//------------------------------// // Saddle Arabia: part 2 // Story: The HAYngover // by TJW //------------------------------// Sat at the head of the banquet filled table, Mac filled his face with the large assortment of delicacies put in front of him, his hunger eliminating any wish of table courtesy as he ploughed through his meal. Numerous villagers accumulated around Mac as he ate, watching and admiring his every move, it was fair to say he'd made quite a name for himself in this town. Despite the many staring eyes on him, Mac's attention was still exclusively locked on his meal, almost to the point where he forgot why he was there in the first place. While he would have preferred an apple based meal, Mac was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth so feasted until his heart's content. This was not a luxury that was bestowed on his companions, who sat at the opposite end of the table, cautiously looking down at the bowl of gruel acting as their breakfast. To add to the pain of seeing Mac's lavish food compared to their own, Flash and Shining had to endure the excruciating awkwardness that resided between them due to their earlier confrontation. "So errr... Shining... nice weather out here isn't it?" Spoke Flash, hoping to ease some tension between them. Shining just shot an empty glare back at him, "why is it that every time you speak, I want to throw up?" Flash thought it over, "well... maybe it's because you're overcome with happiness when I'm with you? Or maybe because that food is giving you an upset belly?" Shining sighed while looking around for something to use as a weapon, "Flash... shit bricks like you are the reason the fate of Equestria is left down to six pieces of magical jewellery rather than the actual army!" Meanwhile at the other end of the table, the conversation was far more light hearted, mostly comprised of the townsfolk stating how amazing Mac was while fighting off the mafia, then Mac trying to respond as modestly as possible through mouthfuls of food and also having no idea what actually happened. Though ideally Mac would be back at the farm right now going about his every day life, he had to admit that being showered with the admiration of a whole town of ponies was a decent alternative, especially after the horrendous experiences he'd suffered upon waking up that morning. The red stallion's head was processing such high levels of information that he barely noticed Shining and Flash at the far end of the table, both wearing looks that suggested an expectation for Mac to have shared some of the culinary bounty with them, but this was not to be. After finishing his meal and licking the plate clean, obliterating any chance for the other two stallions to receive any leftover scraps, Mac observed various details in the room, or to put it literally, the LACK of detail around the room, it looked like it had been completely ransacked. At first thoughts, Mac mentally proposed that the damage here may have been caused by the three of them when they first arrived there the day before in some form of drunken rage, but quickly wrote off this prospect, surely due to the fact that the townsfolk wouldn't throw him a celebratory meal and thank him for SAVING the town if this was the case. The town mayor stomped his hooves, prompting two ponies to remove Mac's empty dishes from the table, then rose from his seat to approach Big Mac, "I do hope the meal was to your satisfaction?" Mac grinned, "Eeyup! My friends and I are most grateful for your high generosity, right guys?", finally acknowledging his companions as he gestured towards them, both still with nearly full dishes of gruel infront of them. If ponies had fingers, Shining would have most likely used the middle one to demonstrate his distaste for Mac's statement. Mac continued, "Well I was anyway. This is a nice little town you all have here, but I was just looking around and... if you don't mind me asking... what's with all the damages around the place?" The mayor sighed deeply to himself, scanning the surrounding area, "That's just the thing Sir Macintosh, now you see the impact your tremendous feat of bravery has had for my people. The damages you see around you, along with the lack of possessions we have is the result of many years of torment from the Arabian mafia that you have now expelled from our home. Our feud with them has endured over one thousand years in which they have constantly ravaged our town to the point of desperation, demanding unlawful taxation of our goods. Their motives have never been clear, all we know is that they follow the orders of their leader, who's identity is unknown, but from what we hear, he is currently visiting the capital city, which may turn sour when he finds out what happened here yesterday. It's a very long history we have with them, but I'm more than happy to tell you about it if you'd like?" Shining shot up from his seat, "NO! I mean... that's very kind of you, but you see, we have a very short time limit to get home and..." "Eeyup!" Interrupted Mac, "I'd love to hear about your history!" "Ah, a pony of both muscle and mind, a truly noble one you are Sir Big of Macintosh!" Beamed the mayor Shining rubbed his aching head with his hooves as he slumped back into his chair "Oh cheer up Shining" prompted Flash, "it could be interesting, and who doesn't like a good origin story?" "Flash... why don't you go outside and play in a fire?" Shining didn't have the energy to even look up while responding to Flash's words. Meanwhile, the mayor returned to his seated position. Once comfortable, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat, "are we all listening? The whole story happened something like this..." -------------------------------------------------------- "Over one thousand years ago, just before Princess Celestia and Luna took the throne of Equestria, this town was formed as nothing more than a trading