I had always ruled the water.
No other creature beneath the sea dared to cross me. I was massive, powerful, and in charge of the sea. Since I had been born, and till the day I die, it was always destined to be this way.
Serpentes Aquatica, but the more plebeian term is Sea Serpent. I am several thousands of feet in length, and my girth is that of the mightiest ships. I possess a skull large enough to house a large family of ponies. Sleek and handsome, my entire body is coated with the most shimmering of silver scales, and accented by long blue spines, which run from the corners of my jaw and the top of my head the my back, and all the way to the end of my tail.
My domain is the large round sea of the South, which I am told is called the Pale Sea. I was fostered in the shallow, warm waters near the continent, but most of my domain is as deep as the rest of the ocean, constantly fraught with storms, blowing in from the West.
I enjoy the storms. They give me the most pleasant sounds as they hit the surface of the water, and have the most beautiful clouds. I daresay those clouds are the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
The bane of my existence are the ships. Mostly ponies, but all sorts of creatures sail across the Pale Sea. It’s not the ships themselves I mind, for they hardly delve into the depths at all. It is really quite a noble endeavor for such powerless creatures of the land to harness the wind and brave the ferocity of my sea.
No, what I truly despise are the spears. It seems every time I show myself near these ships, some bastard gets it in his head that I am going to drown them, and they fire of volleys of harpoons or cannon fire at my side. Really nothing to harm me, but they do tend to sting a little.
Even when I help them from the storms. Their ship is capsizing, after thrashing about in one of the storms, so I slither over and do my best to tilt it upright again. Even when I save them, they do not hear reason. They just fire away as soon as I dare to show my face.
Although, sometimes I try to save a ship, and fail. The boat is just too far gone, you know. Then a group of survivors on rowboats make it to shore, and spread all of these rumors of the terrible Sea Serpent that was there when the ship sank. Rude, I know.
Why do I even bother with ships, perhaps you ask? Why don’t I just dive to the depths when I see a sailboat, skimming the sea above me?
Ah, to be the only intelligent creature beneath the waves. Seaponies are a myth, and whales sing a mindless song. There is only one reason I speak to these ponies, and it is that I am alone.
As I said before, I am the only intelligent creature to be at peace at the great depths. To thrive in the cold and wet and constantly changing world of the sea. My thoughts tend to stew and broil as I swim, and to be alone for such great periods can drive any creature mad.
So, I go after the ships. For every hundred that attack me or ignore me, there is one that does not. A pony who is sane enough, believe it or not, to realize that I am not trying to eat them, but instead trying to position myself within speaking distance of them.
My first successful experience with such a pony was a fisherman. An old stallion, alone in a small schooner, who sought after marlin. His name was Steady Breath.
He was caught in the waves of a great typhoon. His small vessel was sure to capsize. As the boat was tossed about, I rose underneath him. As gently as I could manage, I raised a coil of my body out of the water, directly beneath his daggerboard.
The old stallion yelped in shock as my spines rose out in front of him. Imagine his surprise when his tiny vessel rose into the air! Safely nestled between my spines, he weathered the storm, until waters were clear enough again for me to set him down.
After gently replacing him in the water, I swam around him, and positioned my head above his tiny craft. The old stallion was shaking with fear, but remained silent. No unwanted attempts at violence or escape, but he instead looked upon me with fear and patience, truly a curious combination.
“Hello,” I spoke. My voice thundered across the water and into his ears, a low rumbling voice that I thought suited my imposing nature quite well.
Steady Breath shook all the more violently, but still attempted to answer. “H-h-h-helloo oh great and t-t-t-terrible Serpent.”
“Do not be afraid,” I commanded. “I mean you no harm.”
“Th-th-th-they say that the winds of words blow no sails,” he replied, “and I believe your truths, o Serpent, but I cannot quell the f-f-f-fear in my heart.”
“Very well.” Wise words. “Be that as it may, I wish to speak to you, pony. Tell me...” I lowered the tip of my spiny snout as close to his boat as I could manage. “Why is it you sail my sea?”
“I fish m-m-m-marlin, Lord.” Oh, ‘Lord’. That was the first time anyone called me the Lord of my sea. Apt. “They migrate across your great w-w-w-waters twice per year, and I sell them at the local market.”
“Marlin?” I asked. “What creature is this?” I had never spoken to the ponies, and I did not know their words. ‘Sails’ I had seen on every ship that passed, but all others were new to me.
It seemed that ‘marlin’ was one of the names of the mindless fish that accompanied my in my sea. Large, but not sharks, with blue and yellow colors and a long spike on the front. I quite enjoyed their taste.
We spoke for an hour, I asked him questions about his habits, and he asked me questions about myself. My replies were curt, as I had no wish to tell of my life to a pony, but his replies were long and winded, thoroughly explaining every word he spoke. I stopped him when he began to speak of his land or his nation. I did not care to learn of the ponies’ habits on the land, only what might affect my sea, or the skies above it.
