The rooster crowed with the first rays of sun, its voice loud enough to raise the dead. It would surely have woken up Applejack, if she hadn’t done so on her own a couple of minutes ago. She was simply enjoying the last moments of rest before the day started.

The mare sighed — the hay bed was so soft and warm — and climbed down to the floor. After some hearty stretching to get the morning stiffness out of her body, Applejack looked out of the window. The sky was clear so far, though it wasn’t guaranteed it would remain that way for the whole day.

Good weather was especially important today — it was the first day of harvest.

A slight frown touched the pony’s face. Applejack hadn’t had time to prepare her tools yesterday. Granny had thought it would be a darn good idea to send her to entertain the prissy unicorn from the capital. Though considering whose daughter the pony was, Granny had been right to send somepony she could trust. Besides, the unicorn lad wasn’t quite as bad as Applejack had feared.

Given the chance, they might even become friends…

“Don’t be silly, Applejack,” she told herself sternly. “She may seem decent, but she’s still one of them.”

Throwing Rarity out of her mind, Applejack walked into the corridor. She knocked on the door opposite to her own room and put her ear to the surface, waiting. Her filly sister always needed some encouragement in the morning. After Applejack had heard her sister’s little hooves hit the floor, she left her be.

Going downstairs, Applejack found Granny Smith already busy in the kitchen.

“Howdy, Granny,” she nodded to the older mare. “Need some help?”

Granny shook her head, grumbling something without stopping her work.

Applejack shrugged, trotting past her to the outside. The mare took a lungful of fresh autumn air, feeling a breeze blowing through her coat. She could have stood like that for a while simply enjoying the morning, but there was work for her to do.

Walking around her house, Applejack approached a large door at the back. Half of the first floor had been made into a workshop where the Apples kept their instruments and did some necessary repairs from time to time. She frowned when she heard a sound coming from inside. Suspecting who she’d find in there, Applejack entered.

She found her big brother — Big Macintosh — there, just as she’d expected. He was sharpening her sickle, something she was supposed to have done yesterday. He stopped for a moment to give Applejack a greeting nod and resumed his work.

“Howdy, Big Mac,” Applejack nodded back.

Her brother continued working in silence.

“I appreciate ya doin’ my work for me and all, but I can do it myself,” she said, approaching the red stallion.

“Eeyup.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows and waited for half a minute, but Big Mac didn’t stop.

“Well, I owe you one then,” Applejack sighed. There was no arguing with her stubborn brother; she’d better settle on repaying him the favor later.

She kept him company while he was working. He mostly listened while she talked about stuff, adding his eeyups and nopes when appropriate. Soon, however, Big Mac was done. The siblings went outside, where Applejack waited for her brother to take a quick shower that they’d set up a few years back. It was a simple one — just a barrel on wooden legs with some holes in the bottom.

Apple Bloom, the youngest member of the family, was already sitting at the table when Applejack and Big Mac finally entered the kitchen. She had started on her breakfast — fried hay with boiled eggs — without waiting for her siblings to show up. Granny put their own portions on the table, mumbling something about lazy youngsters.

“So, Applejack, ya still haven’t told me how the yesterday went,” Granny said after everypony was seated. “How’d that lady like this here little village?”

“Fine, I guess,” Applejack shrugged, chewing slowly. “She liked our apples, at least.”

“Well, it ain’t no surprise!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, grinning widely. “Everypony likes our apples.”

“Yep,” Big Mac confirmed.

The orchard had been planted by Granny’s own parents and had been the Apple family’s pride ever since, being one of the largest orchards around these parts.

“Hadn’t she ever tasted them before?” Granny Smith frowned. “Seeing as half our produce goes to her House!”

Granny was exaggerating, as only one forth of their produce would go to House Belle, who owned their whole village, including the orchard. Nopony liked to give up the fruits of their labor, but at least House Belle actually did help the village whenever they needed it, unlike some other Houses.

