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The Hunt1,327 words
The Village2,490 words
The Return2,197 words
The End759 words

The Village

Author's Note:

As I said in the description: This is where the original story ends. The following is one possible continuation...

Swift Wind only remembered vague sensations while he faded in and out of consciousness. At first it felt like he was floating in an ocean. There was a subtle rise and fall that felt like waves gently caressing him. He could hear them, too! The sound of waves slowly dissolved into what he realized was cheering. Something touched one of his ears and it flicked out of reflex. A voice cut through the cheering. It was muffled, but carried authority. When it disappeared, it took the cheering with it and there was only the motion of the waves again.

***

The waves and the floating sensation had disappeared quite some time ago. They were replaced by a pressure on his entire right side. Swift Wind heard the voice again. He had heard it several times now, but this time it wasn’t alone. There was a second voice. It was quieter and it sounded a lot softer. The first voice sounded a lot deeper in comparison.

Swift Wind tried to hear what the voices were saying. He swiveled his ears and attempted to lift his head, but nothing happened. After what felt like hours the only thing he heard was a groan escaping his throat. The sound made the voices stop and he sensed some movement. The voices resumed talking after a while, but the deeper voice seemed closer to him now.

Swift Wind felt something gently lift his head and then there was something cool pressed against his lips and then WATER! It was water! He drank it greedily. He hadn’t even noticed the burning thirst. Now he could feel how it ran down his throat, how every cell in his body was aching for it. He could feel the thirst leaving him from the furthest tips of his hooves to every root of every hair in his mane.

Swift drank until his stomach felt like bursting and he wanted to drink even more, but the water was pulled away. He craned his neck to reach for it, but then it splashed onto his face. His eyes shot open and he was wide awake. When he saw the creature kneeling beside him, his pupils shrank to pinpricks and he tried to get away, but in his panicked and weakened state his hooves just flopped around uselessly.

“Calm down or you will hurt yourself”, the creature said, as it put a hand on his withers.

“Wh…what?”, Swift Wind asked eloquently.

The creature looked over its shoulder and Swift took the chance to look around. He was lying on a coarse rug inside of a small hut. Several pieces of cloth were bunched up next to an almost empty water bowl. A small fire was burning in the middle of the hut and through the small ventilation hole in the roof Swift Wind saw that it was early afternoon. When his gaze went back to the creature, it was watching him.

“I… My name is Korohe and I am the oldest hunter in our village.”

“Why…Why am I not…you know…”, Swift Wind shuddered at the thought he couldn’t vocalize.

“When you are on the hunt, you start to think like your prey. You become one with it and it talks to you in a way. It never happens literally.”

Swift Wind wasn’t sure what to make of that reply. He slowly sat up on his haunches and was now on eye level with Korohe. “So…you’re not going to eat me?”
Korohe’s face hardened as he answered: “We hunt and kill because we need the food. To kill a creature with the mind of a man would be… It would be murder.”

Swift Wind sighed in relief, but then he remembered something else the man had said.
“Wait, if your prey never talks back, does that mean you’ve never met a pony before? Or a griffon or a zebra? And…what exactly are you?”

“We call ourselves human. As for the other creatures, we have watched zebras from afar, but we never approach them and they never notice our scouts and hunters. I do not know what a griffon is, but based on the way you phrased your question I assume you are a pony?”

“Right, I’m an earth pony, but I didn’t even introduce myself, did I? My name is Swift Wind and I’m an ornithologist from Canterlot”, Swift Wind said. After a questioning look from Korohe, he quickly added: “I study birds for a living. Oh, and Canterlot is…um…it’s the largest village and it’s to the north across the ocean!”

“Well, you have a fitting name! You did run like the wind.”

Swift Wind blushed at that and for the first time he saw a smile cross the man’s face.
“You still got me, though”, Swift pouted. The man’s smile turned into a chuckle at that.

“Four legs are good for speed”, he said patting one of Swift Wind’s back hooves, “but for endurance two are better. You said you come from across the ocean. What were you doing alone out there then?”

Swift Wind looked down at his hooves. “I was part of an expedition – you could call it a scouting party – to explore new land and catalog new species. There was this laughing kookaburra – a bird with a brown and white beak. It laughed at me and then stole my hat. I… I chased it and when it finally dropped my hat, I was lost.” When he heard a hearty laugh from Korohe, he looked up again in confusion.

“One of those birds did the same to my nephew. It took a long time to get his headband back, but at least the bird made for a good dinner.”

Swift Wind’s ears splayed back at that and when Korohe noticed it, the laughter subsided.
“I apologize. I can only imagine that this will be rather strange for both of us.”

“Yeah, I…so, what happens now?”, Swift Wind asked nervously.

“Today, I will show you around the village. You are still too weak to travel, so we can talk about getting you home after you have regained some of your strength.” To demonstrate this, Korohe lightly pushed against Swift Wind’s shoulder. The pony promptly lost his balance and fell over.

Swift gave Korohe an annoyed look, but then they both burst out laughing. Swift Wind tentatively tried to get to his hooves and although his legs were a bit wobbly, he did not fall over again. Korohe stood up as well and with a hand on Swift’s back they both left the hut.

***

The village consisted of about ten huts including the one Korohe and Swift Wind had stepped out of. They were all facing a central area where there were different workstations. There was a rack with strips of something brownish and somewhere else a man was sitting against a rock, woodworking. Swift’s ears splayed back as a strong smell hit his nose and when he saw its source, he stopped in his tracks.

In the middle of the village was a large fire and above that fire was the carcass of a kudu roasting and sizzling. There were multiple humans sitting around the fire pit and a few of the younger ones were dancing and laughing. When he felt a hand on his head, he looked up to see it was Korohe’s. Swift smiled at that and started walking with Korohe at his side.

