Macintosh of Arabia

by Crisis_Vyper

Of Dreams And Stallions

Bodies, mangled and mutilated are scattered across the dune with weapons sticking out from the dune like tombstones for the fallen. The heavy downpour continues to fall upon the land, causing the blood to wash off the bodies and stained the white sands a deep crimson. Among the bodies stands a lean, slender, light brown stallion looking surprised and shocked. As he looked around with his smoky gray eyes, his eyes turned from that of surprise to realization. He know where this is, but he does not tend to think about this place unless......

And speak of Ista....., the Sheikh said to himself as he gives himself a rather bittersweet smile. He only wanders into this place when 'she' is coming. Before long, he sees a figure coming closer to him with every hoofstep making his heart beat harder. The figure is that of an Equestrian pegasus mare, her coat the finest silvery white while her mane a whitish grey, giving her an almost pristine and otherworldly presence. Her translucent emerald-green jadeite eyes is now looking at the stallion with great kindness but at the same time great sorrow as she smiled at him. The stallion could only reach out with his hoof, trying to touch the figure before he stops. However a sudden lunge causes the stallion to realize that he is falling down a deep abyss, his scream unable to escape his throat. The voice of the mare, kind and soft-spoken said with great love echoing down the deep abyss.

Fear not ...she will not be alone...

---

The Sheikh snapped out from his daydream with a cold sweat on his forehead and soon realized that his daughter is now pulling on his leg and his head is already looking down at her. He then kneels down and come face to face with his daughter. The filly could only look at her father with her olive eyes and the Sheikh smiles at his daughter before asking her.

"Yes my dear?"
"You are doing that weird face again.....that face where you have that weird eyebrow and weird goofy eyes." Fatimah said to the stallion. Sheikh Abu Hamza immediately remembered that whenever he had these 'episodes', he always have a certain face on him and only those that are closest to him could recognize that look.
"Oh am I? Sorry about that, I know that you do not like it when I do that." Sheikh Abu Hamza could only chuckle unconvincingly as he rubs his head with one of his hooves.
"You sure do daddy...": Fatimah gives him a little pout before breaking out in a giggle. The Sheikh's heart immediately brightens up when he sees Fatimah like this. It was if that all he needed in the world is her smile.And it is time for him to get a little more from her smile. Suddenly the stallion started to tickle the little filly and her laughter soon echoes throughout their living quarters.

---

Vinyl could not take her attention away as she sees Fatimah interacting with her father. A Saddle Arabian pegasus is truly something to make a big fuss about, especially considering the weird stuck-up nature of their society that she had come to learn about during her times as a captive for the slave trade and how they treat mares and females of other races. She could only respect the Saddle Arabian Sheikh in his capacity to be a very liberal stallion in that regard. From what she heard from the other Equestrians, he have no other wives and no other children except Fatimah and letting her do her own things. The outfit is a forgivable exception giving that the Sheikh do not want the other Saddle Arabians to throw a crazy rage fit, not to mention that the desert is not the best place to be naked in. That also brings her to another interesting thought; how does Fatimah's mom ooked like? She must be a stunningly beautiful mare if the little filly already looked so well-sculpted at her age.

And speaking about well-sculpted......, Vinyl's attention soon turns to the stallion who is now sitting at the balcony staring at the gardens below. That fine piece of toned muscle is an oddity to her, as with that body and rustic charm of his he should be able to get at least a marefriend in Ponyville, not to mention that he is perhaps one of the very few stallions in the town to begin with. But alas, he is a single farmer that is always working on the things he grows in his farm. Very odd indeed for the disc jockey who often sees stallions acting like idiots when they are drunk, and here he is perhaps the most sober pony she had ever laid eyes upon.

"So...I would assume that you are looking at that ass too Vinyl." Vinyl's cheeks immediately reddens itself when she realized that someone noticed her gawking. She turns around to see a smug smile on Nurse Redheart's face which softens up into a more genuine smile. Before long Vinyl also realized that Nurse Redheart is also looking at the direction of the stallion in red.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaa? I never thought of you as some stud-hunter." Vinyl said to the nurse.
"I am a mare, not an saint." Nurse Redheart said with a little bit of annoyance in her voice with a smile on her face.
"Meh, fair enough."
"No worries. My job is not the best place to find for a good stallion. They always come in damaged or utterly screwed in the head." Nurse Redheart gives a big sigh, and then followed shortly by a shrug.
"Meh, at least yours are not all high on alcohol and/or drugs and acting like assholes." Vinyl said with dejection as the white mare looked at her. It was then that both mares are laughing together when they realized that their problems are similar.

---

Big Macintosh finds himself back among the apple orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, He looks around him and realized that the trees ripe for harvesting. Golden Delicious, the Fujis,.....all the apples. He then tries to buck one of the trees and it was then that he realized that his hindlegs were smaller and scrawnier than it is. He realized that he is now a young colt once more, and he started to wonder what the hay is going on. It was then that he could hear laughter, a laughter that he recognize. The squeal of a filly soon followed, and Big Macintosh started running towards the source of the voice. As he zigzagged through the trees, his heart starts to pound with both excitement and disbelief.

