Part 12 of the Palaververse: Saddle Arabia · 2:12am Dec 2nd, 2015
Before normal service resumes, have you remembered to don ye now your festive apparel? Making this site a singularity of yuletide cheer requires everyone's utmost efforts, after all. Don't doubt the en-hatted cubicorn's wise example.
Anyway, more Palaververse! This week's entry covers what should hopefully act as a nice bridging point between Ungula and the rest of the world, the land of Saddle Arabia. As in previous weeks, leave a nomination for whatever nation or entity you might like to see covered in next week's post, and I'll probably choose the one most people would like to see. Antlertis remains off the table for now, barring unanimous acclaim for it and/or death threats. If you have a follow-up question, feel free to ask it. Themaskedferret persists in being the best proofreader for these.
Delve on past the page break and pretty picture for all things Saddle Arabia. Bring sunscreen. And armour.
“No, of course I’m not going to bother claiming that slab of hell on earth. What would be the point? If some other king beyond should happen to want it for himself, then I pity the desperate idiot and wish him as painless a death as that land’ll permit.”
- Pharoah Ferus the First of Lower Zebrica.
“Sweet virgin soil, with this flag I claim thee for Equestria on this most august and fair and admittedly rather hot of days. Let our fair land’s dominion and friendship take hold here across the sea, that its ideals may spread betwixt all laAAGH! My face! Get it off my face! That’s my favourite face!”
- Lord Monsoon, Founder and first Viceroy of Saddle Arabia.
“In my absence, they really -”
“Yes, I fear so.”
“And you swear by our shared blood that th’art not fibbing at all -”
“Fly out there and witness them if you doubt me.”
“...what was even going through the original lot’s minds?”
“Luna, if either of us could know that, we wouldn’t be sane enough to sit upon these thrones.”
- Princesses Luna and Celestia.
Between the Ungulan and Dactylian continents lie the sparkling waters of the Cheval Sea, a clear and bright blue vastness often stirred into fury by the storms blown eastwards from across the Black Ocean. Ships flow thick and fast along the trade routes connecting the great port cities of Manehattan, Asincittà, and Tackiat, taking advantage of whatever swift channels and natural shelter from the storms exist along the way.
One such point of shelter is the island nation of Saddle Arabia, just off the northern coast of Zebrica. A technical dominion of Equestria’s, though independent in all but name, Saddle Arabia is small, rugged, and isolated from the affairs of its sovereign nation and the outside world in general. These factors work just fine for the Saddle Arabians and their way of life. No warfare has ever raged across Saddle Arabia, no tyrants or despots have ever sailed to its shores intent on conquest. Its resources afford it self-sufficiency and a small surplus, and the outside trade goods brought to its few ports are regarded as pleasant luxuries rather than life necessities. World-threatening calamities only rarely have to be contained by its citizenry, which is more than can be said for certain other nations. Its military is token, and largely exists to keenly play fanfares at visiting dignitaries. For all that its position may seem to make it of great strategic value and interest, Saddle Arabia remains secure and at peace in the grand scheme of the world.
The fact that no sapient with the sense the Creator gave a bowl of grapes would go within a mile of the island itself may be a contributing factor.
The island’s mountainous mass absorbs many of the storms that would otherwise tear across the trade routes and curve down to batter Zebrica itself. These storms — the great magically-charged wyld storms spat out intermittently by the Black Ocean — have battered the island for over three thousand years, since the Fall of Antlertis, and the wild magic these storms bring has thoroughly ingratiated itself into the local wildlife, flora, and geography. The island’s position in the world’s tropics ensures that its climate swithers between raging storm and hot aridness, with scarcely any happy middle point reached. Its arid mountain valleys and barren deserts catch the storms. These valleys and deserts are baked dry in the sun shortly after. And by way of a spiteful parting shot, they then spawn horrors that have eaten several colleges' worth of zoologists in their time.
