//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: I Dream of Twilight Sparkle // by Salnalus //------------------------------// It wasn't much of a surprise when Twilight and Spike arrived in Saddle Arabia. The trip was long and exhausting, even if they were flying by hot air balloon the whole time, but they were relieved when they finally made it. It was parked not too far from the edge of the city; in fact, it was directly on the border. As Twilight's hooves and Spike's feet trekked through the hot sand, they noticed the ponies around them. The Saddle Arabians were indeed ponies, but they looked mildly different. Their eye shapes were a bit more narrowed, and their body shapes resembled that of horses. Still, they were ponies, and Twilight didn't want to give any first impressions on them just because of the way they looked. In fact, she was a bit fascinated by the fact that there were ponies that looked different than the variety she was used to. They didn't seem to be shocked or surprised in any way that an outsider, or rather, two outsiders if Spike was included, visited their city from far away. In fact, they somehow knew that they were expecting visitors, which is why most of them were outside at the time. One of the Saddle Arabians enthusiastically trotted up to Twilight and Spike, and greeted them with a bow. “Greetings, visitors. Welcome to Saddle Arabia. If you wish it, I can be your guide.” Twilight was the first to speak. “Of course, and thank you! My name is-” “Twilight Sparkle. Yes, we have heard of you. In fact, all of Saddle Arabia had been expecting your arrival. We had been sent word from Princess Celestia herself that you would be coming.” “The Princess had sent word here?” Twilight looked down at Spike, who had a confused expression on his face. “She must've sent a letter here after our departure from Ponyville. She probably put in a good word for us.” “Indeed, she did, and even though we don't get many visitors here, if any at all, we would be afraid to scare you away by resorting to too much special treatment. However, if you would like, I may show you what our city has to offer.” The pony gestured a hoof behind her, as to show Twilight and Spike what she meant by what the city had to offer. Of course, she meant the various buildings and markets. Twilight nodded in agreement. “I would like that.” Spike groaned at the thought. “Does that mean we're going to take a long time walking? The sand here is hot enough already. I don't want to tire my legs out.” Twilight giggled. “Don't worry, Spike. If it bothers you so much, you can ride on my back like you always do.” “Really? Aww, thanks Twilight. You're a really great friend.” With that, Spike proceeded to climb up atop Twilight's back, happy that he can rest his legs, even if he didn't travel more than a few steps with them. Even if he was happy enough to do almost anything for Twilight, given that he was her number one assistant, he would still be lazy in doing a few things; even some things as simple as walking. “If you two are ready, we may begin the tour.” With that, the guide turned around, and walked frontwards towards the main area of the Saddle Arabia town with Twilight and Spike in tow. Throughout the area, they saw many more of the Saddle Arabian ponies that filled the streets and the market ahead. In the market area, every single stand sold many different items. Some were filled with food, while others had various clothing native to the town. A few others had various pieces of decorations like pottery and body piercings. One of them had a few things that could be counted as souvenirs. That was definitely a stand Twilight would be looking at before she would return to Ponyville. It wouldn't hurt to get a few things for her friends, especially Pinkie Pie, who would accept anything from foreign lands. The merchants standing behind each stand bore cutie marks that matched, or closely matched, what products they were selling. If anything, it made for the perfect advertisement. That is, if they walked around showing it. But then Twilight remembered her top priority for even choosing Saddle Arabia as a vacation spot in the first place. “Excuse me, Miss guide?” The pony turned around to face Twilight with a smile. “Yes, how may I help you?” “I was wondering... do you happen to know if there is any library here in Saddle Arabia? I would really love to check out what it may hold.” “Oh yes, indeed. Our library consists of many different pieces of literature that suits the needs of basically anypony who happens to stumble upon it. We've had plenty a visitor before, and everypony who's walked into that library almost always comes out happy in the end!” This served to excite Twilight even more. Sure, she already had so many books in her library, but why not add a couple more? She had forgotten to bring her saddlebag from the hot air balloon, but she would go back to get it later once the tour was over. “Can you lead us to this library? I would like to go there first.” “Certainly! Follow me.” She turned her head back around and continued her walk through the desert area with Twilight and Spike close behind. In the direction they were headed, Twilight couldn't see it yet, but she was not about to question where they were going. She just decided to keep following the guide as she lead the way. A little bit past the market, she spotted What seemed to look like a hotel. As expected, it