“One of the younger hunters had his first successful hunt. That is why they are celebrating”, Korohe said as they passed by the fire. As they continued through the village, Swift noticed the looks of curiosity he was receiving from the humans. Everyone looked up and continued staring at him even after they had passed. Swift Wind could see a group of children poking their heads out of one of the huts to get a look at him. It was weird to him to see a reaction that was so similar to foals on a species so different.

He was brought out of his musings when he bumped into Korohe. Rubbing his nose, Swift looked up to see that they were standing next to the woodworking man. The man was still sitting against a rock and working with his knife. Next to him was a pile of very straight sticks.

“This is Ghow, one of the oldest men in the village and our arrow maker.”, Korohe introduced.

“And this must be your spirit guide”, said the old man and broke out in laughter.

At Swift Wind’s puzzled look, he continued: “When on the hunt a hunter starts to think like his prey. He becomes his prey in a way. If a hunter has mastered his skills, it is said that a spirit guide will appear to him and help him become truly one with the animals. That is what the young believe, at least, but their heads are always filled with tales and legends.”

“They think I’m a ghost?” Swift Wind looked confused from Ghow to Korohe while one still laughed and the other smiled widely.

“If you are, you appeared to the right hunter, at least”, Ghow said through his dying laughter, “Korohe is one of our few runners. Most of the other men use poison arrows instead.”

Ghow held up one of the arrows. Swift Wind shuddered as he saw the sharp point of the arrow dripping with a brown and viscous fluid. He was just about to ask a question when something slammed into his side and threw him to the ground. He tried to get up, but there was a weight – no, three weights – keeping him on the ground.

“He’s so fluffy!”

“I didn’t know spirits were fluffy.”

“I told you he’s not a spirit. Can we keep him?”

“Yes, can we keep him?”

“Can we? Can we?”

Swift Wind was still coming to his senses and only groaned. Korohe stifled a laugh and tried his best to come to Swift’s aid: “Now, children, what have I told you about playing rough?”

The three children looked at each other and Korohe continued: “Thoma, Nala, Tobe! Swift Wind here is a guest. We do not sit on guests, do we?” With a sad “Soooooorry” the children climbed off of the downed earth pony.

“Are you alright?”, Korohe asked after he knelt down.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…I just…need a minute.” Swift Wind blinked a few times to make his eyes stop spinning in his head. When they did, he got to his feet and looked at the three children. They were the ones he had seen in one of the huts. While he was looking at one of them, he saw from the corner of his eye that another – Thoma - was inching closer to him with an outstretched hand. Swift turned his head to look at him and the child grinned sheepishly.

Swift Wind let out a resigned sigh, but smiled nonetheless. “Go ahead, it’s not like I bite or anything.”

Thoma approached Swift Wind carefully. He raised his hand slowly until it came to rest on Swift’s withers. Emboldened by Swift’s lack of a reaction, he ran his hand up through the fur on Swift’s neck into his mane. Thoma continued messing up Swift’s mane, but the other children did not want to be left out. Tobe started poking Swift’s side and Nala finally brought up the courage to approach. She walked past Thoma, stood in front of Swift for just a second and then jumped to give him a big hug.

The children poked and prodded and hugged Swift Wind until Korohe cleared his throat.
“I think it is time for dinner. Swift Wind still needs rest, so you should return to your parents.”

With a choir of disappointed “Aaaaaawwwws” and promises by Swift Wind that they could continue playing the next day the children left the pony and the two men alone.

“Aaah, youth…so much wonder and curiosity and so disgustingly energetic”, the elderly Ghow said.

“Yes, it is impossible to imagine you ever being like that”, Korohe said stifling a laugh. Ghow shot him a look only grumpy old men can, but there was still a small smile on his lips.

“I was serious with my remark, though. Swift Wind, you really do need more rest. We should return you to bed.”

“I do feel a bit light headed”, the pony replied, “I’ll see you then, Ghow”

“Oh, do not worry. The children will be there as well”, the old man said with a grin on his face. Swift Wind only groaned as he and Korohe turned around and walked back the way they had come.

The smell of the roasting kudu was still hanging in the air, but as the two approached the hut another smell filled Swift’s nostrils. It was a smell that made him very aware of how hungry he was.

“What is that? It smells great!”, Swift asked. Korohe patted him on the head, when he saw Swift salivating.

“Oh, it is just some bulgur with onions”, Korohe explained as they entered the hut.
Inside the hut was another human Swift Wind had not seen before.

“This is my wife, Jwahir.”, Korohe introduced.

“I…uh…Hi, I’m Swift Wind!”, the pony said and waved lamely.

The female human gave him a nod and a smile before she continued stirring the contents of the pot she was leaning over. Korohe walked over to her and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. When he saw that Swift was still standing in the entrance, he pointed to one of the pillows near the cooking fire and said: “Come and sit. There is no need to act like a stranger.”

Swift Wind walked over to the designated pillow and watched as Jwahir filled three bowls with this so-called bulgur. She placed the first bowl in front of Swift and then added two strips of what he realized was meat to the other two bowls. Swift took a spoonful of the bulgur and eyed it curiously. When he looked up again the other two humans sat next to him with their own bowls. They beckoned him to try it and after that first spoonful Swift smiled at them and dug in.

The meal started with only the sound of eating, but soon the three found themselves talking. Swift Wind told of Equestria, of Canterlot and his home and family. Korohe and later even Jwahir told of the other villages and their relatives there and of trade with the farming villages further to the south. Looks of curiosity and sounds of laughter passed through the room until deep into the night.

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