The influence of the wild magic and the hostile climate have contrived to give nearly every non-sapient inhabitant of Saddle Arabia an attitude on the spectrum between ‘Blood-hungry and savagely territorial’ and ‘Malevolent psychopath’. Wind scorpions haunt the skies over the deserts, taking solid form and flying down to snatch unsuspecting prey in their pedipalps before escaping any retaliation by turning back into wind. Cactus herds lumber across the landscape, seizing prey and draining them dry through their spines to supplement their own internal water supplies. Rocs, great stone birds with the wingspans of whole valleys, casually rip open mountains to make their nests and lay their boulder-eggs; parasitical flecks devour the lifeforce and magic of their hosts from within their eyes and spread by eye contact; and in that august company, the nocturnal packs of bipedal and flesh-eating ghūls come off as almost boring. The apparent lack of any widespread prey species in this ecosystem confirms most beings' belief that the Creator was drunk when it did its Creating, and especially confirms their belief that Saddle Arabia is best kept far, far away from life and limb.
In a sensible world with sensible inhabitants making sensible decisions, the island would simply remain an uninhabited waste off Zebrica’s north coast. And to the world’s partial credit, it remained exactly that for millennia. No zebra Pharoah or roaming warlord contemplated the island as a worthwhile prize, and were content to let it and its veritable pantheon of awfulness be.
Then five hundred years before the present day, Equestria happened. And one earth pony lord with an abundance of dreams and an apparent death wish, Lord Monsoon, made his mark in the annals of history.
In the centuries after Luna’s fall and Equestria’s internal Nightmare Wars, the traditional aristocracy and landowners of Equestria had seen their powers and privileges steadily eroded by Princess Celestia and her elected Parliament, intent on preventing a repeat of the same ambitions and schisms that had once brought about such strife. The noble class gradually lost its lustre and place at the forefront of Equestrian society, with many old titles becoming little more than empty honorifics and fancy marks on old paper, as their powers of law-keeping, commanding armies, and land management fell into the hooves of a more meritocratic system. Even the Princes of Unicornkind, the last of whom surrendered to Celestia after his brother’s defeat in the Nightmare Wars, had become mere vestigial hangers-on at court.
It was the end of an era for Equestria, and the reactions of the nobility varied. Some clung on like grim death to their old power, defying their decline both in Parliament and to Celestia’s face. Others went with the flow of the shifting society, and reinvested their family’s wealth into the growing industries of the Equestrian economy in order to preserve a place of power for themselves, aiming for simple wealth or a place in Parliament. Some kept their titles and rededicated themselves to civil or military service. And others withered on the vine and faded into obscurity.
Lord Monsoon’s dynasty was one of those who’d opted for pursuing power in its new form, and had used their wealth to carve out a comfortable dominance in Equestria’s shipping and maritime industries. Lord Monsoon himself was as capable an administrator of these businesses as any before him, expanding on the family’s fortune while indulging in his own eccentricities on the side. The history of old Equestria and his own family’s legacy were especial interests of his, and the present-day Academy of Antiquity in Manehattan and the Royal Archaeological Society in Canterlot still benefit from funds he established for their benefit.
Monsoon regarded these histories through a decidedly romantic lens, and although his loyalty to Celestia was beyond question, he pined for the days where his forebears seemed greater and grander than his present line. And one day, when inspecting a shipping map covering the new routes the Kingdom of Asinia was forging to its new colonies, an idea came to him where he could both apparently work to the benefit of his business and achieve one last glory for his dynasty.
If history was closing in on the age of nobility in Equestria, then he was determined that age go out on a high note. And so Monsoon approached the royal court in Canterlot to petition Celestia herself for a warrant to establish a new Equestrian settlement on a particular uninhabited island north of Zebrica, and thus create an overseas colony in Equestria’s name.
Celestia, after some hasty conferment with the then-Pharoah of Zebrica, established both that there was no native population on the island that risked being displaced by the action and that Zebrica extended its formal commiserations to the ponies involved with the fool project. She conferred with the King of Asinia and found that Asinia had no interest in or claim to the territory, even after she pressed him to develop one. After conferring with Monsoon himself, she also found to her dismay that Monsoon technically qualified as mentally capable, intended to only bring informed volunteers on the expedition, was quite happy to pay for the whole thing out of his own pocket, and had his will in proper order.
