The Red Sands

by GnollReader

Chapter 2: The city of man

Husam reached out slowly and took the bowl from her again, placing it on the small tablet and lifting up another bowl in the process. He held it out for her, ".هنا, طعام" he said with a kind voice, ".الكسكسي"

Rainbow Dash eyed the little bowl in conflict, it seemed there was some kind of cooked grains inside and she was hungry, but what if they planned to poison her? What if they had poisoned her already? What if the water had contained some sort of drug? She mentally cursed herself for simply drinking the water without thinking first. Why else would they have put her in this dungeon?

He seemed to sense her conflict. Husam shifted the bowl to his right hand and used the left to reach up to his veiled head. Rainbow Dash watched in wonder as he undid several pieces of string and cloth, the black veil covering his face falling aside to reveal his features.

As alien as his face looked to her, she couldn't help but feel that he was young. His features seemed kind, but there was a long scar that ran up from his chin and across his mouth to end under his nose, a red streak among lightly tanned skin.

He picked up some of the food inside the bowl and placed it is in his mouth, chewing happily before holding the bowl towards her again, ".أكل.أنت في مكان آمن"

She hesitated for a moment, but then her stomach reminded Rainbow Dash of her hunger. Carefully, she reached out, took the bowl from his hand and toke a bite from the food inside. It didn't taste bad... spurred by her hunger she started to eat hastily.

Husam watched her shovel the food down with slight amusement and a small smile. As she continued to eat, he reached up and carefully redid the veils and cloth to cover his face again. He continued to watch her in silence as she ate, amazed by her colorful appearance and wondering about what world could bring forth a being such as her.

When she had emptied the bowl, she looked up at him with a small smile, "Thank you."

Again, he only nodded, "لا شكر على الواجب."

As he retrieved the bowl from her, he eyed her splinted leg with slight worry. He pointed to it with his hand, "كيف حالك؟"

"My leg?" her eyes followed his hand, "Hurts like hell..." she winced as she tried to move it.

He observed her pained face for a moment before reaching out to pick up the last bowl from the tray, and Rainbow Dash could see a green liquid inside.

".الشراب" he said and pointed to her leg, ".لن يؤلم" he held up the bowl again and beckoned for her to take it.

She took the bowel from his hand and eyed it with suspicion, wondering what it was. She didn't really trust the green color, but he hadn't done anything unfriendly yet... she made a decision to trust him for the moment and took a sip from the liquid, regretting it immediately as the bitter taste spread in her mouth.

"Blegh... this tastes horrible!" she made a disgusted face.

Husam, however urged her to keep drinking, ".ستشعر بتحسن إذا شربت هذا الدواء. الشراب" he made a gesture with his hand.

Rainbow Dash shuddered, but continued to drink, grimacing as the bitter drink went down her throat.

"There..." she showed him the empty bowl, "That was disgusting! What was..." she stalled as she felt the pain in her leg start to subside. She eyed her leg in disbelief, "It's not hurting anymore? Was it some kind of magic potion?" she was about to try and get up but Husam quickly intervened.

"!لا تفعل ذلك" he said with an urgent voice, ".تفضل بالجلوس" he made a lowering motion with his hand.

She heard his concern and shook her head, "No magic, huh?"

He shook his head, "No." he tried to repeat her words.

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Well, at least the pain has stopped." she looked at him with an expectant look, "So... what now?"

He took the bowl from her and placed it onto the tray again before standing up slowly, showing her his open palms and making an unmistakable motion.

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what to think of this, but it would give her a chance to get out of this room.

---

Being carried around wasn't that bad, Rainbow Dash decided after a few minutes, not at all. He was holding her in his arms, careful not to apply pressure to her leg or wings... it was almost comfy. The view though, was a bit disappointing. Nothing but long corridors of stone with guards, stairs and more corridors with more guards.

The guards standing in the corridors were interesting at first, they carried the same clothes as him, and they too carried the curved swords Husam was carrying, albeit with considerably less bells. Most of them only wore a single one or none at all. But after while, the repetition became boring... not to mention that she couldn't strike a conversation with him.

When he stepped out of another staircase though, she found herself at a complete loss for what she was seeing. A corridor stretched out before them, but the left side was an open balcony giving her a view of a city unlike any she had seen before.

Towers of a deep-blue color with golden roofs raised into the sky like spears, countless colorful houses and little buildings could be seen standing close to one another. At the end of the maze made from tight alleys and amazing buildings, she saw a wall bigger than any house surround the city, and beyond... a sea of red stretched under an endless, blue sky as far as she could see.

Rainbow Dash watched the city in wonder, trying to imagine how something so big could exist in a desert like this. She craned her neck over his arm to look over the balcony, and below she saw a garden of green, countless flowers spreading out along walls and pillars of stone. It was beautiful, and it was a mystery to her how they had managed to grow anything here.

She took a deep breath, and let out a happy sigh as the warm air beckoned her to take flight. The sun was still low on the horizon, and it was basked in a crimson red as it rose. Even this early in the morning, the air was already starting to heat up considerably.

One detail she noticed made her slightly worried though, the guards in black were everywhere... standing motionless and at the ready, not sparing them even a glance as they passed.

Their presence was a grim reminder to Rainbow Dash that she was no longer home.

Comments

[Morphy]

Still haven't seen what magic, if any, exists here. And if not, will it affect Dashie's ability to fly once her body heals? (I'm of the opinion that a pony creates their own magic rather than depending on the ambient field around them so they don't literally die in a magic-void place. Same idea as a warm-blooded mammal can survive in a cold zone unlike a reptile)

[thegabriel]

I think your should change your summary
When I read it i thought this was going to be a story about rainbow dash getting lost in a desert, runs into a human (possibly a merchant) and then travel together to a city exchanging stories

Did not think it was going to be like this at all and this is more interesting that I thought it would be