Macintosh of Arabia

by Crisis_Vyper

Crossing Tensions

As the sun slowly fades under the horizon, Big Macintosh, Vinyl Scratch, Nurse Redheart and Fatimah are now waiting for the Sheikhs to take them from their hotel to the harbor for their boatride to the capital. As they see Saddle Arabians, zebras and an occasional gryphon or two checking in and out of the hotel, Vinyl and Fatimah decided to make a game out of it and see how many zebras and gryphons are checking in and out.

"Big Mac, are you alright?" Nurse Redheart asked the red stallion. He appears to be a little paler than he used to be, and if he were any more paler he would be as pink as Pinkie Pie.
"Eeyup, Ya don't have'ta......" However the stallion's speech is cut short by the arrival of twenty-four armed and armored camels entering into the hotel, causing much commotion among the other guests and staffs of the hotel. Vinyl and Fatimah stopped their counting game, and before long the Equestrians are now looking at these warrior camels.Big Macintosh was about to think about what they are until Fatimah finally burst out happily.
"Hey it's Amanar and Daddy's Janissary corp!" The Equestrians are now looking at the surprisingly estactic filly, who looked like a filly who was really happy to see that her parents are there to pick her up from school.

The sight of fully two dozen Janissary in their full battle regalia is a sight to behold, In addition to their characteristic odd white headdress on their head which resembles hat with a large flap of cloth, each Janissary has an ornately gilded black frowned mask with snarling fangs and wicked-looking shoulder pads that are gilded with gold. Their black robes are decorated with ornate gold paisley patterns with blue stripes running down the back of the Janissary. Their humps are covered with a darksteel cap, etched with intricate paisley patterns radiating like petals from the center of the cap. Each on of the Janissary are also armed with their scimitar and a long metal barrel stuck onto a robust wooden stock with a flintlock on it, the stock being a distinctive curve. The long weapon as a whole is well crafted and is very beautifully and artistically decorated. With each step that they take, the sound of the clanking armor that are hidden within the robes rings with great certainty. It is with further scrutiny that Big Macintosh could recognized Amanar from the other Janissary as the camel is the only one that towers above his other brethren. Big Macintosh could see why these are the great protectors of the Saddle Arabian royalty, as they can strike fear in any pony that is foolish enough to cross their path.

"Follow us." Amanar said to the Equestrians. As the Equestrians are escorted by the Janissary corp, Nurse Redheart could not help but to ask a question to Amanar.
"So.....why aren't the rest of the caravan in our building following us?" Nurse Redheart asked.
"We temporary group traveling together and protecting each other, Once we reach location we split up for our own things. Reach location, break up, caravans are now no longer existent. We now can do job of protect Sheikh and family."
"Ah recall that there are more of ya, what happened to the others?" It is now Big Macintosh's turn to ask Amanar.
"Families taken care of by rest of the Janissary corp. They have orders to get out of city with Sheikh family if we not back by second day."
"Shouldn't Fatimah be with the others then?" Vinyl asked the leader of the Janissary.
"She special case." Amanar said without even breaking his monotonous tone. Soon enough silence returned and the entourage continued on moving through the labyrinthine streets of the settlement until they entered into the harbor.

There are many ships anchored at the harbor, some as small as a rowboat, while others are as big as some of the largest airships in Canterlot. It was then that the Equestrians could see another entourage of fully armored Janissary surrounding Sheikh Abu Hamza and Sheikh Fahd slowly entering the harbor. As the two group rendezvous with each other, the combined entourage of fully five dozen Janissary, two Sheikhs, three Equestrians and a little filly now continued on moving down the harbor in unison. Vinyl could only look around her with amazement at the regimented movement of these awesome 'metally-dressed' camels, while Nurse Redheart is utterly uncomfortable with the presence of weapons around her. Big Macintosh could only look around stoically as they moved together as one.

