The sound of Saddle Arabians and camels talking woke Big Macintosh from his sleep, a sign that the day is starting in the land of Saddle Arabia. Slowly but surely, the stallion gets up and he walks toward the box where the perfumes are all located. Due to the lack of water in Saddle Arabia, water is considered sacred and a very valuable resource so he is unable to use the water to bath. For that, the stallion is forced to use perfumes as a way to keep the stench away. As he sprayed the perfume over his body, Big Macintosh then walks towards the closest thing a Saddle Arabian has to a clothing closet and takes out the clothing that they gave him two days before.
First he wears the sirwal a type of baggy pants made from cotton, and once he is done with the pants he proceed to fold a cloth around his waist down, and he wraps the cloth tightly around his waist. izaar is the name of this weird skirt thing for men, and Big Macintosh will have to remember these names just in case something happened to his clothing during his travels. Above all of this, he proceed to wear the thawb over his body, a name that they use for the ankle-length robe-like tunic with long sleeves. Once, he is done with the robes, he now has to deal with what is perhaps the most complicated garb of them all.
"Ah hope Ah got this right this time. Ah hate you, Mr. Keffiyeh." Big Macintosh said with a slightly hopeful tone but with some annoyance at the piece of cloth. He stares at the white square cloth for a while and tries to remember the steps in wearing this headgear. He knows that there are a whole lot of folds and wraps to make the fancy shape that also covers his mouth. But as much as he wanted to follow the customs, he just could not remember the whole thing as ponies rarely wear clothes, and none as complicated as the ones worn by Saddle Arabians. So he decided to do the next best thing; he folds the cloth in half into a triangle, and he wears the fold over his head and let the rest loosely draped around his back and shoulders. Now that he got that down, he puts on the last piece of the whole puzzle of Saddle Arabian clothing, a rope circlet to put around his head to hold that keffiyeh in place.
At least the Agal is like a yoke, you just let it rest where it should belong..., Big Macintosh said to himself.It took him a while to figure out what is what exactly, but he managed to understand why some of these clothing are important for his tenure in Saddle Arabia. All of these clothing are both part of the culture of Saddle Arabia and also provide a means of protecting him from the violent elements of the Saddle Arabian desert. He then puts on the yoke above all of these clothing and last but not least the pendant of the Sheikh. With his preparations complete he proceed to walk out from his tent.
As he exits the tent, the twilight of the rising sun could be seen over the horizon, slowly lighting up the land with its rays of light. Big Macintosh notice that the camp is now empty. From his understanding of their culture so far, they prayed five times a day to their deity or something and all the ponies gathered at one spot to do their prayers. Since he is Equestrian, he does not need to pray or do anything other than to go to the site where breakfast is served.
As he walked alone to the breakfast site, he decided to himself that he does not want to sit alone for the next thirty or so minutes alone and then another hour or so after that to wait for them to cook their food. This time, he is curious to see how they actually pray to their faith. With that, he decided to take a turn and walked towards the tent where all the inhabitants are.
As he gets closer, he could hear a loud hollering of sorts spouting words in the odd, phlegmatic tones of Saddle Arabia and he wonder what is going on. However once the tent is in sight he is utterly amazed by what he saw. As one, both Saddle Arabian and camels are praying in a very choreographed manner. As Big Macintosh watched, there are a lot of things that they do in their prayer that are subtle but are perhaps something symbolically important in their faith. From the raising both forehoof to the ears, to the procedure of standing, bowing, and facing their faces down upon the ground, Big Macintosh could only wonder what those gesture mean as all of them muttered their prayers. He could see that some of the foals that are too small to participate are sitting by the side being taken care by very old Saddle Arabians. Big Macintosh reasoned that either those that are too young and those that are too old are exempt from the prayers. Deep in his observation, he was suddenly snapped out of it from a pulling on his robe. He looks around and then around his legs. He soon find a very familiar cloth-clad filly with the visible olive green eyes looking at him.
"Hello Mr. Macintosh. I never see you here before."
"Eeyup."
"So....what brings you here today?"
"Well Ah got tired of sitting by mahself every time, so Ah figured Ah wanna watch."
"You can sit with me until they are done."
"Sure thing Fatimah."
As the red stallion followed the little filly, the rest of the old Saddle Arabians noticed him and proceed to walk up to him and gave him their unique blessing, The first elderly Arabian lifted both his forelegs with their own and then bowing into it, their foreheads touching his own hooves. He then returns the greeting to the old Arabian. Soon enough the remaining elderly Arabians greeted him, exclaiming the word "Assalamualaikum." and in return Big Macintosh tried his best to say the words that he thinks is the greeting back.
"Wal...ai...kum....sa...lam?" Big Macintosh said, hopefully getting what he heard the days before right. It seems that it is the right answer and soon enough they are all seated and are back doing their own activities. A few seconds into his observation, seems that Big Macintosh is doing that face again, the one where his sisters would say.....
