//------------------------------// // The Elements of Saddle Arabia // Story: Macintosh of Arabia // by Crisis_Vyper //------------------------------// Big Macintosh is amazed at the stoic nature of the Saddle Arabians. If this were Equestria, he would have seen a funeral running for a few days, with the sound of wailing relatives in mourning and they would do nothing else at all. But what he see is that instead of all that heart-wrenching mourning, they are burying their dead somberly. A simple prayer is muttered as they wipe the body of the dead with a wet cloth, preparing it for the burial. The body is wrapped like a cocoon with only the face of the stallion or camel visible, and those whose face were mutilated beyond recognition instead have a painted death mask placed upon their faces. Big Macintosh realize that all of the death mask have a familiar motif to them; a painted eye upon the right side of the death mask and nothing else. The relatives and friends of the fallen came on the body of their fallen relatives and let their tears drip upon their fallen loved ones. However despite their silence, tears are shed perhaps even more than those of a normal Equestrian funeral. After everyone had their final farewells the faces are wrapped with a cloth and the bodies are buried as deep as it could be, all while being accompanied by prayers from the rest of the Saddle Arabians and Janissary. Immediately, as one the camp moved on, and started packing their belongings. Big Macintosh thankfully had already packed as a result of an earlier decision which is now void. Being the only equine with a luggage, he wonder how would he carry this until the Sheikh comes with a simple saddlebag. Without a single line uttered, the red stallion puts his luggage into his saddlebag. Unlike most ponies, he like to travel light and for this occasion it is giving him dividends in his travelling. With that, Big Macintosh and the Sheikh now trots on with the rest of the camp and as one they began their exodus into the slowly darkening skies. "Abu Hamza, Ah must ask; why are they all so calm? Why are they so silent during the funeral?" After travelling in the darkness for a while, Big Macintosh finally ask the question that he wanted to ask the Sheikh.The Sheikh smiles and gives Big Macintosh his answer. "We believe that we must show our relatives who passed away that they do not have to worry about us. If we were to wail and mourn them, it will unsettle those who passed away and they will never leave for the afterlife, worried that they can never leave us behind. " Big Macintosh nods as he takes it all in. But still Big Macintosh would like to know more about what is going on. "But....if all of ya are so quiet like that, how do you know that you are loved? Ah am sorry if that question sounds rude." The Sheikh already knew the answer to that question, so he tried to make this as simple as possible to the red pony. "For that we give them the greatest gift that we can give to our dead; tears. Water is the source of all life, and that is why the act of crying for the dead is the most respectful thing that we could give for we are giving our water to the dead. We also believe that our journey to the afterlife will take a while, and thus our loved ones will need all the water that they can get to get there." "What about the mask with the eye?"The Sheikh paused for a moment as he tries to find the best way to explain the meaning of the mask for his Equestrian friend. "In many ways, I believe it is like putting on the coins on the eyes of dead ponies during the old days of Equestria. It is to let the guardians of the gates to our maker, Ista to recognize that the soul is not that of some faceless monster and are given full consent by Ista to let them pass through.The Eye of Ista ward off the evil spirits that seek to attack our loved ones and also allow Ista to see and guide our loved ones to the gates.I hope that answers your curiosity my friend." Soon enough, Big Macintosh is now very quiet, and the Sheikh leaves him be. There is much that the red stallion needs to learn......., Abu Hamza said to himself. God willing, the Sheikh hopes that Fatimah would not have to give her water to let him travel to his maker until she is a much older mare.... Bloody Equestria, Big Macintosh said to himself as the whole caravan travels through the sweltering heat of the Saddle Arabian desert during the day. They have been walking through the desert throughout last night and indeed have continued on to the bright hot day of the present. He once though that Applelosa was hot as Tartarus, but now he is proven entirely wrong. To add even more insult to his condition, he did not have to walk across the entire desert in the heat without a sip of water. He wanted to drink the entire flask of water and quench his parched throat and soothe his cracking lips, but he realize that if he did not conserve his drinking water, he would be dead before they reach their location. As he eyed the rest of the caravan, he is amazed how they could just walk on without even sipping their water and even the foals are utterly silent and not complaining about the heat or water at all. They barely even sweat while his face is almost wet. Damn these ponies....., Big Macintosh said to himself, but then he started to think about what happens when Applejack's