Rulers of Earthius: Dawn of the North

The city of Canterlot was a grand city, its palace was washed with white and gold, sitting atop a mountain with a grand sprawling metropolis below. An ancient city grown in size by its trade, it was the trade center of Western Oriana it was home to little poverty, its buildings were painted the same as the palace with brilliant white and gold colors.

It is said that no one is Poor in Canterlot and the very reason could be because it is home to the greatest trade of any landlocked city. It is a city that is ruled by the merchant class, numbering in the thousands, a diverse city of goods from across the continent, swirling with legends of distant lands and grand cities to the east.

The city is the home of Queen Twilight, a distant relative of the last queen of Equestria who is young at only thirty years of age, she has a youthful face with violet skin and hair that was of a violet hue with lighter streaks, she wore a white and gold silk dress, matching the palace in color. Her throne room was brilliant purple and decorated with stained glass windows of the history of her kingdom, with the twin alicorn banner of North Equestria behind her golden throne, it was indeed the sign of a wealthy kingdom.

Youngsun 4th, 145 PIE

Palace of the Sun, Canterlot, Equestria

The sun rose over the horizon, hitting the palace and reflecting its sparkling light over the city. As the sun broke the horizon, the grand bell of the clock tower at the city's center tolled, signaling that it was now morning. Queen Twilight walked into her throne room, taking her place on her throne. Her Equin Bronze-clad guards stood next to the white door at the front of the room, keeping their bronze glaives stuck to the floor, facing forward their faces concealed by crested helms marked by blue hair.

Twilight was ready to greet her soldiers when the white doors swung open and a courier burst through, he wore a brown tunic and gray trousers with black shoes, he was older with gray hair and clutched a rolled piece of parchment, sealed with the crossed wolf of Niln and a burlap sack in the other.

"[M'lady, the King of the North sends a message to thee]" he bespoke to her in the Northern Tongue, she understood little of what he said, instead opting to rip the parchment from his hand and to read.

It was written in the merchant's tongue and read short "You have brought war upon your people and upon your kingdom, my mercy is minimal and the wrath of the gods shall befall upon thee," she crumpled the letter in her hand, rage filling her eyes, she grabbed the sack from the courier's hands and remove the heavy object from its binds. In her hands was a blood-stained helmet of one of her soldiers, a black crossed wolf painted on its face.

Out of blind fury, she threw the helmet over the courier and down the hallway before the throne room, it clattered on the hard ground. She turned away from the door and made her way back to her golden throne, sitting herself down once again before saying:

"If its war he wants, it is a war he shall receive,"

Two golden carriages rode through the east gate of Canterlot followed by two horse riders dawning the golden cloak of generals and full Equin Bronze Armor. They made it to the steps of the great city, out from the first golden carriage climbed a young lady wearing a pink noble dress and a gold and platinum necklace going down her chest, her skin was bright pink and a full head of curly pink hair.

She was part of a powerful house in the city of Rockville at the foot of the Stone Hills, her family-owned many mines near the city, making her family the most powerful of the noble houses in the City. She was known for her taste for sweets and baked goods it is even said that the manor she lives in just beyond the walls of Rockville has five kitchens within. Despite her supposed obsession with baked goods, she was quite thin with a curved figure.

Following behind her was Fluttershy, her background was mysterious to pretty much all. The names of her parents were unknown, it seemed she had just appeared in Canterlot one day. She was small and thin, with long flowing pink hair and light yellow skin, and seemed to walk with a limp. Despite her mysterious origins, she was fairly wealthy, living in a manor on the edge of the large and expansive Everfree Forest with her manor supposedly overflowing with animals.

The two generals climbed down from their horses, removing their crested helmets. One was General Applejack, her hair was long and blonde tied up in a ponytail with paler skin. She was well built from her years as a soldier, it was known she had no real home but mostly stayed in the fort of Brastwin in the south close to Cloudsdale. She was a member of House Apple, the northern region was where she was raised, but her family farm burned down around the years 130 PIE when a battle was waged between Equin soldiers and Wolf Soldier in which her parents died.

Applejack was a veteran of the Morion War and was known for being against the modernization of the army. Rainbow Dash stood at her side, a general like her with short rainbow-colored hair and bright blue skin, she was born to a wandering family in Cloudsdale on the southern coast. She lived a life on the road, traveling across Equestria and Oriana.

