Chapter I
Young Frost 1st, 145 PIE
The Border of Niln and North Equestria
The chilled air seemed nipped at Applejack's skin like little bugs as her assistant strapped on her bronze plate armor, she was a large woman, with a young face, she had just turned thirty in the spring, she had joined the army as a cavalry soldier when she was but fourteen. The Army of North Equestria was different from most armies on Oriana, as it allowed women among its ranks. Her assistant was a young woman, a personal maid assigned to her by Queen Twilight for this long march.
Her maid had blue skin and bright red hair, she was in her late teens and tall and thin. She wore the blue and white dress of royal maids, which only went to her knees, revealing blue moccasins. She finished strapping the plate armor onto Applejack and handed her a crested Parazan (corinthian) helmet with blue horsehair atop its crest. She placed it on her head, allowing some of her long blonde hair to stick out.
She lifted the visor, revealing her orange face and allowing her to look over the camp as the soldiers began to disassemble and pack up the tents and other assets to their camp. The army dawned similar gear to her, at least the cavalry did, most of the footsoldiers dawned smaller bits of plate armor over mail and wore thick padded trousers. They wore a mix of the newly introduced Morion helmet and the traditional Parazan helmet.
Applejack hated the new Morion helmets, it gave far less protection and was a disgrace to Celestia, who wore it during her historical Siege of Canterlot and her ascension to godhood. They only really gave them to pikemen and riflemen, but they also largely began replacing their mail and plate with black and yellow striped clothes under breastplates. It was a disgrace in her eyes, she was still young yet she knew of the old ways of fighting before the muskets became a staple of combat.
A soldier ran up to her, his skin was white and his hair gay, he wore the new pikemen uniform, the Morion, and striped yellow clothes. He put his gloved hand up in a salute and began to speak in a rushed tone:
"Ma'am, General Match Lock has requested to see you" the soldier then ran off
Applejack gritted her teeth and began the long walk to his tent. His tent was to the northeast of hers, perched on a nearby hill. The tent was red and circular, standing out from the smaller white ones that housed soldiers. She made her way through the tent flap and into the highly decorated room of the tent. It looked like the bedroom of a noble, in the far right corner sat a suit of armor on a stand, it was full plate armor like hers but instead of a Parazan Helmet there sat a Morion with a large red feather sticking out of the tip.
At the center was a round red cloth-covered table with a large map of Niln on top of it. At this table sat the large gray-skinned and black hair man named Match Lock. He was what many would describe as a stuck-up bastard. He was a noble who had joined as a rifleman a mere two years ago and had somehow risen to the rank of commander. This was likely due to his father bribing the Supreme General Markus Vilnius into doing it with large sums of gold.
This allowed the spoiled bastard who'd never even fought in a battle to become one of the highest-ranking commanders in Twilight's Army and he had never swung a sword in battle.
"Ah, I see you got my message" he spoke, every word giving off a self felt a sense of superiority.
"Hello Match" responded Applejack attempting to hide her annoyance
"I'd prefer that you referred to me as General Match Lock, of course, I wouldn't expect a peasant like you"
Applejack was angered by this, this man had seen no combat before was acting as if he were a heroic warrior. He was young, barely old enough to remember the Black War, a four-year-long conflict between North Equestria and Desnia, a neighboring kingdom. It had happened around the time Applejack had turned twenty, it was also when she would meet her good friends and fellow soldiers, Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer.
Had she had the option, she'd be serving with one of them since they all held the same rank. But, sadly Rainbow Dash was dead, cut down in the first battle of this forsaken war, by a general named Hrolki The Long Haired. Sunset, on the other hand, was a whole ocean away on the continent of Katerina, for some expedition of sorts.
So she was now stuck with him and would be for possibly months as they marched through what would soon be the frozen and snow-covered tundra of the aptly named Barbarian Kingdom.
"What do you need of me?" Applejack inquired
"I just wanted you to understand one thing" He stood up and walked over to her "You may be a battle-hardened horse soldier, But I don't want you thinking that it means you can boss me around like one of your soldiers" he turned to walk away but stopped and said "One more thing, would you be so kind as to bring one of my servants in her to ready my armor for me?"
Applejack turned and left the tent, nodding at a servant signaling to go into the tent.
Once reaching her tent she continued getting ready, her servant strapped the scabbard holding her Makhaira and buckled a thick blue cloak to her shoulders. Her shield strap was hooked over her neck and her lance handed to her. She was nearly ready but needed one last weapon, her maid brought over an ebony and gold case with a lock. Applejack reached into the pocket attached to her belt, removing a black skeleton key from its folds.
She inserted it in, turning it with a heavy click. Within this case was a gleaming weapon made of a secretly crafted metal known as Drazad. Its grip and stock were made of wood and it had a flintlock mechanism on its side, its barrel was wide and flared out at the end. She removed it from its case and placed it in a black leather holster, hidden behind her shield. She stepped out of her tent and looked over the massive camp yet again, the sun was now well risen by now.
The camp was largely disassembled by now, the soldiers now lined up for a long march. Their pikes and muskets, spears and shields, horse and cannons. They were ready to march, ready to bring the war to Rignar, and Applejack was ready to lead them.
