"Praise Halla, the mother of all living beings.

When I was young as you, full of vigour and youthful glee, and my legs were strong and swift, Halla so wished that I was to travel around the world, to see how beautiful Her world was, and to be thankful that I was born in the Country of Halla, our glorious Saddle Arabia.

Back then, I studied both magic and engineering, and the dean of our faculty, may Halla bless her and gift her with a thousand daughters, wrote to the Queen, asking for Her permission to send me to the old city of Canterlot to study the schematics of great machines of the West under the watchful eye of the best tutors the Kingdom of Equestria had to offer. The Queen, may she live forever and rule the Sun and the Moon and the skies above and the ground below, was overjoyed with the idea, calling upon me to visit Her palace.

Saying my prayers, I set off across the desert, my hooves carrying me through the beautiful dunes of Saddle Arabia, to reach Al-Canaan, the Capital of the World, in three days - for it was three days, and no more, that The Queen, may Her Sun shine forever and beyond, gave me to reach Her palace. It was a long way from my little town located on the outskirts of our glorious empire, but, with Halla's help and mercy, I managed to get to Al-Canaan just in time, washing the grime and sweat from my sinful body in a public bathhouse before heading straight to the Palace.

The Queen, may she live forever, was kind enough to accept me, a filthy nopony, in Her royal chambers, talking to me kindly about my family and my studies, my research and my hobbies. Learning that I was proficient at languages - or, as proficient as Halla's infinite wisdom allowed me to be - The Queen, may her Moon always guide us at night, gave me the honour of testing my meagre skills Herself. Needless to say, I was a novice, a laughable laycolt compared to Her crystal-clear Equestrian, and Griffish, and Zebric - but She was content with my linguistic skill.

Imagine my joy when I learnt that She was going to send me to Canterlot for a whole year, with full access to the Great Royal Library, as well as grant me tutorship of the best magicians and engineers of Equestria, including, on the physics side, Golden Spanner herself, and, on the magical side, the renowned Starswirl the Bearded. Now, I do realise, as I did back then, that stallions are no match for mares in terms of both  spellcasting and engineering, but forgive me my sinful ignorance, for I am merely a stallion, the less favourable gender of Halla, when I squeed in delight upon learning that, being the ignorant, rebellious colt I was back then. And yet, I was merely graced by the Queen's kind, motherly smile instead of a just punishment for disrupting the holy silence of the palace.

Soon, with my family's blessings, upon giving praise unto Halla in one of the temples, I was sitting on a train to Canterlot, marvelling at the coal-driven contraption. Needless to say, nowadays these trains are common all about our glorious country, but when I was young, there were few, and the roads were even fewer.

Long was my trip, but, with a gentle prayer and a book of ancient zebra legends, I managed to overcome the boredom, for a good prayer lasts hours and a good book lasts days. The sands of my homeland were replaced by the green of grass and woods, and the distant mountains towering above the dusty hills, and the dirty farms with strange wooden structures. Once again I praised Halla for such beautiful diversity, and for allowing me, a humble scholar, gaze upon the beauty of Her world.

In Canterlot I was already awaited by an escort of the finest mares and stallions of our time, the renowned professors of the Royal Canterlot Academy. Stunned, I fell to my knees, begging the wise scholars to be indulgent towards my ignorance, and swore to them on the Phophet's Book that I would be diligent and studious.

My main tutor, as it turned out, was to be Starswirl the Bearded himself - a very fair and stern stallion, the example of a perfect teacher. He showed me to my room, which struck me with its brilliance and vastness. Fear-stricken, I wanted to tell my wise teacher that we were prohibited to live in luxury, but remembered the words spoken by the Prophet in the Book: "As a host, be fair and give the best; as a guest, be humble and accept the worst". And I also remembered what the Prophet says about teachers: "May your teacher's word be law to you."

So, I accepted my room with gratitude, making a promise not to use any of the facilities but for the bed and the writing desk. Thus began my studies.

Very soon I found out the main misconception that the Equestrians had regarding magic was the assumption that it was native to unicorns, and came from a unicorn's natural talent. I noted that all magic in the world took source in Halla's power and wisdom, and that any equine being was capable of magic. My wise teacher did not believe it until I showed him the few magical tricks I was skilled at. He marvelled at my prowess, sending my heart afflutter. And yet, I did not succumb to pride, for pride is the worst of all sins, apart from dishonour.