post just outside the Arabian capital city, in fact, back then the capital city was only just slightly larger than OUR town is today. One of my ancestors, Dusty Shroud, was the leader of the group who constructed the trading post, therefore naturally assumed control over it and prepared everything necessary to start up a prosperous and efficient business. There was one problem however, one that perhaps should have been thought out before commencing this project, they didn't actually have anything to trade with! A large sense of humiliation grew within Dusty, but he was certainly a resourceful pony, so hastily designed a plan to find a solution to this problem. With the exception of a few trusted ponies who would stay at the post with Dusty, the rest of the workers were assorted into small groups, then sent out in different directions of the desert landscape, with the goal of finding an item of significant value to base the business around." "Just under a year has passed since the expedition groups were sent out into the merciless dunes of Saddle Arabia. While waiting for their return, the remaining ponies at the post grew desperate. Money and food were becoming scarce, while more and more of the ponies were falling ill, making it all that more difficult for Dusty to retain hope that the groups hadn't perished in the harsh lands. Then at last, his perseverance had brought him a reward; of the six groups that ventured out, one finally returned and they seemed to have brought something with them. Dusty was curious at best, what they had brought were large saddlebags of these small black seeds. Nopony knew what exactly these small seeds would grow into, but they had to take what they could get even when it would be difficult to sell an object when they didn't know what it was. They found no luck in planting these seeds in sand so decided to try them out as a culinary dish, and with that, they found success. Now that everything was in place, it was time for the next step, to find a buyer." "Unsurprisingly, the seeds weren't selling too well in the capital, not too many citizens were willing to purchase a strange product with no foreseeable use and the trading post was only just making enough money to keep it running. This is where THEY came in. The Arabian mafia, or as they are officially known, the 'Creators of Havoc And Overall Sinfulness'. It was never realised why, but this mafia seemed to have a perculiar interest in the seeds and mass bought a large stock of them, which greatly funded the trading post and allowed the business to get up and running. As the years went on, Dusty realised that over ninety percent of their income was coming from the mafia, so eventually a deal was met between the two parties which stated a fixed flow of bits would be paid to the post as well as exemption from any crime that the mafia may commit on it, so long as the mafia kept receiving a satisfactory dosage of the seeds every week, as a form of tax. Dusty questioned why the mafia had such an interest in the seeds but it was never made clear, it was only said that their boss needed them as part of a plan he had in over in central Equestria. "The deal had truly benefitted the post, with the excess profit they were making, they were able to construct many different residential buildings for the workers to stay in, but the most effective investment was the construction of an underground tunnel system that enabled the workers to retrieve the seeds from the source out in the desert far more quickly as well as staying out of the surface's harsh conditions. The success of the post was also recognised in the capital, attracting more and more citizens out of the city and over to the post with the hopes of work and a better way of life. The post had now officially made the transformation into a fully fledged town." "About two hundred years down the line, with the town under the new leadership of my later ancestor, Sandy Shroud, the townsfolk had completely renovated the area, building restaurants, market areas and finally the town hall for Sandy to reside in. Everything was perfect. Too perfect. When you live out here you come to expect that good things must always come at a price, and this is exactly what happened. The mafia's orders for the seeds had increased significantly during the town's renovation, but it was getting to the point where the workers couldn't supply the number of the seeds that was being demanded, causing the mafia's anger to grow until an ultimatum was formed; the town had one week to provide at least three thousand of the seeds, or the place would be levelled." "Just like Dusty, Sandy too was a resourceful pony, however, in his youth and inexperience, Sandy believed there was no weight in the mafia's threat so prepared everypony for an all out fight. This was the most costly mistake in the history of our town. All trade efforts were halted to make ready to defend the town, public buildings were torn down to create barricades using the materials and were even used to fashion weapons. On paper, this defensive fortification would have been unbreakable... but... no amount of preparation could have readied them for what the mafia had in store. HE was with them. The ring leader of the mafia was with them, the big boss. The town... it... it didn't stand a chance; never before had the townsponies witnessed such raw power! This leader was demonstrating power that could even rival both Celestia and Luna combined! They were torn apart in mere minutes; the town reduced to nothing more than rubble and ashes. Things didn't stop here though, they were not satisfied with destroyed homes and ruined lives, no, they had to send a more powerful message. Beaten within an inch of his life, Sandy was dragged through the smouldering streets and up to the balcony of his own town hall. The remaining survivors were rounded up and gathered in the main square, including