friend is in his position. That white unicorn named Rarity......what would she really say if she is in his position? With that Big Macintosh's thoughts went to an utterly happy place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, woe is me! What ever shall I do? Ah! Sand, sand! Get away, sand! Oh! Make it stop, make it stop! Filthy, disgusting sand. It stings, it burns. Help! Somepony save me, SAVE ME! Water, water, I'm terribly thirsty. Could I please have some water?" For some reason, he is imagining the Sheikh being the listener of this complaining, and he could imagine the Arabian telling her to shut up. "Shut up mare! Stop whining!" The Sheikh is covering his ears with his hooves while closing his eyes and shaking his head, tormented by the white unicorn mare's apparent whining. Unfortunately for the Sheikh, Rarity have only started. "I am not "whining". I am complaining. Do you want to hear "whining"? This is whining! Ooohhhh! This dress is utterly ghastly ! The colors is utterly dull, and without jewels to boot? How could you live without fabulosity in life? And the clothes, it covers up my beauty, and covering my head with this cloth will make my mane damp from my sweat, and this sweat's going to wreak havoc on my mane. And wearing this cloth over my head is stifling, suffocating. And I look and smell like I haven't bathed in weeks! Why do I have to wear it?!" "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOooooOooooo!!!!!!!!!" The Sheikh screams while down on both his hindlegs with his hands asking for salvation from the heavens above. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was then that the red stallion realized that almost everypony within his vicinity are now staring at him in confusion. He wonder what is going on, until he notice the sound of his own hysterical laughter. It was not long until the pony started blushing from the embarrassment. But then Big Macintosh feels a sudden pull of his shoulder and now he could see the Arabian Sheikh looking at him with true concern in his gray eyes. Wondering what is going on, Big Macintosh as about to ask the stallion until the stallion showed him two of his forelegs. "Can you see how many hooves that I am showing you? Do you know who I am and for that matter do you know who you are?" It was then that Big Macintosh chuckled again, and answered the Sheikh. "Ah am seeing two hooves, and ya name is Abu Hamza while Ah am Big Macintosh. Does that answer your question?" Big Macintosh is still smiling at him. It was then that the Sheikh breathe a sigh of relief, and puts his hooves on the farmpony's shoulders. "Thank God that you are alright. For a second there I thought your mind have been burned away by the heat!" "Well, thankfully that's not the case. Lemme tell you what Ah was thinking..." Big Macintosh then proceed to tell the story of his sister's friend Rarity and her prissy nature and how he would have reacted if she were here in Saddle Arabia with them. He also did not fail to include the pony that is on the receiving end of Rarity's whining. As he tells the tale to the Sheikh, Big Macintosh tries to hold in his own laughter as he impersonate Rarity's voice. Suffice to say, the Sheikh gave a very hearty and hysterical laughter after Big Macintosh finishes telling the tale. However as the night continues on, Big Macintosh could see something moving among the sands. His ears are all perked up, ready to listen to anything that is out of the ordinary. He looks around and it appears that every other member of the caravan are now on high alert. "So it wasn't just me....." However immediately he could heart a soul-chilling howl echoing throughout the desert, and all the Janissary and the stallions are now brandishing their scimitar. It was then that Big Macintosh realized that all the mares, foals and those too old to fight are in the center of the caravan while the stallions and the Janissary forming a ring around them. Big Macintosh realized his position and immediately cursed under his breath. Soon enough, the source of the howling revealed itself, and Big Macintosh have not seen anything like it before. As the creature emerged from the sand or to be exact formed from the sand, Big Macintosh could see a long, tapered snout forming to form a elongated lupine-like head. Slowly but surely, the sharp, tapered ears of the creature started to form followed by the rest of the body of the creature. True to its sand-like nature the creature's form flows and ebbs with the shifting dunes, the only constant feature is that of their glowing blue eyes. More and more of these creatures started to form, and they 'swam' around the entire caravan like sharks scenting the smell of blood, appearing and disappearing as they moved. Some of the creatures even came close enough to try and snap their jaws, which the Saddle Arabians respond with a shout and a swing of their scimitar. The snarls and barks of the creatures continue to grate upon the nerves of Big Macintosh, and the red stallion is uncertain about how the group would defend against these creatures. To the surprise of the farmpony, the caravan continue on moving, calm and certain in their steps. Big Macintosh is now utterly amazed by this coordination and iron will of the Saddle Arabians and their Janissary, for most ponies would have been screaming and running