This is a commission for northernshield (DA) featuring his OC, Northern Shield, and everyone's favourite raider, Nell Clearfield. This was a special multi-part commission that involved two entirely different pictures, instead of my usual edit-based alterations, and it was an interesting new challenge. And in honour of this commission, Northern himself prepared a caption to accompany the pictures:

One day, Nell was relaxing in her home when someone came knocking at her door - a strange occurrence, given her front door was actually a basement access hatch behind the diner. Curiously (and with a shotgun subtly hidden behind her leg), she pushed open the wooden doors and stepped out to find a fellow pony waiting for her, dressed in armour. Immediately she raised an eyebrow, his attire was... ridiculous, or at least it was ridiculous for someone to be wearing it in the heat of the desert badlands. He identified himself as Northern Shield, a bounty hunter from the cold north, and the reason he had travelled so far into the badlands was to chase down his most recent mark. A snake, figuratively and literally, who was rumoured to be hiding out in the desert, whose criminal empire had cast its shadow all the way to the frozen tundra. Northern had been searching for information of the location of his target, but few in the raider city had been particularly forthcoming... until he had come to inquire at the diner.
His questions had been overheard by the old badger who owned the place, and upon hearing the details, Northern had been directed to head out back and knock on Nell's door. The raider had scoffed, wondering what the old man was thinking. Was this some kind of joke? She loved the old guy, but she was sure he was losing it. With no reason to help the stranger, Nell was quick to dismiss him... until Northern revealed the identity of his target. She knew this particular snake well, and the threats he had made towards her bunny boy, Tristan, and Nell would be more than happy to see him dead. Northern had sweetened the offer, promising the share the bounty if she would be prepared to help him track his prey. Nell agreed.

After some investigation work, the pair had crashed the bounty's hiding place, but after the dust had settled, it was clear their target had slipped away. They had interrogated the last henchman standing and learned that the snake had a safe house, located in the icy peaks of the northern continent, far removed from any trouble he might encounter in the badlands. After all, any raider disputes or turf wars he might get into... no one from the deserts would chase him so far. Or so he thought. And with that, our two heroes ventured their way north, but as they did so, the heat that Nell was so accustomed to dropped dramatically. Just as Northern had complained about the desert sand, Nell cursed the howling winds and snow.
Will our heroes find their bounty and bring him to justice?


This was quite a fun piece to work on ^_^ Getting to draw Nell again is always a plus, but also getting the chance to draw her so out of her element was a fun bonus. Northern on the other hand posed a new set of challenges. I've never had to draw a character with that much facial hair, nor a character quite of his build, and his multi-faceted armour wasn't easy to piece together. However, despite the challenges, I am very pleased with how he turned out, and I thank northernshield (DA) for trusting me to work on him, in two very different environments.

Nell Clearfield belongs to me.