“It ain’t fair,” Apple Bloom said. “Why don’t we own our land? We work on it, so it should be ours. That’s what I think.”

“Now, Apple Bloom, that’s how it’s always b—”

“Doesn’t mean it’s right,” the filly interrupted, pouting her lips. “Sorry, Granny.”

“It’s okay, young’un,” Granny Smith waved her hoof.

Applejack shared her little sister’s opinion, though she usually kept it to herself. It wasn’t like she was able to change the current state of affairs yet, so what was the point in complaining?

“We’re gonna buy the land for ourselves soon, Apple Bloom,” Applejack consoled the filly.

Soon the meal was finished and it was time for harvest day to start.

Everypony was out in the field today. Being chosen as the harvest leader for this year — and the two years before that — Applejack was responsible for organizing the work. She had split the ponies into teams, giving each one a part of the field to harvest.

“Don’t overwork yourself again, Green Beans,” Applejack patted the older stallion on his back before he left with his team. “You’re not a young colt anymore.”

The pony chuckled. “I’m not a slacker, but I’ll do my best.”

They exchanged grins.

Harvest had began.

It would usually take a full week to go through all their fields and Applejack was determined to keep them on schedule. Even be ahead of it if possible. After all, the sooner they finished, the faster she and her brother would begin applebuck season.

Applejack led her own team to their designated area where they started immediately. It was hard, monotonous work. After the first hour, everypony was a little tired, but nopony dared to complain when their leader pushed herself even harder, so they had no choice but to follow her example.

Only her horse of a brother could keep up with her.

With two such powerful workers in their midst, the team had advanced much further through the field than all the others. However, after another hour of hard work, something had happened to interrupt their smooth progress.

“You all must go to the village right away,” a winded mare told them, stopping after a full gallop.

“What?” Applejack frowned, giving the mare a stare. “What for?”

“Some soldiers have arrived,” the mare shrugged. “They have some important announcement to make and they ordered everypony to be there.”

Applejack frown deepened. No soldiers had ever come to their little village. As much as she hated delaying their work, ignoring them would be unwise. As the mare ran off to get the other, Applejack faced the rest of her team who were all looking at her with a question in their eyes.

“Well, let’s go then.”

The walk back to the village was a short one. Applejack noticed the gathering at once. It was hard to miss a crowd at the edge of the village — pretty much every elder or younger pony who couldn’t work on the fields was already there.

She hadn’t been able to see the soldiers behind the crowd until she got close. A group of a dozen armored soldiers was standing at some distance. They had their helmets off and were chatting with each other, sometimes casting their looks at the villagers.

While her teammates joined the gathering, Applejack approached the green-coated armored unicorn she had guessed was in charge, while being backed by her brother. The stallion was standing slightly away from the others, watching the crowd. He turned his head to the siblings as they got near, his gaze lingering on Applejack’s flanks a little longer than was polite.

“Howdy there, sir,” Applejack began, unperturbed by such attention. “I wanna ask why you’re here.”

“I’ll explain it once everypony gets here, farm girl,” the soldier said, flickering a glance at her flank once more. “Go wait with the others.”

Applejack gritted her teeth at the dismissive tone of the soldier. She exchanged a look with her brother and turned around, making sure her tail was close to her body — she didn’t want to give that soldier a good view. The mare relaxed only when she was among the crowd.

The ponies were talking around her, each one having their own theory as to why the soldiers were here. Applejack was silent and simply waited for the workers to return from the fields. Soon, it looked like the whole village — about two hundreds ponies — had gathered before the soldiers.

At that moment, the leader of the soldiers stepped forward and stomped his hoof on the ground until he had gotten everypony’s attention.

“Listen up here, villagers, I’ve got some news for you!” he announced in a loud voice. “The High Council has ordered us to expand our army, which means that we need new recruits. I’ll welcome any volunteers, but if I don’t get enough, I can conscript whoever I need.”

