Most don’t know this, but it is very possible for you to die of the cold in the desert. When night comes, and if you do not have a shelter or started a fire before the sun is lowered, it is like the warmth is sucked out of you, and sand feels like snowflakes on hooves.
In order to avoid this sudden drop in temperature in the middle of the desert, two Ottocolt soldiers set up a small camp on top of some natural structures of rock and stone, and grew a fire to blaze in the night. While the fire, which would have enough wood to sustain their camp, provided enough warmth to the troops, and their ‘special guest’, it was a big sign of the soldiers’ ignorance of a crucial rule in war.
You never give your resting position away.
“” one of the troops ordered in its own tongue, swatting away a little Saddle Arabian colt that was only a little bigger than the soldier’s hoof. While the Ottocolts and the Saddle Arabians looked similar in stature compared to the average Equestrian pony, there were noticeable differences between them. Thinner coats, thicker builds, and shorter manes usually gave away an Ottocolt to any Saddle Arabians.
The Arabian colt felt a great kick, and felt his muzzle break even more as the Ottocolt troops shoved him away from the fire and the water they were boiling. Ever since he was captured by the Ottocolts, they barely gave him any food or water, and this time was no exception.
The colt once again tried feebly to get to the fire, and once again he was ordered away, now being forcibly kicked in the chest and sent flying a couple meters from the fire onto the cold sand. The sand felt like daggers to the poor colt’s already sore body, wounds received from previous Ottocolts ‘giving him a proper welcome’ to their prisoner escorts. Now, as the only prisoner left, two guards were escorting him across a section of the desert their nations called home to wherever they would drop him and have him publicly held hostage.
He should have listened to his mother's servants, the queen wanting to make sure her little colt got away from the Ottocolt assault of the village.
“” one of the troops asked, ignoring the sniffling cold colt behind him.
“” the other soldier replied, rubbing his hooves together to get them warmer near the fire. He felt a sudden chill in the air, as if their little camp suddenly fell a couple degrees colder.
“”
“” the soldier asked, looking at his comrade with worry. “”
“”
“” the soldier inquired, raising an eyebrow. Both of them had never heard of a powerful female foe, even when the Saddle Arabians began using female soldiers in their armies.
The Ottocolts took this as a sign of weakness among them.
“”
“”
“”
Suddenly, out of the corner of both of their eyes, the Ottocolts saw a bright light flash, and looked up at the source of the flash to see a star shining exceptionally bright among the others.
“Oh wow…” the little Saddle Arabian colt was inspired in awe, the star shining so bright it actually managed to cast a slight shadow on all three ponies in the camp.
“Sessizlik!” one of the soldiers chided, turning back to go to the colt and smack it again.
Before he could make a move, he felt a gust of wind behind him, and he turned around again to see his comrade having mysteriously vanished. Eyes widening in alarm, he pulled out his rifle from his side, a minotauran invention modified for use with hooves, and swung it everywhere around him. The light above them died, and then one by one the stars went out.
He gasped when the fire was suddenly extinguished, leaving the only light to be the moon. The cold racing in, he felt his coat sting with the nervous sweat starting to freeze right on him.
With wild eyes, he swung his rifle around again, standing on his hind legs and moving only the upper portion of his body to scan the area, leaving his two forelegs to hold the rifle steady. Seeing the little colt shivering again on the ground, both in fear of him and because of the cold, he aimed his rifle at the Saddle Arabian, deciding that the colt wasn’t worth the price for the horrible assignment he and his partner were given.
Right as he fired, he saw a blue hoof shove the rifle down, shooting the bullet into the sand in front of the colt. Before he could yell, the rifle was pulled out of his hooves, and he felt the stock hit him square in the jaw.
He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.
“Yazmir!” the queen yelled, her eyes a rosy red mess as she cradled the only hoof of the Saddle Arabian colt that wasn’t bandaged. “Oh baby, thank the stars you’re okay. You say he isn’t going to die?”
“No, your highness,” another Saddle Arabian replied, wearing a white coat that signified the stallion was a doctor. “While the wounds he has sustained are serious, the healing magic given to him all but stopped the worst of the bleeding. With luck and time, the prince shall soon be healthy enough to walk.”
“Thank the stars indeed, my queen,” another stallion next to the queen said. “She is waiting to talk to us to thank her ourselves, outside the tent. We should go see her, love.”