As he comes closer, he see both Applebloom and Applejack as a filly squealing and laughing to their hearts' content. The mare that is tickling Applebloom has a pale yellow coat with an orange mane and tail which were tied up in a braid, while Applejack is riding behind a stallion with a light pastel orange coat with a crimson red mane with freckles and a stubble on his face. The cutie marks of both the adults were apple-themed, with the mare having a white rose on her flank and the stallion with a green apple and a pitchfork. It was then the Big Macintosh sheds a tear, realizing that he is now seeing his parents right before him. Both of his parents and his little sisters are now looking at him, happy and delighted that Big Macintosh is now with them

"Ma......Pa......"
"'Bout time ya got here, Mackie." The stallion said, with Applejack giggling behind the stallion's back. The mare then stops tickling Applebloom and helps the little filly up and smiles at the red colt.
"Well, now that everypony's here, let's get lunch. Come on dear, ya do not want to keep yer sisters waiting, don'cha?" Big Macintosh is delighted to come with them and spend time with them. However the red colt realized that he could not move form the spot. As he tried his hardest to move from the spot, his family is now walking away from him, laughing and talking with each other happily. Big Macintosh tried to call out to his family but his voice is not coming out from his throat, and suddenly the apple trees started to surround the colt, slowly obscuring his view of his family.

---

Big Macintosh wakes up, gasping for air and his forehead filled with sweat. The red stallion is now looking around him, and realized that he is in the sleeping chambers in the Saddle Arabian palace. He could only sighed as he realized that he had just experienced a nightmare, and it is a nightmare that he is not fond with at all. He had not dreamed of his parents for a long time now, not since he managed to move on with their passing. Seeing that he is now wide awake, the stallion decides to get out from his bed and walks towards the balcony.

As he basks in the moonlight, he watches the waterfalls and the lush gardens below in the palace courtyard to try and take his mind off his parents. The greenery always calmed the stallion down, and the cold embrace of the night only serves to cool down his heightened nerves. Suddenly Big Macintosh could hear some hoofsteps coming his way and he turns around to see a light brown stallion coming to the balcony, the stallion's smile a little weaker than it is supposed to be .

"So.....I see that you are awake....." Sheikh Abu Hamza said to the stallion.
"A memory from the past woke me up." Big Macintosh replied. Soon enough both stallions are now looking at each other in the eye, before the Sheikh decided to continue walking and stopping by his side and looking upon the city below. Big Macintosh turns around and now both stallions are looking at the city together.

"Big Macintosh, could I have a moment of your time?" Sheikh Abu Hamza breaks the silence with a question to the red stallion.
"Sure, dependin' on what yer about to say Ah may or may not agree." The red stallion said to Abu Hamza, and he wonders what is it that the Sheikh will ask of him now. He has been on this journey because he believed in the cause of the stallion, but even then the cause is very unclear as the Sheikh is a stallion of very little words when it comes to his agenda.
"Big Macintosh, I need to tell you a little more about that pendant of yours....."
"Eeyup, this Mark of the Steward thing?" Big Macintosh said with a smile, which caused alarm in the Sheikh but then Abu Hamza smiled back at the famrpony, realizing that his ally is not as clueless as he thought. Both stallions are silent for a moment before Abu Hamza decided to speak again.

"How did you know?"
"Ah have mah ways."
"Well, this will make this part a little easier......I do not expect you to hold onto that forever and you shall perform until there is no need for your services."
"About that....why me?"
"It is simple really; you are the only one I trust other than Amanar. Unfortunately a Janissary can never hold the Mark of the Steward and thus I turn to you. You have seen our politics my friend, and you can see that it is not safe for any pony, especially a little filly. I need someone like you to help me. And this is why I am handing you this." The stallion then hands the red stallion an orb of the deepest black, and Big Macintosh is now looking at the orb with a raised eyebrow.He then turns his attention to the Sheikh, who is now looking at him with a bittersweet smile, which Big Macintosh like not one bit.

"My daughter will be confused and scared and I want you to be the stone that keeps her down and remember who she is. When the time comes, I want you to unseal this orb. All you need is to just tap the Mark of the Steward on the orb."
"Seriously Sheikh sometimes yer j...."Before Big Macintosh could even finish his words, he realized that the stallion is now looking at him with solemn gray eyes, and that stopped the red pony from saying anything further. It was not long before the Sheikh actually sheds a tear which caught Big Macintosh off-guard. When a Saddle Arabian sheds a tear, that means that whatever that the stallion is asking for is a very big and significant favor. Both stallions are now silent as the night surrounding them, and the Sheikh puts the orb in front of Big Macintosh. and started speaking again.

"I care not of what you think of me. All I care about is Fatimah, and this is why I am doing all of this. I will take my leave now." The Sheikh's voice is trembling and vulnerable, unlike the usual confident voice that he usually projects. Before Big Macintosh could even stop the light brown Sheikh, he had already walked away in haste leaving Big Macintosh alone at the balcony. Big Macintosh then picks up the orb and puts it in his robes, sighing as he did so.

"Y'know yer one tough salespony. Granny would like ya." Big Macintosh gives a bitter smile.

Author's Note:

Update finally!

I am currently taking things a little easier for this story and so far there are some weird hurdles in life and also the story which cause some unexpected delays.

Comments

[MC BR0N3]

Well now we know our dear Sheik isn't going to live long...

[Bronyhood of steel]

epic foreshadow

[Crisis_Vyper]

2450406

And magic. Don't forget that. Explosive magic.

[Qussar]

"He could only sighed " sigh

My thoughts of this chapter:
ALL MY YES