The crowd erupted in protest. Nopony had ever been conscripted from their village as long as Applejack could remember. Unlike most of the other noble houses, House Belle usually allowed the villages under their rule to pick their own ponies for the army.

Why would House Belle suddenly change their approach?

Applejack had heard about a war with the griffons a couple of years back, but that couldn’t have been the reason, since the war had long since been over. Whatever the reason was, the mare was infuriated along with everypony else. Conscription right on the first day of harvest — it was outrageous!

It was at that moment that Lady Rarity arrived.

Applejack moved aside with the rest to let the elegant mare pass, watching her talk with the soldiers with some hope. The crowd went silent, so that they could hear every word that was being exchanged. Lady Rarity told the soldier’s leader that he had no right to conscript here. Unfortunately, he then presented some paper that made the mare change her opinion.

“Everypony, I’m afraid Sergeant Sharp is allowed to conscript here,” Lady Rarity said, flattening her ears from the villagers’ enraged response. “I’m sorry, but this is out of my hooves!”

“Boo,” Applejack joined the others as she glared at the white unicorn.

Lady Rarity’s guards stepped in front of her, but it didn’t stop the villagers from throwing their insults at both her and the soldiers behind her.

“You can’t avoid it, so let’s get it over with!” the sergeant yelled.

“Buck you!” Applejack’s neighbor yelled back at him.

Sergeant Sharp snapped his gaze at the pony and lit up his horn. As Applejack opened her mouth to warn her comrade, a beam of magic shot from his horn, throwing the poor pony backwards. He hit the ground hard and groaned in pain.

Everything was still then. The crowd was stunned — nopony had ever seen a unicorn’s magic being used with such ease. The dozen or so of the village’s native unicorns could barely move objects with levitation, but to see a full-grown pony being sent flying...

The sergeant ordered everypony to form a line and the crowd moved in compliance. Applejack glanced at Rarity, who looked sullen after having exchanged a few heated words with the sergeant. The lady didn’t approve of the soldier’s harsh actions and Applejack appreciated it, but she was still mad at the mare for her House’s broken promise. For a brief moment their eyes met, but Applejack quickly broke contact.

“What now, Applejack?” her brother asked.

The mare shrugged, watching Lady Rarity retreating along with her bodyguards. “Nothin’.”

Big Mac dropped his ears, but nodded resignedly. As soon as they had formed the line, Sergeant Sharp quickly dismissed the elderly and those who were too young and began walking back and forth, examining the ponies like items on a market. Applejack’s heart froze when he reached Big Mac.

“You’re quite a big guy, aren’t you?” he said, sizing him up. “We can use your type in the army.”

The stallion sighed and nodded. Applejack saw where this was going and she couldn’t allow it. She moved herself between her brother and the sergeant, looking directly in the latter’s eyes. The soldier recoiled, reaching for his sword, but Applejack made no further moves.

“Is he your coltfriend or something?” Sergeant Sharp smirked, regaining his posture.

Applejack’s face grew red.

“He’s my brother, ya dolt,” she explained, keeping her voice even. “And he won’t go to your darn army.”

“It’s fine. I’ll go.”

“No, you won’t!” Applejack stared back at her brother. “Who’s gonna harvest all those apples? I certainly can’t do that alone.”

The sergeant, getting annoyed at the interruption, put his hoof on Applejack’s chest to get her attention, having to weather a hard stare from both the mare and her brother in return. He put his hoof down but didn’t back down.

“It’s my decision, girl,” Sergeant Sharp stated firmly and then winked. “Unless you have something else to offer.”

“I don’t,” Applejack shook her head. “But he can’t go. Our family needs him at home.”

“I couldn’t care less, farm girl. He looks like good soldier material, so I’m taking him.”

“No, you won’t,” Applejack furrowed her brows and stomped the ground with her hoof.

The sergeant took a step back in surprise. The girl was acting foolishly stubborn, but he liked her attitude anyway. It would be a challenge to drill her into a good soldier, but he would certainly enjoy doing that. Besides, she looked prettier than her mountain of a brother.