“Yes, my king,” the queen affirmed. “Let us go see her, and give her our proper thanks to have returned our beloved son to us.”
“The Ottocolts have done us a great harm to attack our beloved capital with their dreaded modern weapons, but you have done us a far greater good to rescue our son Yazmir from those cold-blooded killers. Thank you, Princess of Equestria Luna.”
The king and queen of Saddle Arabia stood outside a tent marked with a red cross, having just come out of it to check on their son, the prince Yazmir, after his brutal capture and heroic rescue by the Princess of the Night that stood before them, wearing a dark blue keffiyeh headdress that covered most of her mane. The keffiyeh was useful in helping to protect herself against the sun and the blazing sand of the desert. Torches were lit around them, showing off a makeshift campsite that housed many troops, and many more refugees from the capital city of Saddle Arabia.
Standing next to the Princess was another smaller Equestrian whose mane was of a dazzling chromatic display of a rainbow, which was slightly discolored by sand that had clung to various strands of hair. She held a sword on one side and a rifle on the other, the gun having been decorated slightly with moon and star symbols. Wrapped around her neck was another keffiyeh, but instead of a dark blue one like Luna’s, the mare’s headdress was sky blue, and when worn it covered most of her mane.
It gave her the distinct advantage of blending into the daytime sky.
“It was no trouble, your highnesses. While we were lucky that we spotted the fire, the guards got knocked out easily enough. I didn’t even have to help, the Princess pretty much had it covered in, like, ten seconds flat,” the smaller Equestrian said, taken the time to wipe her hoof in her mane in a show-off display.
Which ended up putting more sand in her mane, much to her discomfort.
“Yes, very lucky. Once again, I must thank you, Princess Luna, for choosing to defy your sun sister’s orders to leave us alone, and helping us in our war against the Ottocolts,” the queen spoke. The Equestrian mare’s eyes narrowed as the queen and Luna embraced for a brief moment.
“While we appreciate your thanks, the smiles of hope we see in your subjects are enough to us. Best to you and your son, your highnesses,” Luna said, turning around and walking opposite of the makeshift hospital while the Saddle Arabian royals went back to see their son. The mare trotted up to Luna, a question burning in her mind.
“You still haven’t told them yet?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“No, and I have no intention to, Lady Dash. While I would trust you to keep our true assignment a secret, even to the death, I would not trust the royals with the information that Celestia did authorize our mission to help them, in case they were captured and tortured. If the Ottocolts knew of our involvement, than it would be a declaration of war, and their Minotauran support would turn against us. It is a very delicate situation here, and while we do wish to protect the crown’s interests in the deserts, we have chosen the Saddle Arabian’s side, and we must keep that choice a secret. Thus, making our actions a sort of legend among the sand has become our style, so to speak,” Luna explained. “As I have said before, Lady Dash, my offer still stands. I am capable of handling myself in this war. You are more than welcome to go back to your friends and family in Equestria.”
“And what, leave you to fall into another quicksand trap, just like the last four? Nuh uh, Princess, after a thousand years up there, you’re still rusty from fighting, and somepony has to make sure to keep your flank covered. And hey, who wouldn’t want to kick some evil Ottocolt flank and look good in some turban while doing it? Nah, you’re stuck with me, miss ‘Luna of Arabia’,” Rainbow smirked, tapping on Luna’s side for good measure.
“Hmph. Very well, Lady ‘R.D. Dash’, if you wish to risk your life and possibly even be tortured before you are killed, you are welcome to stay with me here in Saddle Arabia.”
“Aw, what’s life without a little risk now and then?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle.
“Indeed,” Luna chuckled as well. “We must be off back to our own camp, before we plan our next attack on their machine of destruction, the Bloody Express.”
With a lift of both of their wings, gaining the attention of several guards and refugees that had never seen pegasi before, the pair of desert legends flew out and away from the camp, eager to rest and fight on for the liberation of the Saddle Arabian capital city, and for the defeat of the evil Ottocolt Empire.
Author's Note
This is something of a test oneshot that I wrote in the night after a day in the mountains.
I don't know how I got to sand from being stuck on a mountain, but here I am.
If you like this idea, please let me know in the comments! If the idea is popular enough, I'll start to making a plan for Luna and Rainbow's heroics and adventures in the deserts of Saddle Arabia!