After establishing a firm bond with my main tutor, I went on to study the ancient texts that the Royal Library offered. I scrutinised the magic texts and schematics, worked with - under the watchful eye of my teachers, to whom I am forever in great debt - apparati brought to Canterlot from the distant Crystal Empire, famous for its technical development.

One day, I learnt that Starswirl the Bearded, my great teacher, decided to take up another apprentice, a unicorn pony of Equestrian origin, named Clover the Clever. And Halla wished so that we would become good friends, sharing adjacent rooms and studying under the watchful gaze of our mutual tutor.

I learnt, from him, just how strange and different his country was from mine. For one, it was - and I believe that it still is - popular to go to certain establishments to drink apple cider and apple whisky, both of which are alcohol, the Devil's poison. I only begged Clover not to consume that disgusting, unlawful liquid when I was around, and, thanks to Halla, he listened and cut down on consumption. They also had a very strange attitude towards lawbreakers, and what was lawful and not. When we passed a couple shamelessly kissing on the bench, I wondered why the police did not throw them in prison. Imagine my surprise when I learnt that shameless, dirty public indecency was not a crime! Then, as if he were joking - but he was not, I later found out - he told me that even the sinful filly-foolers and colt-cuddlers were allowed to roam free and poison the minds of good, law-abiding citizens! I can only thank Halla that our country will never allow such disgusting atrocity to persist.

I had an idea for a thesis that such measures were merely taken because Equestria suffered from overpopulation and did not need additional growth, but my wise teacher told me to finish my thesis on zebra magic instead. And so I obeyed, and thanked my wise teacher for sharing his wisdom with me: my thesis was decent enough for the Academy to award me a doctorate in Practical magic. But this was not all! I was also awarded a doctorate in Engineering, upon creating a more convenient train engine.

Which, of course, helped our magnificent country as soon as I returned home, where I belonged. My heart ached towards my teachers and friends, but, as the Prophet says: "Cry not for foreign lands, but for your homeland". And so, I was happy and gleeful upon returning to my family, to the land of Halla.

And, by Halla's blessing, I was able to find a way to use my meagre magical skill to exchange messages with Clever and my dear teachers, who were ovejoyed to learn of my professional achievements.

Years passed, and I was made The Queen's private mage - may she live forever and rule us forever and beyond. It was Halla's wish that I became famous and rich, and, for that, I prayed and thanked Her every day. I maintained good relations with all of my friends from Equestria; up until the devil Celestia went mad with power and started that horrible war you all know about from history books.

It must have been Halla's wish to leave the Equestrians to the devil's claws, for I can see no reason why they would confront us, a nation both holy and peaceful. And yet, I joined our Army, like everypony else, in vain hopes that my talents would help us succeed and bring peace to this nation once again.

And we did succeed, as you all know it. Peace followed, and diplomacy took its toll. But there was no place for me in diplomacy. This is my lesson to you, young ones: know your place and always know when to step aside to let the wiser take your place. Integrity is essential; only together we mean something. Separated, we fall.

But it is not the bounds of friendship that bind us. I had to learn this the hard way - so was Halla's wish. Least of all did I expect to find my dearest teacher and his student Clover fighting in the Devil's army against our holy forces. Knowing that I knew their weak spots, the Queen, may she be blessed by the Halla and the Prophet, ordered me to take them out. Honoured by this task, and following Halla's wish, I met them both during negotiations. We talked a lot upon our mutual research, and concluded that peace was the one thing we had to strive for. Thus, knowing that they had admitted their wrongdoing, it was with an easy heart that I poisoned their water, with the trick Clover had taught me all those years ago. For that, I am eternally thankful. Without two of her best mages, Equestria finally capitulated.

But you know that from history books. Here is my second lesson: look after each other, for blood is thicker than water, and the bonds of family and nation are greater than any friendship."

Thus spoke old Hassan, the great magician and hero, to the crowd of foals gathered before him, colts and fillies alike, for it was the time when colts and fillies were allowed to play together under the watchful eye of a kind, pious guardian.

Young Tarhan looked at the Sun that smiled at him from the deep blue sky and sent a prayer to Halla for gifting him with a place to live, and tasty food to eat, and good, kind parents, and brothers, and sisters; and he prayed for the safety of all Saddle Arabians, everywhere; and so prayed he for the safety of all true believers in Halla, wherever they may be and whatever they may call Her, so long as they followed Her ways; and, finally, he praised Halla for letting him live in the most wonderful country in the world.

And, last but not least, he prayed for everlasting peace.

~The End~