The Divide

4

Two things happened the next morning. Of the two, the first thing that happened was that most ponies were talking. She could hear them chatting rather loudly outside of her tent but she fell back into her sleep. The sun hasn't risen up yet, she thought. She and her family generally would wake up at the sight of dawn. The Frozen North however, rarely saw the light of day in all its clarity. None of the Equestrians here were used to the lack of light, as well as the shorter days and longer nights. Not an ideal place for Applejack, even if she was an Earth pony.  The second thing that happened was a rude awakening by a soldier.

He startled her when she heard the ripping sound of the zipper climb up. While the sun was not out like it would be at home, the snow behind him in the camp blinded her, forcing her to cover her eyes.

"Rise and shine, miss. Or should I say 'rise and blind'?" he chuckled. She did not share the same sentiment but he continued, "The captain is gathering mares for the patrol now. He wants you, apparently."

She was adapting to the sudden breach of light and lowered her hoof. "What time is it?"

"0800 hours."

"Ah thought the expedition were to take place in the afternoon."

"Well, I'd assume he wants to start early than later, considering how shorter the day is here in the Frozen North. The last thing anypony would want is to return t'camp when everything's gone pitch dark, the weather can get brutally unforgiving the later it is with the temperature dropping below -10."

“The

As the walked along the company of soldiers prepping for the expedition, she heard the whispers.

"I heard we're going up north. Y'know, that outpost," the soldiers would say. "It's bad up there."

“Uh... Hey there. Would you fellas mind tellin’ me where Captain Badger is at?” she asked

"Come on, fillies. Move out!" she called out to his troops. "Say goodbye to warm food and proper heating  'cause you wont be seeing none of that where we're headin'." He turned back to Applejack, "And where's your helmet, convict?"

Applejack gave Captain Badger a confused look for a moment. She was too bothered by what was occuring in the background and soon found her eyes being pulled to the side. She watched the company that had just begun to stir, gathering up their equipment, strapping theirs rifles, helmets, and other gear, getting ready for another day of routine patrol. She could hear friends separating, bidding farewells and good luck to one another, vows of buying rounds in the bar when they returned going about.

"I can give the hat to the quartermaster for safe keeping, if you want." She suggested. Applejack snapped back to Badger, totally caught off guard.

Nopony has ever really told her what should and shouldn't be on the top of her head, well, except Rarity on several occasions but that usually involved a complete makeover, from head to hoof. In fact, Applejack rarely went anywhere outside or even inside her home without her hat and because no one ever approached her on that subject, she never had to think about it. It was her family hat after all and she'd go on about it had it not been for Badger breaking her train of thought.

"Well?"

"The hat stays, Captain."

"There's no lost and found here in the Frozen North, but I think you're a grown mare." He smirked, turning in the other direction to . "I like you kid. You're the best entertainment