Bereft of any legal pretext to shut the whole notion down, Celestia let the endeavour go ahead. And so, one fine day, ten ships set sail from Baltimare under Monsoon’s command. Two weeks later, they neared the virgin shore of the island, beholding its arid and predator-ridden shores under a stormy sky. And at this point, five of the ships immediately turned around and made back for Equestria.
Undeterred, Monsoon pressed on and made a beachhead, planting a flag in the island and formally claiming it for Equestria shortly before his first encounter with the native fauna. In spite of the wind scorpion that made off with one of his eyes (and the two other ships that slinked away in all the chaos), Monsoon rallied and oversaw the founding of the first Equestrian settlement on the island, which he named Saddle Arabia for reasons since lost and likely fathomable only to Monsoon himself. The settlement, Tabuck, formed the nucleus of the Equestrian presence on the island, and gave the ponies a bulwark with which to weather the early years as they raised buildings, cleared the nearby wilderness for agriculture, and made token efforts at getting the local weather under control.
The flora and fauna of Saddle Arabia were understandably enthusiastic about this new injection of protein into the ecosystem, and the combative talents the ponies of Saddle Arabia cultivated in these early days linger to this day. Celestia was reported to have considered just indulging in a little tyranny and calling off the whole venture, legality be damned, when the first order for a hundred crossbows capable of piercing inch-thick steel came from Tabuck. It was a contest between the fauna, flora, tropical diseases, and weather to see who got to wipe out the Saddle Arabians first, and in the chaos, the Saddle Arabians were somehow able to claw their way upwards.
In the face of every depredation their environment could throw at them, the ponies of Saddle Arabia adopted a certain bloody-mindedness and implacability and forged ahead. Monsoon himself constantly worked for his settlement and the ponies under his charge, wheedling out every scrap of spare revenue from his existing businesses to ensure the settlement remained well-supplied, volunteering his own earth pony magic and toil in the fields to ensure successful harvests, and fighting the island’s marauding beasts in many battles and losing other valued parts as a consequence. And for all their effort, the ponies of Saddle Arabia managed to surprise even themselves when they celebrated their first anniversary after making landfall. News of that impossible achievement spread, and new settlers came in dribs and drabs to the island, daring to believe that something approaching habitable now existed. Celestia herself flew over to express her bemused congratulations. The Zebrican Pharoah, notoriously strict about keeping his word, was observed eating his own khepresh for reasons unknown.
A second anniversary ticked by, and then a third, and by the time the tenth rolled around, it can only be assumed that everypony involved had learned a valuable lesson about challenging assumptions even in the face of all common sense. By Saddle Arabia’s fifteenth year, the settlement’s fields and semi-pacified weather had finally developed to the point of ensuring self-sufficiency, and Celestia flew out once more. Monsoon himself was made deliriously happy by Celestia conferring the title of Viceroy on himself and his line, cementing Saddle Arabia’s place as a recognised and valued dominion of Equestria’s. And though the old stallion finally went to meet his maker six years later after discovering yet another monster that the Saddle Arabian wilderness had to offer, his least sensible offspring happily stepped up to fill his place in overseeing the dominion.
In the centuries that followed, the population of Saddle Arabia gradually grew and grew as more settlers came and ponies became able to pull their attention from simply surviving long enough to get on with a bit of reproduction. Tabuck itself grew, and new settlements sprung up along the shoreline. Tentative efforts at mining and land clearance produced the resources necessary to erect these settlements themselves, and getting by without Equestrian aid soon became a point of pride for the Saddle Arabians. Natural sources of pitch, the output of craftsponies, and an nigh-endless supply of various magical creature components provided resources with which to trade, and soon a few foolhardy Equestrian, Asinian, and Zebrican traders dared venture close. The discovery of a few Antlertian outposts in the island’s interior even attracted the interest of Canterlot’s Royal Archaeological Society, and the ships visiting Saddle Arabia thereafter regularly contained adventurer-archaeologists intent on uncovering glory and getting a few good journal articles out of the past’s mysteries.
