Eleven years later.
The fishing bobber floated still in the water, despite a school of yellow perch circling below it. Herman knew that they loved the grubs he used, but for some inexplicable reason, the fish didn’t bite. It was almost like they were mocking him.
It had become something of a life goal, to one day successfully catch something while fishing, but after successive years of failure, the whole thing escalated into a sort of crusade. A single human, with the intelligence and ability to conquer nature, versus the fish of Equestria. Herman’s white whale.
But despite his various attempts at improving and adapting a fishing rod to trick this world’s strange marine life, he was losing. Spring called him an old fool for even trying, and told him just to ask a pegasus to dive in and catch one for him, but his human pride took a beating each time he had to go in and buy one from Blue Dive’s restaurant.
It was then he saw it: one of the perch separated from the school and swam up to the hook, nibbling lightly at the grub. With all his senses on full alert, he took hold of the pole, ready to pull with everything he got as soon as it took the bait. He only needed to be patient and wait for the opportune moment to strike. Soon, just a little bit more, and he would show them who was the apex predator.
“Herman! Help!” a squeaky voice cried out.
He threw the pole up into the air in surprise and remembered that he didn’t come here alone.
“Herman!” the now panic-stricken voice continued.
Herman stood up from the boulder he had perched on, and as quickly as possible shuffled to the cries for help. It was close by, and when he rounded a few trees, he found the source.
It was a little red earth pony filly with a green mohawk, wearing a Daring Do costume, and she was stuck in a small pond while paddling in circles. Her distress was genuine, though Herman doubted the water level was high enough to reach above her head.
“Freja,” Herman said, as he walked up to the puddle. “What did I tell you about playing in the water?”
“I’m sorry!” she squeaked and intensified her paddling.
Herman sighed to himself, then stepped into the pond and grabbed the little filly by the scruff of her neck. The initial weight of the pony sent shivers of pain through his back, but he managed to pull her straight out of the water, then let her down onto solid ground.
“Thanks, Herman,” Freja said, then quickly shook most of the muddy water from her fur, spraying his trousers in the process.
“What were you even doing in there?” Herman asked, but the little filly had already darted away to climb on a formation of boulders. While he wasn’t the most prominent expert on ponies, he was confident that ponies with red coats were more mischievous by default.
“I saw a butterfly,” she said as if that was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
“Your mother is going to throw me out of my own house,” Herman grumbled, as he had promised to make sure Freja didn’t get dirty before the guests arrived. They would have to get her clean in less than two hours, and they still hadn’t finished fully decorating the house for the party.
“Mom can never stay angry at you,” she said, jumping between the rocks in her brown-smeared adventure outfit.
“I know,” Herman said, staring into the wrinkled palm of his hand, then went to retrieve his fishing gear. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”
The little filly scrunched her nose at the prospect of a bath, especially since the remaining mud would have to be scrubbed out of her coat. But to her credit, she didn’t complain and followed him from the side while stalking insects like a hyperactive red jungle panther.
When he had retired from the lumber mill, he had often been asked to watch the local foals, since they were more obedient in his presence. He had thought that retirement would allow him to spend his days slumbering in his rocking chair, but it had ended up being the exact opposite, especially after Spring and the Sheriff had been blessed with their first foal.
It had come as a surprise to him, that Spring had demanded the filly be named after Herman’s daughter, then basically asked him to become the child's godfather. He had accepted, and it had made his life almost as fulfilling as the day his daughter had been born.
He picked up his fishing rod from the ground and noted that the bait was gone entirely, with no signs left of the school of perch. Letting out another heavy sigh, he gathered all the equipment into a backpack that he swung across his shoulder, then made sure Freja followed him as they walked the short trip back to his house.
Glitter Wing was unfurling the large banner across the porch. Herman had complained numerous times about how big and flashy it was, but the others had quickly dismissed his complaints.
Happy Eightieth Birthday Herman!
“Can we play outside in the forest?” Freja asked, popping her head out of a nearby bush. She was most likely referring to Dusty’s and Fair Weather’s fillies and colts who were set to arrive by train soon. It had become a yearly thing, where Dusty and Fair Weather visited with their family for a weekend of relaxation, but today they were all gathering to celebrate him getting even older.
“Go ask your mother,” Herman said, to the little filly wagging her tail. The words were barely out of his mouth before she took off in a full gallop through the open door, no doubt spreading mud all over the floor.
Shaking his head, he went to the mailbox to see if there were any new letters. There were several, but one marked with the insignia of Princess Luna caught his attention.
The two of them had started swapping letters. It began shortly after the incident where Chrysalis had temporarily kidnaped the princesses, and at the start, it had mostly been about the progress the West Pony Trading Company had made in locating his species, or the lack thereof. He had told her several times that no other humans existed in this world, but she’d always dismissed his claims as unrealistic.
The years went on without finding a single trace, causing Luna to become more and more concerned about her inability to help him. Eventually, their correspondence switched over to philosophy about life and family. She had even invited him more than once to visit her in Canterlot, but he was too fond of his life in Rosewood. The prospect of traveling so far again at his age was no longer as appealing, so he had politely rejected her invitations.
But he asked one favor out of her, one to which she instantly complied. The memoirs he wrote and published a few years prior had not been a success, as most readers and critics dismissed them as pure fantasy, but he asked Luna always to keep a copy close at hand. And someday, far into the future, another human might find themselves stranded in Equestria, and if that ever happened, Luna was to give him or her the book.
And maybe, just maybe, someone younger than him could travel the world, uncover its secrets, and help finish what he started.
“Herman?”
Realizing that he had blanked out again, he turned to Glitter Wing, who had been shouting for him.
“Spring says she wants to talk to you inside, and she doesn't sound happy,” Glitter called, from across the road.
Herman could only roll his eyes as he walked the short distance to the door. He couldn't quite explain why, but he had a big smile on his face that just wouldn't go away.