didn't look anything like hotels from the other cities in Equestria, but it was a hotel nonetheless. A thought occurred to Twilight. Perhaps she would take a look at this hotel once the tour is over, as it might provide a good place to stay while they enjoyed their vacation. After the small group of three passed it, a stallion partly walked out of one of the buildings on the opposite side of the hotel. From what could be seen, his coat was a soft beige color with a rather gruff-looking brown mane. On his face showed a bit of facial hair; namely a mustache with a goatee. Because the rear half of his body was in the shadows of hut he emerged from, his cutie mark was unable to be seen. He watched Twilight as she followed the guide to the library before slipping back into his hut. After not much of a walk later, Twilight, Spike and the guide made it to Saddle Arabia's only library. From the outside, Twilight could've sworn it looked smaller outside than what she saw on the inside. Not that she cared, of course. A bigger library meant a happier Twilight Sparkle. Books were lined up in shelves all over. The place was jam packed with old and slightly new books, tomes, scrolls, and basically anything else anypony would expect to find in such a place. To the left of the entrance, a mare stood behind a counter, reading a book. She had a peach-colored coat with an orange mane. Her cutie mark appeared to be that of a bookmark. Twilight seemed to be a bit overjoyed, as the first thing she did upon entering was walk up to the counter to greet the mare. “Hello there, Miss librarian!” The mare looked up from her book, and smiled from Twilight's greeting, placing the book down. “Greetings, visitor! Are you here for anything in particular?” “Oh, nothing special. Just anything that seems exclusive to Saddle Arabia, among other things. Perhaps something along the lines of Saddle Arabian culture, for starters?” The mare nodded happily. “In that case, what you are seeking will be found in the 'C' section. It stands for culture.” As the mare said this, she pointed past Twilight where the indicated section was. “Wait, you organize your whole library by letter?” Twilight held a raised brow up. “That I do! Then genre, then letter again. It is what we're used to here in this city.” “I see... most libraries, like mine, organize them by genre first, then letter. It seems a bit complicated the other way round.” “You also own a library? You're a fellow librarian?” Twilight beamed happily. “That I am! I am Twilight Sparkle, proud owner of the library of Ponyville.” It was now the mare's turn to smile with delight. “It is such a pleasure to meet a fellow librarian from another city. The chances of this happening seemed so very low, yet here we are!” She paused for a moment, realizing she had gotten a bit carried away with her excitement. “Oh, excuse my manners, Twilight Sparkle. I am usually excited for these sort of things. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kubuya Atka, the proud owner of this library in Saddle Arabia.” “In that case, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Kubuya. I'll just be looking through. Don't even mind me.” Before she went off to search, she turned back to Spike. “Spike, I need you to go back to the hot air balloon. I seem to have left everything back there. Can you fetch my saddlebag? It has our bag of bits in it.” Spike stood tall and proud with a hand on his forehead in a saluting position. “Can do!” With that, he took off back out of the library. “I'll watch over him for you, and guide him back here in case he gets lost.” The guide then followed Spike back out the library. “Well, that's good to know. This place has some great friendly hospitality! Now then, to find that book.” She remembered where Kubuya had gestured to. As she made her way there, she gazed around at the vast collection of knowledge the library had to offer. It was like heaven to her; well, as much as it could look, given it's a library in a grand city in the middle of a desert. No sooner did she find the book was she already fascinated by what she read inside. Apparently, there was a lot more to learn about the place than what she had seen of it. She beamed at the thought, and rushed to the front of the store. But then she remembered. She didn't have her bag of bits with her. Spike had been sent to get them, though. It looked like she would have to wait for him to return, and given how long it took for them to get from the front of the city to the library, it would be a long time. Luckily for her, she had time to spare. A lot of time had passed since Spike left, and in that time, Twilight read all she could of the book pertaining to the city's ways and customs. She had felt ecstatic about everything she read, and couldn't wait to look around more after the tour. She even read up on the Saddle Arabian gems the city had to offer; something Spike would love to get his claws on. Twilight figured she would buy a few for Rarity when she got back to Ponyville, because she knew how much the fashionista adored gems. Finally, Spike and the guide did get back after a while. In his claw, Spike held the saddlebag Twilight had asked for, although he had some difficulty. “I got the bits, Twilight!” As he found her seated by one of the walls, he noticed a couple of other books around her. Twilight rose her head up, and looked at him with a smile, putting the book