Korohe stood in front of the large wooden door of Ghow’s quarters and knocked for the third time. The unicorn in golden armor stationed beside it watched him warily out of the corner of his eyes. As he raised his hand to knock one more time, Korohe only heard the words “too colorful” and “fluffy pillows” through the door before he decided to leave the grumpy old man alone.
Korohe turned on his heel to head to the throne room without Ghow. As he walked through the large halls of Canterlot Castle, he reflected on the last year. A lot had happened after they dropped Swift Wind off at the zebra village. Months had passed and there had been several representatives from several races.
Due to their proximity the zebras were the first to establish formal relations with the humans. Trade caravans started to appear and a mutual agreement allowed each of the two races to use the other’s villages to rest and resupply. Despite the zebra’s distaste for the diet of the humans, there was also an ample exchange of information regarding tracking and survival in the savannah.
The griffons and ponies sent their ambassadors across the ocean together. Although the griffons were happy to have another predator species among the intelligent races, there was not much to trade for and thus not much to talk about. The pony ambassador had brought a formal thank you from the Crown and after he had a taste of it, a small trade agreement for the export of bulgur was established. As was always the case in the international affairs of the world the dragons and changelings decided to keep to themselves.
More months passed and caravans kept passing through Korohe’s village to continue their way to the villages further to the south. His village had grown to more than twice the size and the area around the fire pit in the center of the village had changed to a small market where the traders - human or other - from the caravans presented their wares.
One day a caravan had brought with it a messenger from Equestria. She had carried a royal letter addressed to Korohe specifically. When he read it, the man was surprised to see that it was an official invitation for him and Ghow to meet with the Princesses of Equestria.
The trip had been long and arduous and Ghow had complained the entire duration. When they arrived they were presented with what could only be described as very lavish guest quarters. Ghow had remained in his room since he was old and needed his rest. At least that was what he said.
“Even now he prefers to stay in his quarters”, Korohe thought.
As he rounded the corner to the final corridor, Korohe sighed. At the sudden sound the two guards in front of the large wooden doors to the throne room focused their gaze on the human. They kept their eyes on him, but then looked over the man’s shoulder at something behind him. Just as Korohe was about to push the large doors open, he heard someone yell from behind.
“Wait!”, Swift Wind came galloping down the halls. “I’m late, aren’t I? They started without me!”
When the breathless pony saw Korohe standing at the doors to the throne room, a smile spread across his lips. He did not even try to slow down, but instead launched into a tackle-hug instead. The human caught Swift Wind, but thumped hard against the door. The unicorn guards turned their heads and stared at the two in shock. Korohe did not notice this, however, and put the earth pony down.
“It is good to see you again, friend. How have you been?”, he then asked.
“Oh, after I returned, I had so much work to do. I told the princesses how you helped me get back home and everything. And when I was back in Canterlot, it was surprisingly hard to convince people that I was not in fact dead. After that they appointed me an advisor to the Princess regarding humans, so I was swamped with coordinating trade routes and such things.”
Korohe blinked at that, but then only smiled and patted the agitated Swift Wind on the head. The earth pony in turn looked up at the human and smiled.
“Are you ready?”, the pony asked.
“Always”, the human replied and with a hand and a hoof they pushed the large doors open and entered the throne room.