Reconsidering his earlier decision, Sergeant Sharp smiled.

“Okay, I won’t take him,” he said, relishing her shocked look. “I think I’ll take you instead.”

Everypony around her gasped. Applejack opened her mouth, but no sound came out, as she was dumbfounded by the sudden change.

“I won’t take no for an answer, girl,” Sergeant Sharp continued. “If you care about your family so much, you’d better stop being so stubborn.”

Applejack flattened her ears.

The mare saw steel in the sergeant’s eyes and realized that he wasn’t fooling around. Well, at least she had gotten what she had wanted — Big Mac wasn’t being conscripted anymore. Applejack could see in her brother’s eyes that he didn’t like that unexpected turn, but he stayed silent.

Hanging her head low, Applejack joined a growing group of conscripts. There were about two dozen of them when Sergeant Sharp was done, with most of them being stallions. In fact, only she and two other ponies were mares among the group. Applejack didn’t know anypony close, but she would have been able to recall each conscript’s name if she’d tried.

The crowd was dismissed, but some ponies whose relatives had been conscripted lingered behind. Big Mac looked at his sister and Applejack could see despair in his eyes. Her own heart clenched with worry, but she put on a brave face for his sake.

“Go tell Granny what happened here,” she told him.

The stallion nodded and galloped to do just that.

The sergeant had been kind enough to allow conscripts to say a proper goodbye to their families, though he gave just three hours to do that. That short time had flown by fast, since Applejack knew she wouldn’t be seeing her family again for five years — that was how much a pony was required to serve once they had joined.

The whole Apple family had gathered in the kitchen. Nopony was talking, as everything had been said already. Apple Bloom was sobbing quietly, with tears streaming down her face, while Granny Smith and Big Mac held stoic expressions.

“C’mon, ponies, I don’t want my last day here to be like that,” Applejack finally said, raising her head and giving each member of her family a long look. “It’s not like I’m dying, for apple’s sake! I’ll be back eventually.”

“But I don’t want you to go at all,” Apple Bloom uttered through her sobbing, looking at her sister with big, wet eyes.

Applejack’s heart clenched, but she tried to keep her voice steady as she answered:

“I don’t want to go either, sugarcube. But I have to.”

“I… I don’t want you to go…”

A gloomy silence hung over them once more, until Granny Smith decided to interrupt it.

“We’ll take good care of the orchard, dontcha you worry ‘bout that, dearie.”

“Eeyup.”

“I appreciate that,” Applejack nodded, forcing a smile. She glanced at the sun outside. “Well, I guess it’s time.”

Applejack stood up and the rest did the same. She gave her little sister a tight hug, whispering assurances into her ear. Apple Bloom didn’t want to let go, but Applejack gently removed her hooves from around her neck and nuzzled her cheek.

She gave Granny Smith a hug too and then it was finally Big Mac’s turn. They exchanged a hug that would crush a lesser pony and kept it up for a while, until Applejack disengaged from his grip.

“No point in dragging it out, folks,” she said. “Goodbye.”

Giving them one last glance, Applejack turned around and walked out of the door.

She was the last pony to return.

A small crowd of ponies had gathered there to say goodbye to their friends and relatives. Applejack had asked her own family to stay back at the farm — she didn’t want to burst into tears in front of everypony.

The sergeant frowned at her, but Applejack couldn’t care less at the moment. Her thoughts were still with her family. She had no idea if she would even see them again. A lot could happen in five years. Applejack was no fool and realized that the army had to be building up was for a reason.

It was no good asking the sergeant about it. She knew he would likely refuse to talk, even if he knew anything about it at all. The simple soldiers that had come along with him might be more approachable, but they were keeping their distance from the conscripts.

“Let’s move up, fillies and colts,” Sergeant Sharp announced with false cheerfulness. “I want to be at the camp by nightfall.”