down. “Oh good, you're here! I found some more books, and I just know I'll enjoy them too.” She rose up from her seat, and used the magic from her horn to first levitate the saddlebag onto her back, then carry all of the books towards the counter. “Excuse me, Kubuya. How much for all of these books?” Kubuya looked at the relatively small pile of books situated in front of her. She expected more, given Twilight being another librarian like herself. She checked every book, and looked at Twilight with a smile. “Fifteen bits.” “Fifteen bits? I would've thought they cost more than that.” “Really? Fifteen bits seems like an almost high price here in Saddle Arabia. You wouldn't believe the amount everypony here gets from any tourists that come by.” “Hmm... that must explain it. Anyway...” As her horn glowed again, the bag of bits floated out of Twilight's saddlebag, and she took out the exact amount of change that was needed for the transaction. Kubuya happily accepted it, and Twilight placed the books inside. “Thank you very much! We'll be going now.” “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Twilight Sparkle. Do be sure to come by again!” She waved to Twilight and Spike in a friendly manner before they left the library completely. She smiled to herself before picking up the book she had been reading, and continued where she left off. As the tour went on, Twilight and Spike saw many of the sights around the city. More of the market was shown, a few landmarks were visited, and they even entered a few indoor shops. They even stopped to buy a few gems Spike was literally fawning over. Twilight only giggled as he tried to resist sticking his claws directly inside the basket full of the delicious treats. If only to relieve him, Twilight bought a few for him, and the rest of the way, Spike sucked off of the flavor of one of them, enjoying the taste while it lasted. Finally, after walking all around the city, the sky had been getting dark, and the trio had made it to the hotel Twilight had spotted earlier. “Alright, Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Here is Hotel de Arabia, the only hotel in the city, but famous for its excellent service.” The guide pointed up at the huge building, which was a bit taller than most buildings in Saddle Arabia, even if there weren't that many tall buildings. “It was a pleasure to be your guide, and I hope you enjoy your stay in Saddle Arabia!” “Thank you for being our guide. Have a good night!” Twilight and Spike waved off the guide as she walked away towards her home. They both then faced each other and smiled as they entered the hotel. They didn't expect much from the interior, and that's what they got. It had a very simplistic design, much like hotels in other cities. Twilight liked this, as she likes anything simple in design. If the yellow dress Rarity gave Twilight for her birthday wasn't a perfect example of her likeness of simplicity, nopony would know what was. After a few words with the stallion in the front desk, and a walk up the stairs later, Twilight and Spike made it to their room on the third floor. Once Twilight's magic levitated the key inside the hole and turned it, the door opened to reveal the room inside. It was like any average hotel. There was a bed, a bathroom, windows, and some tables in each room. It wasn’t over-the-top fancy, but it made for a good temporary living space during their stay. “So, this is our room, huh?” Spike took the moment to look around the room, admiring its features. “I gotta say, these Saddle Arabian ponies sure do know how to make a place look good! It's like they want to make up for the place being a rarely-visited location that they made it worthwhile for anypony who comes here.” “That... actually is a good point, Spike. But please, I'm sure it's not anything like that.” Twilight closed the door behind her as she levitated the saddlebag off of her back. “As much as I want to get started on some of those books, we really should get some sleep. Today has been a long day, and my hooves have surely been aching a bit from all of the walking we've been doing.” “I guess, since there's only one bed, we're going to have to sleep together. I wouldn't want you sleeping on the cold floor now. But they could've provided more blankets. These ones are a bit... small.” She picked up the blanket with one of her hooves, examining its size. She sighed as she laid onto the bed next to Spike. “Twilight, even with the blanket, it's still a bit too small for the both of us.” Twilight thought about it for a brief moment. Then an idea came to her. “Well, I could cover most of myself up with the blanket, and you could stay close to me, and cover yourself up with my tail.” Spike gave Twilight a blank stare. “Your tail, as a blanket?” “It's better than nothing, Spike.” “Good point. Fine, I'll take it.” Twilight beamed, and Spike scooted closer to Twilight's body in an attempt to stay warm. As she maneuvered her tail around Spike's body, she levitated the blanket over both of them as much as she could. It wasn't much as they had expected, but it was all they had. Spike snuggled a bit closer to Twilight, which invoked a small smile to appear on her face. Even if the nights were to be a bit uncomfortable, they were nothing compared to everything Twilight was going to experience for the rest of her vacation. As her horn glowed, the lights turned off, and they both drifted off to sleep.