Advent Of A Gunslinger

The dragon held up his hands. He stared at his wife with shrunken pupils, his scales ruffled and his wings spread wide due to fear. All he could think at that moment was, “...Has everything finally caught up to me?”

With the shotgun aimed at her husband of ten years, Spitha would shakily repeat herself. “...Talk, I said. No more lies. Tell me everything. How long have you been at this? How many lives have you ruined? Answer.”

“...Honey, I--”

“Don’t you ‘honey’ me!” she roared, and took a step closer, “Answer!”

Rongu cringed, and practically shrunk against the wall. “...Okay. I’ve been at this for five years. Ever since we moved here. I’ve been trying to harvest a material called Aionite--it’s something that can power anything and be used for everything from medicine to building material….”

That wasn’t enough. Spitha grit her teeth and continued to pry for more information. “That doesn’t explain everything. Keep talking.”

“A-alright! Alright...so, in order to mine for it, you need workers...so I purchased ponies off the market and have had them hunt for the material.”

“For five years,” the dragon woman replied with a sarcastic, flat tone and a hysteric chuckle, “Oh Really? You’re kidding! I don’t believe you for a second. Is that seriously all you’ve been doing for the last five years? Is there anything else I should know?”

He was too afraid to say anything else, so he tried to reason with her. “...Spitha...put the gun down, and let me explain. I promise I won’t try to hurt you.”

But Spitha refused his statement. “Oh really? Like you haven’t hurt probably hundreds of innocent ponies already?! How are you even treating them down there?! Be honest with me for once in your life, Ron!”

“W-well...I work with the abyssinians to castrate and put them to work--”

“Castrate?!?” the dragon roared and spit fire from her lips, “You’re actively destroying lives and you call yourself a good man?! I...I don’t even know you anymore…”

Rongu would then stand up and try to approach her. “Spithy please, there’s no need for this…”

“Don’t touch me,” she spat gravely, “I trusted you. I moved here with you under the impression that you would repair this run-down, wretched landscape, making everyone’s lives better. But instead, you’ve done nothing but become a part of it…”

“N-no! That’s not true,” he protested with an unconvincing smile, “I just need to find this mineral and get it into active use for Klugetown, then there will be no need for slavery! I swear!”

She started to lower the shotgun. “...And yet you’ve been at this for five years. If we were back home in the Dragon Lands, then you’d certainly be banished for what you’ve done. But since we’re no longer back home...I suppose I have to deal with you myself.”

As soon as Rongu found an opening, he flew forward and tackled Spitha to the floor, knocking the gun out of her hands in the process.

“AGH!”

He tried to pin her to the floor, but their strength was equally matched. Neither could overpower the other with their claws interlocked and collapsed in a struggle. “Spithy, please….I can’t let you expose this to the public, hun. It’s not something that needs to be known by everyone else yet.”

“Oh...really?” she growled as she wrestled against him, “...Something that you needed to keep from me too, huh? Your wife of ten years…” With a swift shift of her leg, she kicked him right in his abdomen, and sent him flying into the nearest wall.

CRASH!

“Oof!” He grunted, and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. “Damn...your kicks are as strong as ever, sweetie.”

“Oh cut the malarkey!” she shouted as she removed her wedding ring from her finger. “Now I see why you’ve never wanted kids. It wasn’t because you were worried about raising them in an environment like this. It was because you knew that you’d be just as bad a father as you are a husband!” She flung the ring in his direction.

Rongu ducked just in time, right before the ring made an impact in the wall hard enough to put a hole through it with a bang! “Ah!”

She took a step closer to him with her horns ablaze. “I’ve written an entire book, and not once have you provided any feedback. I wanted to become an author and write funny stories that the entire population of Klugetown would love. But instead, you’re off making it worse and never considering how I feel. Hell, you don’t even ask about the kids I babysit and how their life has been! And now I know why…”

On the verge of tears, and shaking, Rongu would plea. “...Baby, please...don’t--”

With that, Spitha would storm towards the door. “Well you can forget it. Go tell lies and deceive someone else.”

Unable to take that lying down, Rongu would get up, and shout at her as she left through the door. “...Are you serious? After all I do for you to keep you in a stable home for this long, you just walk out on me? Who do you think is the one keeping the lights on and food on the table?!”

“Food that you barely eat because you’re out messing around as a slavemaster!” Spitha shouted back, and rubbed her claws against her temples. “...No. I can’t do this. I just need time to myself in order to reevaluate what I’m going to do moving forward.” And without another word, she walked down the path of the house towards the hill. In that moment, she had no idea what to think and whether or not Rongu deserved forgiveness was something that she couldn’t exactly figure out right away.

And as his wife left him alone, the gold-colored dragon would flop down upon the couch, sobbing to himself. Only now did he reconsider his actions. Once everything had blown up in his face and he had lost both his job and the woman he loved. The sad part came down to the fact that his ego did not allow him to see reason.

In fact, his main focus was how this had come to pass. Not necessarily why.

“...No….how could this happen? How did she know that I…” And that’s when--like a sack of gemstones--it hit him. The dragon snapped his fingers. “...That wretched furball fleabag pussy of a man! He’s gonna pay for this...”

The dragon didn’t know where Mio lived, which meant that his vengeful search was going to take some time. Even so, he was more than ecstatic to deliver a serving of pain.

“...He ruined me. Well I’m gonna ruin him next. I’m coming for you, bastard.”

The Next Day…

One full day had passed since Celaeno’s vessel had set out for the distant lands beyond Saddle Arabia. Lands only known by Chang Wukong--the sole member on board who was from that region. Now over the ocean, the ship was moving ever closer to their destination.

The atmosphere on the ship was...rigid to put it lightly, but not as bad as the previous day. Roseanne still refused to leave her room, and had made breakfast while everyone else was asleep so that she could return to her quarters in solitude. And due to the estranged nature of the situation, everyone made sure to keep their distance.

Axel, Vido, and Kora would come together to discuss everything that they had endured thus far when they woke up.

“Alright, so once we get this next bounty…” Axel explained, “We’ll be able’ta go where we please. But I think this next place has got some’a them catfolk involved anyhow. I might be able’ta get more info on my folks out of ‘em…”

Kora cracked her knuckles. “Whatever the case, I’m with you all the way, Lord Remington. Those varmints were the reason that my sister is dead. I won’t stop until they’ve all been taken care of.”

“Si, same here,” Vido added. “My papa was more than likely taken by them also. Whatever the case, I’ll see to it that they don’t harm anyone else.”

“...Good. Thanks, ya’ll,” Axel said with a surprisingly convincing amount of conviction. The gunslinger had even surprised himself with how readily he had come to know these two as his allies. Maybe friends even? “...These folks are good in my book. Can I really call ‘em...nah, not right now.”

Just then, a familiar red vulture would push the door open, and enter the room. “Oi. We’re gettin’ close. Hang onto yer knickers lads.”