"Mr. Macintosh, is there something wrong?" the little filly said, her innocent inquiry snaps him back to reality.
"Nah, Ah'm fine. Just wanting to see what these ponies are doing?"
"That's easy. They are praying." The little filly answered.
"Fair enough. But what are they praying for? Do you know Fatimah?" He looks at the little filly, expecting her to not know a single thing.
"Well, they are praying for a good day and safe journey, and they pray for Him to protect them from the bad guys."
"Bad guys?"
"Yeah, there are always bad guys that always come and attack us and stuff, and sometimes horses get hurt. Sometimes they are okay, but then there are those that daddy say are 'taking a very long sleep'." Big Macintosh immediately knew what the filly is talking about, but decided to let her continue on.
"Mommy took a long sleep one day after the bad guys came one day, and daddy and the rest wrap her up in a big blanket to let her sleep. I asked daddy why we have to put her under the ground, but daddy told me that just like how we have tents during the night, those that take the long sleep needs to sleep in the ground. I never understand why, but daddy knows a lot of stuff." Big Macintosh then felt a very sad feeling within, as he could only remember how her experience is not unlike that of his sister Applejack when the Apple family had to bury his parents. He remembered Applejack's question very weil in his mind;Why are we putting them in a box and burying them like treasure?. He brushes off the thought as it is a rather painful memory. At the same time, he could now understand why the Sheikh is utterly nonchalant about his murder of the raiders a few days before.
"Ah see....what else are they prayin' for?" Big Macintosh decided that he needs to change the subject. The little filly is ignorant of his attempt, and willingly obliged in explaining the prayers to Big Macintosh to the best of her ability.
"Ah welcome friend." The Sheikh greets his friend. Unlike the others, Abu Hamza extends a hoof out and Big Macintosh clops his own hoof on the Sheikh's. This is a greeting that Big Macintosh is familiar with and glad about it.
"Eeyup."
"So my friend shall we walk together?"
"Eeyup." The Sheikh then takes his daughter by his mouth and puts her on his shoulders and proceed walk towards the breakfast area, with Big Macintosh following shortly after. As the two equines walk side by side, the rest of the horses and camels are now talking and laughing, masking the rather serious talk of the Earth pony and the Arabian horse. Every since the night where the Sheikh had told him about the political situation, the Sheikh is courteous enough to not even talk about the issue for the next few days, However today is the day where Big Macintosh will have to give his answer.
"So my friend....have you decided?"
"Eeyup."
"So is it a yes or a no?"
"Nnope."
"That's a pity. But I am a man of my word. You shall have some time to pack and by the afternoon, my Janissary will escort you back to the city to take the next ship back to Equestria. But for now, please join me for breakfast." The Sheikh gave Big Macintosh a smile, but a sad one. Big Macintosh noticed the smile, but did not say anything about it.
Soon enough, both equines are now at the approximate center of the encampment where already some of the mares are already cooking breakfast for everyone. It is a place bustling with activity and the camp comes alive as the inhabitants are now socializing with each other. As Big Macintosh takes his place beside that of the Sheikh, he wonders about the excuse that he would have to make to both Applejack and Granny Smith about his failure to secure a potentially wealthy customer.
It was then that a loud bell ringing could be heard, and immediately Big Macintosh realized that the jolly atmosphere of the camp died down immediately, replaced with an air of dread and fear. Soon enough all of the Saddle Arabian stallions and the Janissary stand up, brandishing their weapons. The Sheikh immediately starts to shout out what appears to be orders to everyone, and soon enough every able-bodied stallion and Janissary are now moving out from the center.
"What's goin' on, Abu Hamza?" Big Macintosh asked the Sheikh. Immediately after he asked his question, one of the Jannisary walks up to the Sheikh and whispered something in the Sheikh's ears.The red stallion immediately realized that the Arabian stallion's face have hardened, his eyes filled with hate.
"Abu Hamza....what is going on?" This time Big Macintosh ask with a more resolute voice, his desire to know what is going on overpowering his respect for his host. As if to answer Big Macintosh's question, a loud hooting starts to ring in the farm pony's ears followed by the thundering hoofsteps of something coming their way.
"A raid. And we know who our raiders are this time," Immediately as if to compliment the sheikh's grim remarks, Big Macintosh could now hear the first signs of both sides clashing with each other; screaming.
"Mah Celestia......"
"Big Macintosh, I want you to stay here with the rest of the mares and foals. I do not want you to be hurt in this."
"Buck you Ah will! Ah will not stand to do nothin' while you and everypony else are in trouble!" Big Macintosh blushed once he realized what he just said to the Sheikh. The Sheikh looked at him, but soon enough hands the pony a scimitar.
"I hope you know how to use this. Unlike Equestria, our battles are much more bloodier."