone as well.

“Hmooo?” Clara asked with a satisfied moo, “Did you like it, sweetie?”

“...Y-yeah…the way the cinnamon mixed with the tartness of the apples and the flakiness of the pastry was golden,” he paused, and did his best to contain his enthusiasm. “I mean...it reminds me of what ma used’ta make, so I’m grateful fer it. Just wish I had some milk, though…”

“It’s funny you mention that…” The minotaur woman had set the plate on a nearby wooden tray. Next, she would pull her sweater up from the bottom, This would reveal her massive breasts that were held in place by a lacy, black bra. She cupped her hands on both sides of her breasts, and teased Axel with a loving gaze. “I have your milk right here.”

Too distracted to respond, Axel could only stutter. “...M-m-m...milk…?”