Applejack frowned. She didn’t know of any military camps except the big one near Birminghoof. If that was the one the sergeant had meant, they would have to really push themselves to get there this fast. It wasn’t a problem for Applejack, of course, but she was worried about some of her comrades.

The sergeant cantered in the lead, with the conscripts following him. The regular soldiers — mostly earth ponies — were moving separately from the rest. Nopony was inclined to chat, as everypony was concentrating on the actual running, so the only sound Applejack heard was a steady clop of dozens of hooves on the dirt road.

A couple of hours later, Applejack’s fears had been confirmed. One of the stallions who had been running close to her was panting heavily. Despite that, the stubborn pony tried to keep up with the rest for another half-hour until he finally began to fall back. Soon, the sergeant noticed it and stopped the whole group.

“I thought you earth ponies were supposed to be strong,” the unicorn raised a lone eyebrow as he approached the exhausted pony. “I guess I was wrong.”

“I…just need… some rest,” the pony managed to push through his teeth, trying to catch his breath.

“We need a break,” another conscript said.

“Be an equine!” somepony else screamed.

Sergeant Sharp stomped his hoof hard on the ground, making everypony shut up. He gave them a look, lingering his eyes on Applejack for a brief moment, and returned his full attention to the tired stallion.

“You’re expected to run three times as much in heavy armor in the army,” he told him flatly. The pony gulped. “But I realize that you, you worthless piece of dirt, are not up to our standards yet. All of you must get to the camp in one piece, so I’ll give you a half-hour break.”

The ponies practically dropped on the road right where they were standing. Applejack settled on some grass to the side too, though she wasn’t really tired. Not after her hour-long running she would do almost every morning. She’d had to skip one today because of the harvest, unfortunately.

The regular soldiers kept themselves at some distance from the conscripts as usual, chatting with each other. They didn’t seem out of breath, either.

Applejack never took her eyes off the sergeant, however. She didn’t like his lustful looks, so she kept an eye on him. He seemed to be ignorant of her close attention, as he was talking about something with his soldiers. Applejack swiveled her ears in their direction but couldn’t quite distinguish their words.

“What do you think happened, Applejack? I thought House Belle didn’t do conscription in their villages,” one of the conscripted mares said, coming closer.

“Your guess is as good as mine, eh… Grassy Hills,” Applejack answered, hoping that she’d remembered the name right.

She pretended to listen as the chatty mare was sharing her theories, but her thoughts had actually wandered to her family again. How would they go through the applebuck season without her? Little Apple Bloom would have to step up. Poor filly.

Then Applejack’s thoughts went to Lady Rarity.

Even though she was still angry at her, she knew that the young unicorn wasn’t in charge of House Belle and had appeared to be just as surprised as everypony else when the soldiers had arrived. It was unfair of Applejack to blame her after she’d tried to help, even though she had failed.

Soon, break time was up. They continued on their way, but this time the sergeant was moving a little bit slower. As the hours went by, Applejack couldn’t help but be impressed with Sergeant Sharp’s stamina. Even the soldiers were winded after a long run, but this pony kept going. The farm mare hadn’t expected this from a unicorn.

The group stopped for a few more breaks along the way. The sun was about to set when Sergeant Sharp finally announced they were close. Applejack could see a city on the horizon, but the camp was apparently much closer.

The sergeant led them off the main road onto a smaller one and after ten more minutes of calm trotting they had arrived at a slightly rusty iron gate. Applejack read the words East Tail above it. She guessed it was what the camp was called.

Two guards were standing at both sides of the gate. The sergeant gave them a nod and turned turned to address the conscripts.

“East Tail is the best training camp in the country, fillies and colts,” Sergeant Sharp said, though most of the conscripts were too exhausted to pay any attention. “You’re going to be assigned to your barracks and tomorrow morning I’ll start shaping you into proper soldiers. Is that clear?”

The ponies mumbled something in return and the sergeant frowned.

“First rule — you’re supposed to answer “Yes, sir!” when your superior asks you something. I repeat, is that clear?!”