She was only on the Council of Harmony that had gone beyond the Stone Hills, she was famous for this, people often asked her to tell tales of the lands beyond the mountainous peaks of the Stone Hills. The council entered the War Room within the palace, it was a round dark blue room, lit by a large chandelier above a round stone table. Around this stone, table were six chairs marked with the symbol of everyone's house.

Twilight sat at the table, her wife and second queen Rarity sat next to her left, and a Royal Guard to her right. The Royal Guard was General Venius Lunius from Callamar, a distant land to the north of Oriana, a bitter and cold land. He was fair-skinned like the Northerners but in true Callamarin fashion, he kept his facial hair sparse unlike the Northerners who saw beards as a sign of manhood, he also kept his hair short and well-combed again like Callamarin tradition.

The Council sat at their respective chairs around the table. Twilight stood up and placed her hands on the table, a look of immense focus on her face. A few moments later, an ethereal image of a map appeared on the table, its smoky image soon shifted to form a map of Niln with all its mountains and forests and plains. Twilight sat herself down and began to speak:

"As you may know by the message my doves have sent you, King Rignar of Niln has declared war on our nation," she grabbed a wand-like tool that had been sitting on the table and began pointing to certain areas "This city is Deildunga," she pointed to a city in the southwest "It is one of the twelve major cities in Niln and is ruled over by House Catstooth" a red banner depicting an orange saber cats head appeared over the city.

She moved her wand further west to a city on the coast "This is West Shore, a major port city with a large shipyard ruled over by House Seafinder" a blue banner with a white coiled serpent appeared over the city. She moved her wand over further east "This is Myrr, House Elkhorn Rules over it" a dark green banner depicting a white eight-pointed set of antlers appeared over.

"What do we need to know this for?" asked Rainbow Dash curiously but almost annoyed "Are we planning an invasion?"

"No" responded Twilight "But General Venius says it is likely that we won't be seeing the full force of the army at this point"

Venius bespoke in the formal manner he had obtained from years in Equestria "I believe that we will see little of the official organized army, but instead we will see a force of possibly these three cities combined since they are closest to the border,"

"And what brings you to that conclusion 'scholar'?" questioned Applejack

"I have studied the tactics of Niln for years, the Military Academy of Callamar has a library filled with strategies of near all armies on Earthius, I have studied through volumes about their battle tactics from their times as raiders on the coasts of the eight continents, to their conquest of East Olma, and I have known that most of their fighting is done by lords and their private armies, even in the Imperial Days," responded Venius

"But do you know who this man is, we are talking about Rignar II here" Responded Rainbow Dash, in her years of travel she had gathered much knowledge about the Kings of Niln "He is a hulking beast of a man, taller than most Northerners when he was a teenager, he supposedly slew a White Bear with only a long ax, while in hiding after his brother claimed he'd died, he became known as the Butcher of the North when his brother tried to overthrow his rule and he executed him and his conspirators," Rainbow Dash finished her story and sat back in her chair

"Do you think he'll come down here and fight our army himself?" he laughed loudly "We have some of the best horsemen and soldiers in the West of Oriana," He proudly exclaimed, "and what makes you think that because he would slay his own brother he wouldn't shy away from the older traditions?" He asked Rainbow Dash, unmoving from his position "I believe I've heard a tale in fact, that says he wishes to restore their old Empire or 'Grand Kingdom', am I right in this?"

Before it could get any more heated, Twilight stepped in and put a stop to it "Quiet the two of you, we don't have time for silly games of who knows more, we need to focus" she pointed at Pinkie Pie who shot up and put her hand up in a salute with her usual joyous smile upon her face "Your family and the other mines in Rockville will be responsible for providing the metal for our soldier's weapons and armor"

"Okie Dokie!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie gleefully

She moved her wand to Fluttershy said "You are a healer, you will stay here at the palace and train new healers,"

"B-but what of the animals at my home?" asked Fluttershy in her meek voice

"Your servants will have to take care" responded Twilight "You will remain here until further notice," she pointed her wand at Applejack and Rainbow Dash "You will command my Army, they are at your will and will answer to you" they saluted and removed themselves from their chairs, all except for Fluttershy got up and left the chamber, Twilight sat down and whispered to herself "They will not take our kingdom, I'll see to it until my dying breath"

It is said that before sailing North to Callimar, Germylor the North Raider told his men that if they fall they shall go to a grand hall known as Kanhallo, to the Northerners, even their enemies will go there if they fought bravely. After all, there are no enemies once they are dead.