The living conditions for the Saddle Arabians have also improved marginally since the dominion’s founding, with large patches of the skies over Tabuck’s farms and the larger settlements under pegasus administration and much of the proximal wilderness beaten back to less-than-lethal levels. Clothing is much more commonly worn in Saddle Arabia than in Equestria, with covering, light, and protective garments and headgear necessary for anypony intending to spend much time outdoors. Old traditions of tenacity, martiality, and hospitality still hold an iron sway among many of the far-flung settlements and farmsteads. A small and largely self-contained population - sixty thousand as of the most recent census - often compel prospective courters to tactfully enquire after their degree of familial separation, with some enterprising unicorns in Tabuck even working on a charmed bracelet that can identify close kinship to try and address the problem.
Generations of hardy living — as well as background magic playing their genetics like a fiddle — have left most Saddle Arabians tall and lean compared to Equestrian ponies, and better able to tolerate the extremes of heat and cold their land imposes on them. Most Saddle Arabians remain farmers, and outwith the larger settlements such as Tabuck, the harshness of their land and their distributed population have given rise to forms of communal living last seen in old Equestria. Fortified farmsteads pockmark the landscape, hosting herds of up to half-a-dozen families at once who work together to farm the land around, protect each other from the wildlife, and generally keep the steading afloat. Foals are typically raised by the entire steading, receiving an ad-hoc education from their grandparents and heading out to help work the fields as they grow. Only a few head out to the formal schools in Tabuck, and most Saddle Arabians enjoy little contact with the world beyond their own steading and immediate neighbours. Long-nursed feuds with these same neighbours are inevitably developed, cherished, and passed down the generations like family heirlooms, though any external animal or magical threat that demands the combined efforts of several steadings will almost always see the feuding steadings briefly unite. The occasional new settler tends to receive the delighted attention and hospitality of the older steadings, especially as a potential spouse for those unmarried steading members with a keen interest in not having to marry their own cousin.
Monsoon’s descendants have overseen Saddle Arabia as its Viceroys to this day, their rule largely stable and unruffled by the travails experienced in the outside world. The rise of Capra was only found out about by Viceroy Tamarind several months after the fighting had died down. Asinia’s Great Revolution was only registered when the Asinial trading vessels that came to Saddle Arabia started sporting a different ensign. The Corvid Incursion was brought to Viceroy Lacquer’s attention before its conclusion, though by the time he’d rallied a force of nearly a hundred soldiers and set sail to Equestria, Dream Valley had already been reduced to glass and molten ash. News travels slowly to Saddle Arabia even to this day, and is slower still to disseminate amongst the spread-out population. The Viceroys themselves rule much as they have always done for the Saddle Arabians: with a light touch, and with the expectation by Saddle Arabians that the Viceroys generally don’t have to do much for their hardy and independent citizens apart from sit in Tabuck and look appropriately rule-y.
Simoon, the present-day Viceroy of Saddle Arabia, satisfies this role to a tee. Young, tall as Monsoon himself, dashing in formal silks, and affably dim, Simoon benefits from a somewhat keener political mind at his side in the form of his wife, Mirage. The pair have given their patronage to a spate of new libraries, schools, and other public works erected in Tabuck, and made several state visits to Equestria and Zebrica, frequently accompanied by all two soldiers in Saddle Arabia’s army. Saddle Arabia remains peaceful under them, as it has done for centuries yet, and as it shall hopefully do for centuries more. Though no future is ever written in stone, and though all manner of calamity may yet arise to disturb the status quo, Saddle Arabia looks yet to continue as it has always done, and as it was partially founded as — a refuge from the changing world, where some old dreams may yet live.
Saddle Arabian Tourists: Teaching Equestrian muggers one at a time the meaning of the word 'No'
Hm, not much what I was expecting, but a pleasant surprise. :)
Question with a possibly obvious answer: Do you see Daring Do's adventures taking place at least partially in Saddle Arabia?
I like this take on the location; so much more than a strict real-world analog.
Vote for the Zebras!