for their lives right about now. In fact, if it were not for the concerted movement of the group, he would have also ran for his own life. "Sand Jackals." Big Macintosh turns his attention to find a familiar black camel beside him. "What?" "They hunt and kill. But we large caravan, so we move on no worry. We run scared, they kill us one at time. Must move as one so that Sand Jackals not catch us." The camel explains. Big Macintosh nods and follow the wiser camel's advice. Big Macintosh's eyes are still locked upon the swirling forms of the Sand Jackals, their glowing blue eyes staring at them with contempt. The Sand Jackals did not come any nearer to the group, but they continue on 'swimming' beside them. The stand-off continued on throughout the night until dawn arrives. The Sand Jackals hissed before fading back into the white sands of Saddle Arabia. "What happened?" "Day comes, they go. Day go, they come." The black camel said, before he walks away from Big Macintosh in the odd camel gait. Big Macintosh looks around and see that everyone in the caravan are now walking in a more relaxed pace. The journey across the desert for the next few days are uneventful after the incident with the Sand Jackals. Nonetheless Big Macintosh's endurance is now at its limit, as the water conservation is now taking a toll on his mind and body. Big Macintosh's throat is now dried up and is hurting him, and his lips is cracking even more than before while his body started to ache from travelling across the sea of dune before him. Even worse than those conditions is that his thoughts are now less optimistic than before. It has been a week since they have started their journey from the outskirts of Port Al-Hoofdin, and Big Macintosh's water supply is running low. The periodical stops between the long walks is not helping him at all, instead it made him even more tired than before. This is also true with the rest of the Saddle Arabians, but they chose not to show it to the rest of the caravan and Big Macintosh decided against speaking out his thoughts. Big Macintosh could now see how water is held sacred in this part of the world, while in Equestria they just wantonly waste water away. Without food there is no sustenance, but without water there is no life. If they failed to get water soon, somepony will start falling down from the exhaustion and lack of water. It was then that Big Macintosh could see something from beyond the horizon. At first it looked rather small, but then as the caravan continued on moving, Big Macintosh realized that it looks more like a large wall of cloud coming towards them. It was then that one of the Saddle Arabian started shouting something, and the caravan started to walk sideways away from the moving wall of cloud. Suddenly Big Macintosh's eyes started to hurt and he could feel the gust of wind blowing towards him, with sand in tow. Although the gust is small, but Big Macintosh could not help but to sneeze from the sand that is now entering his nostrils. He observed the other members of the caravan, and he noticed that they are now covering their mouths and snout with cloth from their Keffiyeh. Big Macintosh decides to follow by example and wraps some of the excess cloth from his headgear around his snout. By then Big Macintosh could feel that the gust of wind is getting stronger and stronger, blowing even more sand towards the caravan. It was then that Big Macintosh remembered the legendary tales of the sandstorms of Saddle Arabia, and now he is witnessing one of them coming towards their direction. As the sandstorm comes closer, Big Macintosh could feel the warm blowing winds of Saddle Arabia blowing through his robes filling it with the gravelly sands of this land. Soon enough, one of the Saddle Arabians started calling out to the rest of the caravan and points out a rather large rock formation. The rock formation appears to be several stones stacked upon on one another in such a way that it forms a cavern and it seems to be large enough for the rest of the caravan to shelter themselves from the elements. Slowly but surely, the rest of the caravan walks towards the rock formation and rest among the cool shade that it provides.Big Macintosh could also feel that the storm is brewing to be a fierce one, and he is suddenly reminded by the large hurricane that the pegasi did to replenish the water supply of Cloudsdale. As everyone entered the cavern, Big Macintosh could only hope that everyone managed to get into this shelter. The red stallion's vision is severely hampered by the thickening sands but he managed to find his way into the cavern. As he enters into the cavern, his vision is restored and as he looks back, Big Macintosh could see nothing else outside of the cavern. The blowing, thunderous whistle of the raging sand storm continues on unabated. It looks like they will be stuck for a while in this cavern. As Big Macintosh puts down his saddlebag, he noticed that some of the Saddle Arabians are now taking a sip of water while handing out dried fruits and bread for the others. Big Macintosh then walks up to one of them and kindly thank them with their food, and as he walks back towards his saddlebag he uttered a single thought out loud, but the howling winds of the storm dampens his voice down to nothing but a whisper. "Ah sure hope for a miracle right about now....."