Advent Of A Gunslinger

In Caninia…

Katherina Proudpaws--one of the various Lady Diamond Dog rulers of Caninia’s Round Table would soon receive information from a messenger that was brought to her throne room. A pair of very tall, muscular female guards brought him into the room.

“State your business,” the blue dog commanded.

The snow-leopard tom opened a scroll and spoke. “Ahem...on behalf of Abyssinia, we would like to formally request aid in the restoration of Klugetown.”

“Klugetown?” Katherina repeated as she buried her face in her paws, “Not that backwater location...are they still trying desperately to hang onto it?”

“It’s a matter of safety,” the leopard messenger countered, “If that place is allowed to become any more of a threat, we’ll all suffer from attacks on all angles.”

The queen dog sighed as she casually rested the side of her head in the palm of her paw. “While I’d love to help, we’re currently dealing with an...equivalent issue.”

“An equivalent issue?” the messenger flicked his tail, “Would you care to elaborate?”

“Hunter,” Kath called out to one of her guard ladies, “Show this kind gentleman a map please.”

The large dog guard reached behind her queen’s throne and opened a scroll which contained a map of the diamond dog’s kingdom.

To which the queen pointed out a southwestern portion of the map. “Down here. What we refer to as the Junker Yard. There lies a problem for Canina that affects us similarly to how Klugetown affects Abyssinia.”

The messenger took a closer look and upon doing so, he already had the problem figured out. “...Rogues? A band of rebels?”

“Yes. Albeit something far more severe than you’d expect,” Katherina continued, “Down there is an autonomous region of sorts. Diamond Dogs who have refused the concept of domestication and instead remain tied to their...primal instincts.”

“...Go on?” the leopard man requested, now more invested than before.

The blue dog queen was a bit hesitant, unable to explain herself properly. “Well...er…”

Moments later, another one of the Dog Queens would enter the room. A large, husky-like dog woman with the iconic black and white fur color: Indiana Embereyes. “Hang on, ya’ll,” she said as she stepped forward, effectively taking over, “Kat has a hard time dealing with dirty topics. Let me explain.”

The blue, saluki-like queen growled in response to the nickname. “How many times have I told you not to call me that?”

“Several,” the husky replied and immediately turned her attention to the abyssinian messenger, “Anyway. To make a long story short, the bitches that live down there are rumored to drag anyone that ventures too close and keep them as living breeding tools.”

The messenger hissed, nearly gagging in response. “W...what? Breeding tools...that’s just horrid. And inhumane.”

“We know,” Indiana replied, “But there ain’t much we can do. The Junkyard is completely out of our paws. Which are already full dealing with keeping our borders safe unfortunately.”

The leopard sighed to himself. Annoyed at having to be the bearer of bad news, but since their paws were tied, he had to accept it. “...Underst--”

But before the situation could conclude itself, someone else suddenly burst into the room. A short, and slightly chubby golden-brown poodle woman wearing a black business suit and a pair of rounded glasses. “E-excuse me, everyone! Sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem!”

Katherina turned her attention to her advisor. “What is it, Maple?”

The poodle continued--her tail wagging frantically. “We’ve just received a report that the Federal Reserve Bank has just been robbed!”

“What?!” Indiana barked, “But that’s impossible! There’s no way anyone can break into or out of that place!”

“T-they must’ve had some help from the inside!” Maple added, “Only a pawful of people even know the codes to get into the treasury in the first place. This needs your attention right away!”

“Of course,” Katherina looked at the abyssinian messenger, “Apologies but we simply cannot assist you right now. This is something that demands our immediate attention.”

“Understood,” the leopard man nodded, “Apologies for bothering you.”

The blue dog queen got up from her throne and beckoned her amazon-canine guards to follow her. “Hunter. Killer. Follow me.”

Both guards saluted and followed the two queens and royal advisor out of the room, leaving the messenger to see himself out.

Back in Ornithia…

The young finch man known as Stratus gave the details of the bounty to both Axel and Kora. In a nutshell?

“Gangsters that are all over an area known as the Junker Yard or Junkyard for short,” he continued, “Rumor has it that they rob whoever gets too close and keep ‘em captive for slavin’. Ponies travellin’ towards Caninia are the most common targets.”

“...Gah…” Axel squawked under his breath, “I knew it. This shit is pervasive in the most damnin’ of ways.”

“How so, sir?” Stratus asked, “Have you seen other slave laborin’ skullduggery ‘round these parts?”

“Not here, but rather…”

As Axel and Stratus continued to speak to each other about the slave trade that had made its way across the entire Southern Hemisphere, Kora was frozen in place, unable to think about anything else but the Diamond Dogs that they were potentially going to deal with.

“...Not them again. I can’t fight them. They’re way too powerful and they’ll only hurt us like they did to Maxine and I…”

Moments later, she’d be snapped out of her stupor once the young finch man caught her attention. “Ms. Kora? You okay?”

“HHHHH!” she reacted with a violent hiss with her fur standing up on end, “Oh...ahem. My apologies, Sir Stratus. I was just...lost in thought on my own for a moment.”

“Don’t wanna deal with no diamond dogs, huh?” he nodded, “I feel ya. They scare the bejeebus outta me too.”

“...They do?” she tilted her head with an inquisitive mewl.

“Fer sure,” he replied, “But that’s the first step towards gettin’ stronger, ain’t it? Admittin’ that ya scared and powerin’ on through like a buffalo through a corn maze.”

Kora giggled at his analogy. “I...yes. That makes sense. I’m just worried since I...I’ve had a bad experience with diamond dogs in the past. So I’m not quite sure how I’d react if I were faced with them today.”

Stratus put a claw on her shoulder and whispered. “...Can I let ya in on a lil secret?”

“Hm?”

“I’m mighty afraid of them dogies as well,” he explained with a shudder, “Bleegh...some of ‘em are fine, but them Junkyard dogs be mean. That ain’t somethin’ I’d wanna get involved in. So the fact that ya’ll are goin’ speaks volumes.”

Axel would weigh in next, “I s’pose. We ain’t exactly doin’ all this fer show. We’re here’ta get shit done.”

“Essentially what he said,” Kora added, “I appreciate your pep talk, friend. Nothing will prevent us from stopping those fiends.”

Stratus kept walking, leading them towards the guild stand. “Well if that’s the case, ya’ll are as good as gold. This bounty here is worth millions.”

“Well now....” Axel stopped and scoffed. “Millions? Guess they a bigger threat than I thought…”

“...hggg…” Kora grumbled to herself as she stared at the ground. “Such a numerical value makes me feel uneasy. I wonder what sort of tactics we’ll be up against.”

“Whatever the case,” Axel replied confidently, “We ain’t gon’ let it get to us. Especially if pony-folk are still sufferin’ out there.”

Moments later, Vido would appear, landing next to them all. “Sup, compadres? I picked out the airship that I wanted. What’s our next objective?”

“Right here,” Stratus handed them the bounty flyer with the face of a mean-looking hyena-like diamond dog. “Ejei is her name. She’s one of the ringleaders over near Caninia. If you can stop her, then maybe there’s hope for this world yet.”

“Hm...looks rather intimidating,” Vido commented while inspecting the face on the flyer. “But we’ve been through much worse together, haven’t we? We’ll be able to handle this no problem.”

“..I’m glad you’re confident, Lord Magpie,” Kora replied, “I’m still largely unsure.”

“We ain’t gon’ know until we get out there,” Axel said to rally them, “Soon as ya’ll are ready, let’s head out.”