The silence is almost unbearable, and the group is utterly silent and in motion until they stopped in front of an orange Saddle Arabian in the traditional Saddle Arabian outfit next to a medium-sized boat with a long thin hull and a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast.

The orange stallion greets the two Sheikhs and soon enough the Sheikh and the orange stallion are now talking about something before the orange stallion started counting their heads. Big Macintosh noticed that the Janissary are now looking around just as, if not more, paranoid than he is. They are cautious for another reason of course, but Big Macintosh's paranoia stems from actually never liking on something in the air or in the water. If given a choice he would rather have his feet on the ground, as that way he could do something to escape if anything goes wrong. With a ship or an airship, it is literally a coffin just waiting to happen. Soon enough the orange stallion was given a small bag of coins by Sheikh Fahd and
the transaction ends with the orange stallion bowing and beckons the entourage to enter into his boat.

Seeing that there is nothing else to do but to get on the boat, the entourage proceed to enter into the boat. Fatimah and Vinyl are excited at their boat journey and they started to speak to each other excitedly, while Nurse Redheart and Big Macintosh are more reserved. Of course, the Janissary corp is utterly silent and are just sitting on the boat, with the long metal barrel object resting in their arms while the Sheikh are staring across the horizon. The boatmen then prepares the sails and loosen up the ropes holding the boat in the harbor, and like an arrow the ship started to sail towards the Island of Lotuses in total darkness.

---

Big Macintosh wonders if everything will go well especially when he have a role to play somehow in helping Sheikh Abu Hamza for his bid to become Emir. To add to his uncertainty, he is utterly clueless as to how he could even help the light brown stallion in even getting the role in the first place. As he stares at the incoming island, his thoughts slowly flows to that of his home and that of his family.

"Granny, Jackie, Applebloom......" Big Macintosh said softly, and he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. He turns around to see Nurse Redheart looking at him with a serene, reassuring look.
"It's okay Big Mac, it will all be fine."
"Ah sure hope so. Ah wish Ah got their blessed ignorance...." Big Macintosh gestures toward the blue-maned Vinyl and little Fatimah who are now pointing at the water.
"Such is the burden of knowledge. The best we could do is to try and be as neutral as we could while they sort out their problems." Of course Big Macintosh knew that this is not possible in his case, but he still managed a smile.
"Yeah, you are right." The white mare smiles back at him, and his heart lightens up a little more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vinyl and Fatimah are now looking up at the night skies glittering with stars, at peace with their environment. Back in Ponyville, Vinyl did not manage to enjoy the night skies as a result of her job as a disc jockey and thus watching the night skies in Saddle Arabia is truly a treat for her. It reminds her of the times where her father would watch the skies with her when she was a filly. How odd it is that this time the roles are reversed, with her being the elder pony and Fatimah being the little filly. Suddenly the little filly started asking the blue-maned mare a question, snapping her out of her gaze.

"Hey Vinny, do ever have this feeling that you have been in some place before, but you didn't?" The little filly looks at Vinyl with a curious look. Vinyl swears that her heart almost melted at the little filly looking at her with the filly's pale, light greyish olive eyes. But she resisted the feeling to squee and instead answered the filly.
"Sure did kiddo. What's up?" The little filly hesitated a little before she started to speak.
"Well for some reason looking at Aqqabasta, I feel like I have been there before. In fact it feels like home somehow."
"Cool, have you been here before at all?" Vinyl asked, but the little filly is now shaking her head.
"Nu-uh, this is my first time Vinny."
"Maybe it is your destiny or something to be there. I sure know that is what happened to me when I first laid eyes on Ponyville. Shhhuuureeeeee it is a boring town at first, but then I realized that unlike any other place I feel more at home there than anywhere else. I feel like I belong, y'know?"
"No, not at all Vinny." The little filly giggled. The mare could only shake her head as she smile, as she could not expect the little filly to understand the sense of belonging at her young age. It will all come in due course when a pony knows a place where she belongs and her role in life.