Sandy's own wife and foal. Sandy was displayed, perched over the balcony and surrounded by gang members. Finally, to extinguish all embers of the town's spirit... Sandy was executed... for all to see." "A small group of officers oversaw leadership of the town until Sandy's foal, Dune Shroud, was old enough to take power, but their way of life could never recover after the devastation. Even when Dune took control, between paying for food and water, sending teams to retrieve seeds and constant raids by the mafia, he didn't have the bits nor the resources to fully rebuild the town. So the town underwent a great depression that has lasted hundreds more years up to today." --------------------------------------------- "It's a dark past we've been through... but that's all over with now, thanks to you Sir Macintosh" the Mayor uncontrollably embracing Mac in a strong hug, to the roar of approval from the emphatic townsponies. "Yeah that's all very tragic I'm sure," Shining making his way up and forcibly separating the hug, attempting to finally obtain the mayor's full attention, "but what we really need to know is what happened YESTERDAY! As you should be aware by now, we have no memory of what happened and we would be most appreciative if you could enlighten us. And make it the short version!" The mayor re composed himself, seeming fairly offended by Shining's insensitivity but realising himself that he may have got a bit carried away while walking down memory lane there. "Yes... err of course. The short story is that the mafia were here on one of their weekly raids, then Sir Macintosh arrived and started kicking flank! It truly was an amazing feat of strength and bravery! Once he'd sent them running, we knew they wouldn't be back any time soon." "And about what time was that at?" "This was just before sun down, you all looked exhausted; it seemed like you had just come from the capital." Claimed the mayor. Shining took a second to process this information, "we know all about what Mac was doing now, what do you remember about me or Flash over there?" The mayor frowned deeply, shifting his eyes to view the whimpering pegasus, then back to Shining. "You two? Pathetic!" Shining felt a sharp tension ring from his neck down his spine; as the captain of Equestria's royal guard, this was the first time he had ever been referred to as 'pathetic', he doubted this was true for Flash however. "Please! All the details you can tell us will help greatly! We need all the information we can get!" "Well, while Sir Macintosh was heroically fighting off the intruders, you felt it fit to lay back and neck down bottle after bottle of some sort of alcoholic beverage, while cheering support for THE MAFIA because you 'always support the underdogs', all before vomiting your guts up over the memorial plaque for our founding leader Dusty Shroud, our ONLY possession from the creation of our town over one thousand years ago. Then the pegasus? Screaming at the top of his lungs about 'finally becoming a true stallion' while sobbing like a newborn foal!" The mayor's words were as cold as they were spiteful. "Hey! You don't know that I was crying!" Objected Flash, turning a new shade of red with the embarrassment of being in such a state, "Oh really? The makeup that was streaming down your face with the tears says otherwise." The monotonous tone in his voice sending Flash spiralling back into awkward silence. The mayor returned his attention to Shining, "You were carrying some sort of mare's hoofbag which contained the drinks you were slaughtering, though I did notice something strange as well; both Sir Macintosh and the wimpy pegasus wear wearing a fluffy neck scarf each" Shining cross examined this fact with the items they woke up with that morning, removing the two scarves that were located inside Flash's bag, "Are these scarves and the bag the one's you were talking about?" The mayor scanned the items, "I'd assume so, unless you guys happen to have a numerous stash of feminine scarves on you?" He once again turned to Flash, "though I guess I wouldn't put it passed you". Shining returned the items to the bag, "I know it's a long shot, but, would you happen to have any idea where we might have got these scarves from?" "Are you being serious.... actually, as it goes I may have a thought as to where you got them from. From what I hear from the town's salesponies who visit the capital, there is only one place that gives away scarves like that. I don't know the name of the place, but if you find out, that'd be the best next step on your quest". Shining smiled for the first real time that morning, "thank you so much! I just have one more question; what happened after all the fighting?" The mayor now wore a puzzled look, "That's the bit I didn't understand! Once Sir Macintosh finished with the mafia, all three of you took off into the desert before we had the chance to thank him properly! We didn't see you again until this morning". "That must be where we fell asleep! You've been a huge help for us!" Shining signalled to Mac and Flash that it was time to leave, "come on guys, I know where to go now" "To get to the capital, you'll want to head out in the opposite direction to where you arrived here from this morning" prompted the mayor "Thank you for everything you've done for us" beamed Mac "No Sir Macintosh, you have liberated us from an age old depression, it is my people who thank YOU" the mayor reciprocating Mac's courtesy Just as the three were on their way out, they were halted by a mayor whos mood had almost completely contrasted, "oh! One more thing!" "Yes?" "With the obvious exception of Sir Macintosh; after the disrespect you showed us yesterday, if you ever set hoof in our town again, you will not be met with the same hospitality you were today" Shining thought back to the meal he'd been served this morning and smirked, "good... that may be an improvement then. Farewell".