“Yes, sir,” most of the ponies joined in a chorus of voices, but he the sergeant wasn’t satisfied.

“Better. But still not good enough. I’ll ask one more time and you’d better answer — Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” this time everypony, including Applejack, roared as one. Sergeant Sharp nodded with a tiny smile on his lips.

“Good.”

The camp was spread out over a big area. Dozens of rectangular, wooden barracks built on its ground would have fit hundreds of soldiers, but most of them looked vacant. In fact, Applejack got the impression that most of the camp was empty.

After dismissing the soldiers, who quickly disappeared into one of the closest barracks, Sergeant Sharp led the conscripts down the main street. Soon, they had stopped in front of a building that looked no different from its neighbors. Ordering the conscripts to wait outside, the sergeant entered it alone.

Applejack glanced at the sign over the door — Administration, it said. The mare raised her eyebrows in surprise. She would have expected whoever was in charge of the whole camp to have a nicer place for themselves than this shack. Even their simple homes back at the village looked like an architectural marvel compared to these utilitarian structures.

Sergeant Sharp returned about ten minutes later, holding a scroll in his magic. He narrowed his eyes at the conscripts.

“Do any of you fools know how to read?”

The ponies muttered, shaking their heads. It was a rare pony at the village who had such a skill. The government considered it a waste funding a school for simple ponies. Whoever wanted to learn how to read, had to do it on their own. Or pay a lot of bits for a private tutor, which wasn’t really an option for most.

“I thought so,” the sergeant sighed, flickering his tail.

“Well, I know how to read,” Applejack answered after some hesitation.

The soldier turned his head towards her, frowning. He cleared his throat, glaring at the mare silently, until she’d realized her slip.

“I know how to read, sir,” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Good girl,” he nodded, giving her the scroll. Applejack barely caught it in her teeth. “You’ll find the number of your barracks in them. I also want you to write down everypony’s names and such. You do that while I take care of some other business.”

Having said that, the sergeant trotted away, leaving a befuddled Applejack and a bunch of conscripts in the middle of the unfamiliar camp. Everypony looked at Applejack for directions.

“Okay then,” Applejack shrugged, putting the scroll on the ground and holding it with her hoof. “Hmm, lemme see…”

She slowly read the address at the top of the scroll, memorizing it. The rest of it was empty. Applejack frowned — Granny Smith had taught her how to read pretty well, but writing stuff… That was a different matter. She picked the scroll up, deciding to think about it later.

“Damn, I’m hungry,” somepony murmured. Applejack fully shared that sentiment.

Unfortunately, Sergeant Sharp had forgotten to mention anything about chow, so it was reasonable to assume they wouldn’t get one today. Applejack glanced around in search — most of the camp territory was flat, thumped by hundreds of hooves — but she found a nice patch of grass along the side of the barracks nearby.

“Here’s our dinner, ponies,” Applejack pointed at it.

The mare set an example by going over there and grabbing a mouthful of grass. She chewed on it slowly, wishing it was one of her apples instead. Raw grass was pretty bland. It wasn’t unheard of to eat to it, but it was considered to be a last resort when no other food was available.

Now was one of those situations.

The rest followed Applejack’s example reluctantly. When everypony had satisfied their hunger a bit, the mare led them on a search for their barracks. Thankfully, each building was numbered, so it wasn’t difficult to find the one they had been assigned to.

Applejack entered the building first, finding herself in a small lobby. A lone soldier was napping by the door. He blinked at her sleepily and jumped to his hooves in panic, leveling his spear at the mare.

“Who goes there!?” he yelled, rolling his eyes crazily.

“Calm down there, partner,” Applejack backed out, hitting her the pony behind her with her backside. “We were told to go here. We’re the new conscripts.”

“Ah, sorry then,” the armored pony said, lowering his spear. “Should have guessed. Come on in, there’s nopony else inside.”

