Persistence

by fallenpenguin

The End

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.

Comments

[fallenpenguin]

Ok, I said the third chapter would be the last, but I couldn't resist at least giving an outlook on the future. Thanks for all your comments and keep the criticism and feedback coming

[fallenpenguin]

4769831
Here, have an epilogue *straps pillows on his behind* Huh, I shouldn't have used superglue

4770047
Thanks, this comment means a lot to me because it means I achieved everything I wanted to do with this

[Pizzaro]

Kinda sad that you pulled a short-stop on this story, but what we got was good.
Thank you for writing it.

[Sky Hooves]

4770684 When this is a outlook to the future, does that mean there is a chance for a Sequel?

And think good what the answer will be...

*gets ready to buck*

[fallenpenguin]

4770741
No, thank you for reading it
Sorry for "pulling a short-stop", as you said. Chapters 2-4 were pulled from ideas that I got writing the original story. I wouldn't have a clear direction now and that would show in the writing and the frequency of releases. I don't want to be the guy you have to wait 3 months on to get a mediocre thousand word chapter. Heck, the setting has so many possibilities, you could probably make an entire story just about the first caravan exploring, but that's a story I would want to read, not write (seriously, everyone feel free to write that or other stories in the setting).

[fallenpenguin]

4770769
Well, the pillows are stuck there with superglue, so I should be safe either way

In all seriousness, though: I have no plans for a sequel. What started this story was the thought of "What would persistence hunt be like in Equestria?" I'll probably continue doing short stuff along that "How would X be like?" line...

[OMGbeta]

So...

What about the minotaurs? How did they react to something that looks sort of similar to them? I'm just asking because you added the ponies, zebras and griffons, you even mentioned the dragons and changelings. Did you just forget about them?

[Sky Hooves]

4770887 And don't forget the Diamond Dogs.

[OMGbeta]

4770902 Yeah, them too.

[fallenpenguin]

4770887
Eeyup, I totally did

4770902
Yes, those, too

[Sky Hooves]

4770862 I understand...

However:
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/131706374587.gif

That was just because I can!

[fallenpenguin]

4770921
Noooo, my one weakness!

[Sky Hooves]

4770929

BAM! Headshot!

[the_sane_maniac]

Perfect. That was EXACTLY what I wanted for an ending. No more, no less.

It's a shame though that not more people read it, the universe it presents is really interesting and I would love to see expansions.

[Horny Horse]

i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/448/229/e4e.jpg

[fallenpenguin]

4774017
That...It's beautiful

4772001
Thanks and I agree, I would really like to see expansions to this.

[Charedfirescale]

I enjoyed this story it is well written.

[fallenpenguin]

4787034
Thank you very much

[Tofty]

Just read both of your stories, I really like them. I think you have a good length with these too, just right.

[Starlight Nova]

Have you ever considered submitting this story to Equestria Daily? You can find out how to do so here.

[Zanec]

Despite our general dislike for any mentions of the overused meat trope in stories, this one deserves some merit.

[TheLolzKnight]

6534606 How so? Is it the endurance hunting? Because though it is not completely responsible, senses of balance force development of the brain, which in turn allows for more effective hunting, so on so forth. But social structure had lots to do with it as well.

[rikithemonk]

I loved this.

I wasn't sure that I would even like this, because of how far off this is from my normal reading list.

I loved it.

Kudos to the Author. You really created a unique fic.

The Monk

[Zanec]

11571768
Asking can often get you answers, but you need to know the right questions first.