3585884
What a tourist may look like.
img00.deviantart.net/49a2/i/2015/060/9/6/dirty_equestrian_phrasebook_by_bunnimation-d8k19zk.jpg
Hmm... Zebra pharaoh. In the comics the Egyptian analogues are split between talking cats and jackal people.
3585884
3585921
Glad to pleasantly surprise!
3585925
Nomination for Zebrica noted! And some of Daring Do's adventures would indeed take place in Saddle Arabia. Plenty of old ruins there for delving purposes, after all, and plenty of peril to be outwitted.
Glad you like this take as well.
A strict transplant of real-world Arabia would have been a bit stale. Arabia-meets-Iceland is where all the cool kids are at these days.
3585994
Alas, my ongoing glaikitness for all things comic-related comes back to haunt me. The zebras here will be getting a fair amount of their ancient Egypt groove on, though. Ancient Egypt if it had witch doctors and mad science, that is.
Zebra.
Glad to see that Saddle Arabia is still on good terms with Mother Equestria.
"Bloody minded horses! We would ask why they still lack the good sense to up and sail off to Greener pastures, but we suppose it may yet prove prudent to have ready access to a place we still believe merits the moniker 'That bloody arsehole of Tartarus' so fondly bestowed by our Sister ages hence.
She had a mouth on her back then, she did. Not that one would ever know it now, the gentle nag."
- Luna, to unknown, upon being asked her opinion of Saddle Arabia while several cups in during the most recent Grand Galloping Gala.
3586014
Such perfectly dry and subtle humor is chief among the reasons I love your work.
I've got admit, though, living in a place like that darn near the whole population could act as soldiers in case of an invasion. Though, much like Russia's 'General Winter' I suspect the most valuable military asset would be the murderous environment. Y'know despite the obvious connection to the Middle East, your description reminds me more of Australia than anywhere else.
Well, if I had any doubts before, they are gone now. I've got to vote for Zebrica.
Those flecks are positively terrifying. Especially the transmission method. Those floaters are killing you and anyone you look at. Ugh. I hope they make eyedrops for those things, though diagnosing them comes with its own risks.
In any case, a fascinating story of what happens when Australia and the Arabian peninsula get together and bathe in comic book radiation. The idea of horses as mutant ponies amuses me far more than it should.
Looking at the map, I'm going to vote for Ceratos.
Lovely. This post felt like it drew upon some Pratchett-esque humor, which I can only applaud. I think Zebrica next, on our counter-clockwise tour of the world.
Oh, and
that apostrophe should be after the s, not before... pedantic, I know, but once I saw it, I couldn't ignore it.
Hah, loved it. Makes me think of Australia with the talk of the deadly inhospitable environment and super-predators. The ships hauling ass the moment they caught a glimpse of the place was hilarious. I vote Zebrica next.
I read that only to imagine an alicorn with a tesseract head.
You have convinced me into thinking Saddle Arabia is Equestrian-Australia: Monster Hunter Edition!
A sense a lot of XXXX here, though that was itself based on Australia. Also, a bit of Nation. I expect the place is fairly crawling with "unfortunate exceptions."
As with last week, vote Zebrica.
Seems like Saddle Arabia is the memetic Australia of Ungula, if that makes sense.
For your next trick, let's go with Zebrica!
It's painfully obvious that Zebrica will be next, so I shall cast my vote for Part Fourteen: Gazellan, the Serene Confederation.
Brilliant as ever, my dear Marquis! Seems as if Saddle Arabia is a mix of Lancre and Fourecks, but that could just be me (I am now imagining Ridcully in Equestria, and the chaos that would ensue...)
I've been wondering: in this universe, is Discord genuingly reformed, or just pretending? Or is that spoilers?
Any who, I would like to cast my vote for Zebrica, with a secondary nomination of Ceratos if you want to keep the zebras for later.
oh my god :D
I have no idea what's next to explore. :B I will take the maverick vote for Ahuizotl. 'Cause he's gotta come from somewhere, right?