"I am sure you would understand this!" Before Fatimah could even react, Vinyl starts tickling the little filly's stomach with all her might. The loud laughter of the filly made even the most hardened of the Janissary smiled under their brutal-looking mask. However the two Sheikhs are looking at the island with a certain amount of stoicism, ignoring the laughter of the little filly. It was then that Sheikh Fahd started speaking to his nephew, their soft conversation hidden by the laughter of the little filly.

---

It was not long before the ship finally reaches the capital of Saddle Arabia, and the Equestrians could finally marvel at its architectural beauty. Each port spreads out from the petals of the island like vines across the vast body of water, each walkway carved with finely etched images of plant motives. As the boat comes closer to the port, the Equestrians could only wonder how did the Saddle Arabians even make such a wonder to begin with without magic. However the Janissary bodyguards soon snapped into full alert, readying their long-barreled weapon as if ready to strike. Big Macintosh, Vinyl Scratch and Nurse Redheart are caught off-guard by the battle preparedness of the Janissary before finally seeing the reason of the agitation/ Disguised initially by the darkness, the Equestrians soon noticed several dozen armed equines with polished grey armor with silver and gold trims and black robes wearing a Saddle Arabian death mask. The Equestrians also see that each one of these equines are holding their spears pointing upwards in the air, each spear carrying a banner emblazoned with a rather grim iconography of a skull wearing a turban and half a death mask with a two scimitars crossed.

"What in the hay are those ponies?" Big Macintosh asked the two mares without looking at them.
"I am not sure, but I do not like them at all." Nurse Redheart answered, still watching the phalanx of grim armed equines.
"What's with Saddle Arabians and such metal outfits?!?!?!" Vinyl exclaimed loudly with her arms up in the air, causing the Equestrians and the Janissary to look at Vinyl. The blue-maned pony blushes a little before falling silent with the rest of the entourage. However, it seems that the two Sheikhs are utterly calm at the face of this display of force and as the boat comes closer to the port, they just looked at the phalanx stoically.

Once the boat docks with the port, the phalanx of armed equines started to dip their spears as if to welcome the entourage. Soon enough, the entourage exits the boat and although the armed equines did not display any sign of aggression of ill-intent, the Jannisary bodyguards are still at high alert with their weapons not resting their weapon for a second. The two Sheikhs started to take out their pendant with the swirly symbols from their robes, and displaying it to the phalanx. One of the armed Equines stepped forth towards the Sheikhs, an equine with a tear down the eye on his death mask. The equine started examining the pendants of the two Sheikhs. The tense atmosphere is not lost on the Equestrians as it seems that there is some sort of animosity between the armed equines and the Janissary bodyguards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is the purpose of your visits Milords?" An Eternal with a tear mark on his mask asked the Sheikhs with his muffled, dark voice.
"We seek to meet with the Emir, Fallen." Sheikh Fahd answered back, his voice utterly calm. However, the armed equine continued on examining the pendants of the two Sheikhs, the faceless mask looking for signs of forgery. However the pendants are not counterfeits and are the real things.The armed equine the produces a jet black gem in his hooves. The Sheikhs know the process in which they need to pass in order to get into the capital and soon begin the protocol. If they did not do the rituals needed, the Eternals would kill them on the spot, and the Janissary bodyguards will use their jezzails to defend them. In other words it will become a very messy situation, and none of the Sheikhs want that situation.

"Sheikh Abu Hamza bin Mohammad Hishamudin of the Remal al-Sahra Al-Khayl clan, Custodian of Al-Barna province." The light brown stallion said his name and his area of jurisdiction.
"Sheikh Fahd Bin Mohammed of the Remal al-Sahra Al-Khayl clan, Custodian of Lamis province." The burly stallion followed suit with his own name and area of jurisdiction. Before long, the gem started to brighten up and it blinks with a bright light briefly for each one of their names before turning back its jet black form. The armed equine nods and puts the crystal back in his robes.