Applejack nodded and called for the others. She counted the heads of her fellow conscripts to make sure nopony had been lost on their trip through the camp. Thankfully, everypony was there. Satisfied, Applejack glanced at the guard.

“Say, where I could find some feathers and ink?”

It had taken her a full hour, but she had finished what the sergeant had ordered her to do. Everypony else was already snoring on their bunks, while she had to lie on the cold, wooden floor since there was no table around.

Luckily, Applejack had managed to remember most of the names, though she’d had to make up a few of her own. If the sergeant found out, he wouldn’t like it, but that was his own damn problem. It was his job she was doing anyway.

The mare stood up, stretching her tired muscles. Putting the scroll on the floor by her cot, Applejack lay down herself. It was nice to finally relax after such a long day. It had started out pretty well, but had somehow ended up with Applejack having to leave her family.

What rotten luck she had.

Applejack chuckled humorlessly and forced herself to stop thinking about it. There was no use in worrying pointlessly. The mare was past her usual bedtime as it was, so she simply closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

“Hey, you, where is my damn scroll?”

Applejack folded her ears, but it was too late — she was awake. She felt like no time had passed at all. Opening one eye, she saw a familiar figure above her in the dim light from a window. Grunting, Applejack pointed her hoof at the scroll beside her cot.

“Ah, here it is, hehe,” Sergeant Sharp picked up the scroll in his magic, floating it in the air. “Have you done what I told you?”

Applejack growled in response and rolled to the other side to continue sleeping. She was too tired to deal with that fool. He didn’t go away, however. Suddenly, she felt a hoof caressing her belly, sending goosebumps all over the mare’s body.

“What?!” Applejack jerked, falling off the bed. She quickly got back on her hooves when the smell of alcohol hit her senses.

The sergeant was drunk!

He wasn’t wearing most of his armor anymore, leaving only the piece with sergeant stripes on his foreleg.

“You owe me a favor, missy,” the stallion said with a chuckle. “I could have taken your brother, but I didn’t. I think I deserve some damn gratitude for that.”

Applejack glared at the pony incredulously, drooping her ears. First, he had separated her from her family, and now he had the gall to demand gratitude for it! She took a deep breath to avoid saying something she would regret later.

“Well, I’m plumb grateful, sir. Thank ya kindly.”

The sergeant narrowed his eyes.

“If so, then follow me. That’s an order.”

Applejack had a bad feeling about this, but he was her superior and she would probably get in trouble for refusing his orders — rightful orders, that is. She would have no qualms about refusing any sexual advances on his part, whatever the consequences might be. There were lines she wouldn’t allow anypony to cross.

Suppressing a scowl, Applejack nodded. The sergeant gave her a smirk and went for the door as Applejack followed behind. The sentry in the lobby saluted to the sergeant and gave Applejack an understanding glance as they went past him.

Once outside, the unicorn lit up his horn since it was night already, leading her somewhere. Applejack was tense all the way until they finally stopped in front of a barracks. Its windows were dark, so there was likely nopony inside. The sergeant pointed at the door.

“Go in, conscript,” he grinned, swaying a little. “The place is empty; nopony will disturb us there.”

Applejack furrowed her brows and entering the barracks, kicking the door with her front hoof so hard that one of the hinges broke off. Sergeant Sharp had had too much cider to care about something like that, however. His mind was set on the task in front of him.

The camp’s commander wouldn’t look kindly on him taking advantage of ponies in his charge, but he wasn’t taking advantage of Applejack. She owed him a favor, didn’t she? Nodding to himself, he walked inside, closing the door behind him. It hadn’t closed properly, but Sharp didn’t even notice.

Glancing at the ceiling, he cast a spell at the crystal stone there and it glowed, illuminating the room better than any torch. Such luxuries were installed in every barracks, but you needed magic to activate it. With most of the conscripts being earth ponies, they were almost useless.

Applejack was standing in the center of the room, facing the sergeant as he got inside. He approached her slowly, ogling her body. If his intentions hadn’t been obvious before, they were completely transparent now.