3586019
Nomination for Zebrica noted! And Saddle Arabia does indeed remain on good terms with its motherland. Think of their relationship as something akin to the modern Commonwealth - they've got a shared head of state (Princess Celestia) and a lot of shared history and politics, but for the most part, they're doing their own thing in their own corner of the world.
3586023
3586052
Nomination for Zebrica noted! Glad you like the humour and the place itself. A suitably hardy population coupled with an outright psychopathic climate would indeed make the place the bane of any invading armies.
3586079
Especially when I can include wee fleck horrors and other assorted nastiness.
Nomination for Ceratos noted! And yep, Australia + Arabia + A touch of Iceland + Pastel equines = Saddle Arabia. This worldbuilding business is fun.
3586112
Nomination for Zebrica noted, and much obliged for the correction! A fair amount of Pratchett might have gone into this, I shan't lie.
3586215
Nomination for Zebrica noted! Ships remembering an urgent appointment elsewhere upon catching sight of the place seemed entirely justified, really.
3586263
Ah, I was just referring to the cube-Rarity who's pulled long service as my profile picture. The alternative that came to mind could work, though, in a terrifying and Lovecraftian sort of way.
3586328
As worthy and sensible a thing to be as any, I reckon.
3586390
Nomination for Zebrica noted! FourEcks might have gotten involved during the planning stages, as well as Nation. I'm sure there are worse influences to have.
3586453
Nomination for Zebrica noted! And yep, crazy though both Equestrians and corvids may be in the eyes of the world, neither of them have shit on Saddle Arabians when it comes to perceived (and actual) hardy lunacy.
3586499
Nomination for Gazellen noted! If people keep wanting to head south after next week, I suspect they'll get their time in the sun soon enough.
3586683
Nomination for Zebrica noted! And a Ridcully in Equestria fic very badly needs to exist if it doesn't already.
I'd reckon that as of the current point in the show, Discord is genuinely giving this redemption thing a go, largely for Fluttershy's sake. He's gradually getting there, though he still often needs to have things like 'morality' and 'consideration for the feelings of others' and 'why roads shouldn't be turned into boa constrictors' patiently explained to him.
3586786
Maverick nomination for Ahuitzotl noted! And I'm glad someone picked up on the khepresh. Imagine a sentence starting with, "If these lunatics so much as survive a single year, I'll -"
Oh, good! Antlertis please. Or I'll kill you. And stuff.
Zebrica. Do you even have to ask?
A vote for the Diamond Dogs! Unless we've had them, I think I've lost track...
Damned fine worldbuilding, though.
As always exceptional work and I wanna see me some Ceratos!
I vote for Ahuizotl as well. Also, I like to think that in Saddle Arabia, the military are looked down on, like professional dog walkers everywhere else. They do as a job what most people do as part of their daily routine.
Boop for zebra lands.
3586014
As an Icelander, yeah this sounds pretty Icelandic, especially the fickle weather and accidental incest.
3587074
Nomination for Zebrica and vague death threats for Antlertis noted!
3587142
Diamond Dogs have been covered! Glad you like the world-building, though.
3587208
Nomination for Ceratos noted! And grassy-arse, as always, for making this stuff legible and suggesting cool things.
3587377
Nomination for Ahuitzotl noted! And yep, the military in Saddle Arabia tends to be one of those less well-regarded affairs. For them, it amounts to basically dressing yourself in a nice uniform and knowing which end of a trumpet to blow. Hardly any ghūl-slaying, compared to most Saddle Arabian's day-to-day routine.
3587520
Nomination for Zebrica noted! I tried to capture some of those essential Icelandic qualities, after visiting Reykjavik and part of the Golden Circle way back in January. You've got an excellent capital. And some excellent geysers.
3587870
Many thanks
3587870 Well that was a fun read. What the hell, I'll vote for Antlertis - you've gotta open up about it sometime!
3588091
Nomination for Antlertis noted! Every pitchfork-wielding mob requesting a preferred blog post has to start somewhere.
Do you think there's a part of the world like America? Or Russia?