"You are who you say you are, and your arrival is expected. Welcome to Aqqabasta Milords." The masked equine with the tear mark on his mask bows down before rising up to give the signal to his men to stand down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was then that the Equestrians notice the armed equine with the tear mark on his mask waves his arm, and the phalanx is finally at ease. The Janissary also loosen up their stance, and Big Macintosh, Vinyl Scratch and Nurse Redheart breathe a sigh of relief. The leader of the armed equines then pulls out what looks like a cow bell and started ringing it. Suddenly, a dark shadow looms over them, and as the Equestrians look up they could not believe what they are seeing. For wanting of better words, this is almost impossible without any external unicorn magic, but yet it is happening right before their eyes. As the shadow becomes larger and larger, they could see the large object coming down upon their location. Finally the object finally lands in front of the entourage.

"Buck me......is that what I think it is?" Vinyl said, flabbergasted at the sight of the object.
"Eeyup." Big Macintosh said with a certainty that is laced with amazement.
"A magic carpet......" Nurse Redheart said excitedly to no one in particular, not believing her eyes. It is a large carpet, made out of green silk with a golden weft with intricate patterns and design sewn on the carpet. The designs consist of many plant-like motifs as with everything they have seen in the capital so far, and the use of vibrant red and striking violets only accentuate the magical aspect of the carpet.

She looks around and realizes that everyone around them is not even phased by this magical object, and the Sheikhs are still talking with that particular armed equine. Before long, the Sheikhs break away from the armed equine and started to stand upon the carpet. The Janissary bodyguards followed their masters, and before long Fatimah is hopping happily towards the carpet joining her father. The three Equestrians could not help but to be frozen where they stand.

"Big Macintosh, Nurse Redheart, Vinyl.......how long are you going to stand there staring at the flying carpet? We need to get to the palace quickly." Sheikh Abu Hamza's words snapped the ponies out of their stupor and they immediately went on the carpet. As the carpet starts to ascend, Vinyl and Nurse Redheart could only marvel at how the carpet could even fly flown without an external source of magic, let alone hold the weight of a hundred or so equines and camels combined especially when the majority of them are armored to the core. The leader of the armed equine started speaking to everyone else, but Vinyl and Big Macintosh are utterly clueless to what the equine is saying to them. Nurse Redheart however is sitting on the carpet before she turns to her fellow Equestrians.

"Vinyl, Big Mac, we need to sit down on the carpet." Nurse Redheart told them, and the two Equestrians followed the white mare's suggestion. They soon have to thank the white mare, as suddenly a burst of acceleration almost pulled them out from the carpet, and Vinyl and Big Macintosh realize that they are now speeding towards the palace.As they take their incredulous carpet ride across the skies of the capital, they soon find themselves seeing the buildings that littered the capital in greater detail. Each one of the buildings are etched with the complex iconography of leaves, vines fruits and flowers and they appear to look alive on initial glance, with some carvings of birds perching upon the vines. The streets are also etched with even more organic designs that gives anyone the impression that this city is covered with plants.

It was not long before the Equestrians could see their final destination; the grand palace of the capital.

Author's Note:

Oooooooo, clocking in at exactly 3200 words for this chapter! I like it when chapters are in such a perfect, round number!

Comments

[MC BR0N3]

"Big Macintosh, Nurse Redheard, Vinyl.......how long are you going to stand there staring at the flying carpet? We need to get to the palace quickly."

Don't you just hate it when tourists crowd around your flying carpet and gawk?

[Crisis_Vyper]

2292291

Well they can't help it...it a sexy carpet lol

[Amethyst Blade]

Wait.........................Is the filly the lost rightful heir the throne or something? Someone managed to escape the assassination? And the guy whose name I still can't get rescued her and protected her all these years with his wife?