“Stop right there, sir,” the mare raised her hoof.

The sergeant bumped his muzzle into it. He took a step back, staring at the mare in front of him in annoyance.

“You owe me, remember?” he reminded her. “So turn around and raise your tail.”

“I’ll do no such thing, sir,” Applejack shook her head. She was fuming inside. “I’ll do whatever chores ya want me too, even fill out your darn scrolls, but ya can forget about this.”

Sergeant Sharp growled, charging up his horn. He batted her hoof to the side and stepped towards the mare.

Applejack decided that she’d had enough of this.

First, she hit his horn, disrupting whatever spell he’d been about to cast. The unicorn cringed and recoiled, rubbing it with one hoof. Applejack briefly considered whether to stop, but she was too enraged to control herself at this point.

Striking his chin with a right hook, Applejack added another hit to his front leg. The sergeant lost his balance and fell hard on his face. Jumping behind him, Applejack carefully aimed a single hoof at his raised hindquarters and bucked.

Obviously, she didn’t use even half of her considerable strength — she didn’t want to kill the stallion after all — but after her hoof connected with his dangling balls, he likely wished he was dead. His eyes bulging out, the stallion wailed, gripping his hurting jewels with his hooves.

Applejack cringed. Even though the sergeant had deserved it, she’d had no pleasure in hurting him like that. She hoped that she hadn’t gone too far. Sitting on her haunches, Applejack breathed heavily as she calmed her boiling rage.

Eventually, the stallion had recovered enough to stop wailing, simply lying on his side with his front hooves between his hind legs.

Applejack had now cooled down enough to realize what she had just done. Even if it had been completely justified in her eyes, she was certain that whoever was in charge wouldn’t take that lightly. She would be facing severe punishment for her actions.

She glanced at the sergeant’s cutie mark — a whip. It didn’t exactly look reassuring.

“Can you hear me, sir?” Applejack asked, trying to sound polite.

The pony grumbled something. Applejack took it as a “yes”.

“That’s nice,” she nodded, planning her next words carefully. She decided on a direct approach. “How ‘bout we keep this here situation between us?”

“H-have you gone mad, bitch?” the officer growled. “I’ll destroy you for this.”

Applejack frowned. She wasn’t surprised at his answer. The mare looked at his saddlebag, where he had the scroll she’d filled out before. The camp’s commander didn’t know her name and where she was from yet. If she killed him right now, she and her fellow villagers might just have a chance to escape…

Nah, that was a foolish plan. The soldiers who were with the sergeant knew the village they were from and would certainly give it away. If Applejack were to hide somewhere else, they could target her family instead.

“Don’t be a fool, Sergeant,” Applejack told the pony. “D’ya want everypony here to know that a mare wiped the floor with ya? I don’t think so. Ya leave me alone and I’ll keep quiet, but if ya try any funny business, I swear I’ll find ya even if that’s the last thing I do, ya hear me?”

The sergeant was silent for a while. Applejack was already psyching herself up to do what was necessary, until he finally sighed.

“Fine, whatever,” he spat out. “You keep your trap shut and I won’t report it. But I’ll make your life here a living nightmare. Remember that, filly.”

“We have a deal then,” Applejack nodded, her knees almost buckling under her from relief.

She paid no mind to the drunken fool’s threat. As long as he kept his part of the deal, Applejack was ready to take on everything he would throw at her. It wasn’t like she had expected an army life to be peachy.

“Now get the buck out before I change my mind,” Sergeant Sharp said, slowly taking a sitting position.

Without saying another word, Applejack left. As she made her way back to her barracks, she decided that she wasn’t going to sleep tonight, in case the stallion changed his mind after all. In that case, she wouldn’t hold back on him.

The 4th Chapter of my story is finally here as scheduled!
I hoped you liked Applejack's POV here. It was fun to write for her. Who do you think would be next?

As always, thanks Purple Smart2 for his great editing work.