3588233
Depends. A lot of the world here borrows elements and gratuitously mixes-and-matches from our own nations and cultures, rather than being a direct fit for any one. Saddle Arabia here contains elements from our own Middle East, as well as Australia and Iceland. Asinia's what you get when you take a Renaissance-era Italian city-state, give it the naval ambitions of the British Empire, and populate it with donkeys. Corva's what you get when you blend Scotland and medieval Mongolia.
I think Equestria itself would most closely fit modern America - it's suitably powerful, wealthy, and cosmopolitan enough to fit the bill. It's ruled over by a benevolent demigod princess rather than an elected president, though, and it's not as ragingly capitalistic as Asinia next door. That said, it's got all the American town names turned into horse puns, which always helps.
Russia-wise, the Ungulan North certainly matches the steppes of Siberia, if said steppes were infused with dark and wild magic.
3586887
That favor would be called in one week later to avoid a repeat of the Last Slice of Cake War of 2 ALR. (After Luna's Return)
3588776
A worthy thing to prevent. Equestria can only be reduced to apocalyptic devastation so many times.
3589171
Well, it wasn't so much ALL Equestria as 'The Princess's bedrooms (And lavatories, and studies, and associated rooms throughout the castle) that were reduced to devastation and/or covered in pastries, but as far as all those involved were concerned, there isn't really much meaningful distinction between the two.
On a scale from one to ten, the lethality of Saddle Arabia's wildlife falls at a solid Australia.
3590538
The rating so high, it murdered all the numbers.
3590702
I guess the rating is yet another one of the numerous deadly things to watch out for...
Watch your back, lest a wild hyperbole get you.
3591209
And I'm caught up again. Saddle Arabia seems like a pretty decent place to live, weather and wildlife aside. One would assume that having no evil empires living next door would be a strong selling point, in this world. And while that isolation could potentially work against them if an invading army ever does show up, the Saddle Arabians seem like they'd be well-suited to holding their own until help could arrive.
Anyway, my vote goes to Pachydermia. Elephants being as physically powerful and (presumably) intelligent as they are, why do they not seem to be particularly major players on the world stage? Were they ganged up on and beaten into submission like the dragons, or is it a lack of ambition? Or some third thing? I guess their current lack of a capable ruler could be a factor.
3595250
Nomination for Pahydermia noted! The present lack of an entirely capable ruler may indeed hold them back, as could other factors. We'll see once we get to them.
When I read
I somehow developed the idea of Celestia going to war, to get Asinia to lay claim to a territory. As a subversion of a common reason for war, to take some territory from someone else.
***
Great Worldbuilding!
[Insert Death Threat for Antleris Here.]
Hey, are Discord and the Tree of Harmony options for voting?
3604783
Death threat for Antlertis noted, and Discord and the Tree of Harmony are indeed open for voting.
3604805
I wanna hug Monsoon now...
Especially since it turned out so well! 
And so, I vote Discord and the Tree of Harmony. Thanks!
3605701
Nomination for Discord and the Tree of Harmony noted! I suspect when Antlertis's post rolls around, it'll shed a bit more light on them both.
3595250 I have to say, that if an invading army is ever stupid enough to show up, the Saddle Arabians could just lock their doors and wait for the army to be eaten. It would probably be faster than fighting.
The error was mentioned in a comment to a previous entry. It should either be "cactus herds" or "herds of cacti".
Missing an apostrophe: "most beings' belief".
That period before "on a particular" should be a space.
pegasus administration
That semicolon should be a colon.
4082750
Aaand fixed. Cheers for all this.
Day 12: Saddle Arabia
- Loved the quotes, especially the one from the royal sisters. Luna's disbelief at Saddle Arabia was great.
- Are Saddle Arabians physically different from Equestrians?
- You need to stop giving things that shouldn't be sentience. First fire damp, now grapes, and I believe a cucumber was mentioned somewhere. Don't you know that if they become too sentient they will learn the art of overgrowth and devour the world in their plans of world domination? Then again, the apes could develop farming machine and save the day and finally be recognized for their value. Oh who am I kidding? The apes will never amount to anything.
- Are apes going to make a cameo in one of your future stories?
