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 Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 2:58 am
 Laureola swam serenely through the water, gliding gracefully among the waves. It was a bright, warm day, so there were many creatures out and about. She could even spot some land ponies near the waters edge. "I wonder what it's like to be able to walk on land..." she pondered. "Then again," she added "maybe they wonder what it's like to swim with such ease anywhere they want." She swam up near the shore and playfully slapped her tail, sending water hurling toward the Soq standing nearby. She laughed as they jumped around in surprise, neighing.
After some good-natured banter with them, she dove back among the reef, ready to do some more exploring. Sea turtles, anemones, crabs, a rainbow of fish, if you thought of something on a reef, you would see it here. It was teeming with life. Gently she reached down to see if there was a creature in a beautiful conch shell. Not surprisingly, something was hiding in it, every once in a while coming out juuuust slightly. She giggled and put it back down.
She was enjoying herself so much, she didn't realize when she began to enter a deeper, darker part of the reef, an area that bordered a sea trench. Normally she would try and avoid this spot, for she had heard stories of strange, frightening creatures that lived in the abyssal depths. Just as she became aware of where she was, she caught sight of something, rising from dark, bottomless waters... ========================================== 249 words - https://wordcounter.net/
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 2:58 am
Verdorren moved upward, scanning his surroundings with ease. Left, right, straight ahead and up. He could see it all. As he ascended, another creature came too close, and Verdorren, cranky and volatile as always, lashed out at it with his tail. The frightened critter swam quickly away, and Verdorren grinned to himself proudly. He knew he was scary looking, and he used it to his advantage. He had tried for years to fit in and be kind, but no one ever saw past his appearance. So, he had decided, if others weren't willing to give him a chance and get to know him and just act afraid, he would just embrace what people labeled him. Scary. Cruel. A black sheep. And in doing so, he discovered he always got what he wanted, and everyone just left him alone. Lonely? Is it possible to even know what loneliness is if it's all you've ever known? It wasn't something he thought about. "Everyone stays out of my way, and we'll all be happy." he muttered to himself. But then again...was happiness even a concept he understood?
As he approached the surface, he began so see spots of yellow, and something golden that kept catching the light. He began to swim faster, wanting to see what it was. ========================================== 215 words
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 12:56 pm
Laureola stared intently at the mysterious creature, keeping a close eye on where it was going. In shock, she realized it was heading right for her...and faster than before! In a panic, she turned, churning up sand, seaweed, and other debris. Frantically she tried to swim away from the dark, deep water. She wanted to look back and see if it was still coming towards her, but she was too terrified. "What IS that thing!?" she exclaimed as she furiously swam. Once she had gotten what she thought was a fair distance away, she paused to try and rest a bit. But she was nervous. "Surely if it's still there, I shouldn't just be staying put..." she thought. Slowly, she worked up the courage to look behind her. And there it was! It was still coming towards her! "What do you want?!" she screeched as she tried to swim away again. But in her desperation to get away, she wasn't paying attention to where she was and got her long hair tangled in some coral. "No no no!" she cried as she pawed and bit at it to try and get it free. ========================================== 193 words
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Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 10:49 am
Amused, Verdorren quietly circled down and around in front, waiting for the perfect opportunity to dart upwards. Yet, as he observed the struggles of the pony above him, he felt an odd sensation pass through him. "What...is this..." he wondered to himself. Somehow, at some point, what he was witnessing stopped being funny and now he felt...bad for this pony? Why should he feel bad for it? He doesn't know it. And who cares; he's always been treated badly by others. So why...why...
Before he even realized what he was doing, he was softly swimming up and muttering, "It's ok, I'll help you get free." Gently he reached out with his bone like feet and started untangling the mess of coral and hair. "Sorry I scared you." he said in a low voice. "Sheesh...now you're even apologizing?! What is WRONG with you?!" his inner thoughts screamed at him. He huffed to himself as he got the last few strands free and swam back a little to give the strange pony space, and see what it would do. ========================================== 177 words
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:47 pm
Laureola thrashed around in a panic as the strange creature came near. In blind fear, it didn't even register that he was, in fact, trying to help her. Once she was free, she darted off as fast as she could, terrified. Yet, as she swam, it began to dawn on her that she had been stuck. Stuck fast. Until...until... "Did....did that...thing...free me?" she wondered aloud. She turned back around to see it just hovering there where it had been, it's multiple heads hung low.
As she was considering everything that had just happened and what she had just seen, the creature turned and started to descend back into the depths slowly. "Hey! Wait!" she shouted as she began to swim back towards it. "Please wait! I...I want to talk to you!" ========================================== 131 words
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:36 pm
At first, Verdorren ignored the calls that reached his ears. Yes, he heard. But this pony already proved what it was; just like all the rest. Though after a while, the persistent calls began to annoy him, so he stopped. "Ugh...what does she want?" he grumbled quietly. But as the words passed his lips, he couldn't ignore what his conscience was telling him. This pony has simply reacted in exactly the way he had hoped, even orchestrated it to. "Can you honestly expect anything different when you fully intended to scare her?" it plucked at his mind.
Still grappling with his inner thoughts, he began to swim cautiously back upwards. "What do you want?" he asked as the gap between them closed. He had no idea what the reply would be. This situation was unfamiliar to him. None of these surface ponies had ever sought him out for anything. ========================================== 149 words
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:14 am
Laureola stopped just a few feet in front of the strange creature, pausing to take in just what she was seeing. It was a pony, that much was certain. But it was ever so unusual. Three heads, boney like legs as well as tail, areas that seemed to glow. Yet, she tried to look past that. After all, this pony HAD just freed her from that coral tangle. If he wanted to harm her, he could have right then and there.
She moved a little closer. "Thank you...for helping me back there... I was pretty tangled up." She waited for a reply but none came. She continued, "I'm...I'm sorry I ran away. You're just, I mean I was..." she fumbled over her words. "I've just never seen a pony like you before; it was startling. Especially after the stories I've heard about the deep. I'm really sorry. My name's Laureola by the way. What's yours?" She awaited eagerly for a reply. ========================================== 161 words
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:47 am
Verdorren huffed a little. "Yeah, you shouldn't believe everything you hear." He paused a moment. "Truth be told though, I was trying to scare you. Well, sorta. Not at first. I saw the glint off your head piece and was curious what it was. Then when I saw you swimming away frantically, I...I decided it would be fun to frighten you. So I guess you were right to believe it, at least a little." He glanced down. "It should be me to apologize I guess. Sorry..." Lightly he swished his tail around. "My name's Verdorren. Nice to meet you." ========================================== 99 words
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 10:56 am
Laureola smiled softly. "It's ok. So...um...why would you want to do that? Is it just a habit or do you enjoy it or what?" She moved closer, curiously swimming around him. "What's it like down below? Does everyone look like you? Can you stay in the surface waters for long?" The questions just spilled out of her mouth as if she had no control over them. But now that she knew she didn't need to fear this pony, she wanted to know everything! She giggled to herself and stopped back in front of him again. ========================================== 95 words
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:06 am
"You're a really chatty pony, aren't you?" Verdorren said gruffly. He quickly softened though and added, "I do it because I'm just used to being treated differently. It's dark and cold down below. Some look like me, but there's plenty of other different looking Soq. I can stay up here as long as I like." He grinned in amusement at his quick responses, not having missed a beat. "Look, tell you what. Instead of bombarding me with questions, why don't I stay up here a while and we can get to know each other. It would be nice to have a surface friend." ========================================== 103 words
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