- Where and how was the storms from the Black Ocean created? How are they different from regular storms?
- Do Saddle Arabians hold hunting games to hunt the native wildlife?
- Considering the size and material that makes up a Roc's body, have any been killed by civilized creatures? Also, since Luna seems to like challenges, has she ever hunted a Roc?
- Ghüls or Ghouls are generally creatures processed by evil spirits, if Wikipedia is to be believed. What necromancer believed that Saddle Arabia was a good place to assemble an undead army? Unless Ghouls are different in the Palaververse?
- Where you drunk when you created Saddle Arabia?
- How is Monsoon's business in the present day?
- Academy of Antiquity? Is that just the place where all the ancient history buffs go in Equestria?
- How did Celestia feel about Monsoon's expedition and how does she feel about Saddle Arabia now?
- Only the Creator and his associates would understand Monsoon's reasoning behind calling the place Saddle Arabia. But how did he know of the name? Did you plant the thought in his head?
- How did Monsoon react upon seeing his maker?
- Where does Mirage come from anyway and how did she meet Monsoon?
4455079
- "I leave for one poxy millenium ..."
- A bit taller and lankier and darker-coated than the Equestrian average, but otherwise not hugely different, no.
- Sentience is a wonderful quality, and ought to be distributed with gleeful and reckless abandon. Except for apes. They'd just make a complete hash of it.
- They've had starring roles! Bipedal, clothes-wearing ones at least.
- All the magics unleashed during the Fall of Antlertis made the whole area of ocean a festering pit of wild magic. Any storms which gather strength out on the open ocean there soak up some of the magic and disperse it at other parts of the world when they move around.
- Hunting's a traditional past-time out there, yep, though it often falls less within the category of 'game' and more the category of 'oh god oh god do this task or we're all going to die aargh it got me'.
- Rocs have very occasionally been felled by spellcasters and fliers after a great deal of prolonged effort, and some have been accidentally killed by Diamond Fennecs and Jackals delving too deep. Luna's never hunted one. She's more of a keen duellist than a hunter anyway. It's far more sporting in her eyes if her foe can stab back.
- Palaververse ghouls are different, though they've still got the hideous appearance and flesh-eating qualities down pat. They're just another species of horrific Saddle Arabian.
- Nah. Alcohol makes my disposition vastly more merciful and kindly.
- Still extant, if not quite what it was. It manages a good chunk of the shipping between Manhattan, Tabuck, and Takiat in Zebrica, and keeps Saddle Arabia well-supplied with goods and especially brave tourists.
- Yep! A fair amount of the Royal Archaological Society's plundered relics make their way there in due time ... those that aren't too dangerous, at least.
- Celestia's various attempts to nip the expedition in the bud should spell out her own feelings there quite amply, though she's since accepted it as a very peculiar success story and a reminder to not underestimate her ponies.
- The name, alas, remains a continuing mystery to all, including the omniscient beings out there. Some things are just beyond all ken.
- "Oh my stars, it's hideous!"
- She's from a family of prosperous Saddle Arabian landowners, who shared a lot of Simoom's social circles from their early ages. Love eventually blossomed, and her brains aligned with his beauty.
Reread again 'cause it's awesome, and I have many questions! That you don't have to answer...
Would importing Everfree wildlife be a boon or an ill??
I guess they can't handle the place, or make it worse?
... How does magic affect genetics?? As in how does the magic work?
What Antlerian stuff was in Saddle Arabia...
4538177
Almost certainly an ill. Best-case scenario, one of the two populations of wildlife prevails and thrives on all that nice addition of protein to their systems. Worst-case scenario, they breed.
Mysteriously!
Think of it as a background factor that can really jack up a population's mutation rate long-term, and potentially warp the abilities and phenotypes of individuals in more dramatic cases. If normal evolution entails the gradual adaptation of species to their environment over thousands of years, wild magic in the background makes it a high-speed arms race, with some participants randomly handed a nuke every so often.
A few outposts belonging to individual Mage-Lords. A couple of laboratories and corrals. Plenty of deer skeletons as well, of varying intactness.