I thanked him for his time and dove beneath the waves, diving deep to the depths of my blue home. I was certain that my encounter with the ‘fisherman’ named Steady Breath would satiate my curiosity of the ponies for the time being.
I had little notion that their curiosity of me was just beginning.
It was several months later. There was another typhoon, and another sailing ship was floundering, doomed to fall beneath the waves and be lost forever.
I had no more wish to speak to the ponies. But by this point, my attempts to save the ship had become a habit, an interesting break to my otherwise solitary life. As the newly proclaimed Lord of my sea, I felt an obligation to preserve, as best I could, those who were to perish in my waters.
I successfully managed to right the boat, and steer it towards less turbulent waters. Before I could depart, however, a voice called to me from the deck.
“Lord Serpent! I seek an audience with you!”
The voice was distant, and I was already beneath the waves. However, since the ship had not attempted to harm me, I saw no reason to not grant his request. I circled the ship, and raised my great eye to this pony.
As I viewed him, he began to grow uncomfortable, a far cry from his self-assured proclamation. Likely due to my eye being itself twice again as tall as he. Despite this, he continued to speak with a steady confidence.
“Great Serpent, Lord of the Pale Sea. I have heard tales of your heroic endeavors to save the ships that pass your waters.”
That statement was ‘bull-hickery’, I believe the phrase was. Perhaps ‘bull-hoggery’. I shall ask Apple later. At any rate, this stallion wanted more from me than just a quick chat.
“Is that so?” I spoke with disdain. I did not like this pony.
“Yes, my lord. News from the lips of Steady Breath has traveled quickly. Recently you are the prime subject of discussion among the oceanside towns of our nation. Your opinion is... mixed.”
It amused me greatly that the ponies thought of me so often, though but one had spoken to me. “And why is it that you wish to speak to me?”
A devious smile played across his lips. “Well, my lord, several sailors give tell of your mighty deeds. Albeit, they argue over the intent of them. Several have claimed that you have sunk many ships, and others that you have saved just as many. I merely wish to know–which is the truth?”
I narrowed my eyes at the small creature. “I do not wish for death upon any being before their time. Though I but tend this ocean–I do not claim to control it. If the Pale Sea claims their lives, my actions could do nothing to prevent it.”
He raised a hoof. “Yet still you try. And sometimes you succeed.”
I snorted. “You test my patience, mammal. State your business or I shall depart.”
“Very well.” He cleared his throat. “You, my lord, are the most powerful being in this ocean. The Great Serpent, Lord of the Pale Sea, the Singer of Storms.”
I’m not sure where that last one came from. Apple tells me it is because of my voice, calm yet powerful like a storm. I do think she made that up, though. I digress.
The stallion continued. “As such, I believe, and I think that you do as well, that it is your responsibility to tend to this great ocean, to keep it safe from those who would wish to abuse its gifts. I believe this is a wish we both share.”
I was wary of the small equine, but his words rang true. The Pale Sea was my home, and I shuddered to think of its name slandered by those who would use it for ill purposes. “What would you have me do, pony? I see no one here who slanders my ocean. And I am not the one who speaks to ponies.” I ruffled my spines, making them flare out from my face. His tiny eyes turned to them and widened, to my satisfaction.
“I have no wish to speak ill of your fine sea, sir!” He paused for an instant, regathering himself. “But, on the shores, there are those who do. The Pale Sea is a prime trading route for pirates, sir.”
“Pirates?”
“Yes. Ponies who steal, that is, they take what is not theirs, and perform heinous crimes for their own benefit. They laud your ocean as the best route to escape their captors and profit from their crimes.”
This made my blood boil. Ponies, those little ponies, could never harm my home. Yet they did. They had slandered its name and my own pride, and I had been unaware. Twas an interesting thing–I cared not for what these tiny creatures thought of me before, but after having spoken to them, I came to realize that their opinion was seated in my mind. I had sought after intellectual company and I had found it, at the price of my own self-assuredness in all matters.
I snarled at the tiny pony, lashing my body about in the water. Giant waves crashed upon the sides of the ship, sending the passengers scrambling for holds. “My lord! Please!” The stallion whom I had spoken to called from the deck. “Allow me to finish!”
“And what would you say, mammal?” I sneered. “What words could you possibly give to convince me not to send every ship that so much as approaches my waters to the ocean floor? Hmm?”
“We could tell you! We could tell you which ships!” He cried. “That was what I came to say! I wished to seek your aid in helping me to take down these brigands!”
I paused. “You would tell me which ships?” I boomed.
“Yes.”
“And their actions? I wish to know for why I kill.”
“Yes yes of course!”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I did not trust this stallion, who spoke with such disdain, but his words rang true. I was deeply worried for my ocean.
I rose the coils of my body as far out of the water as I could manage, to tower high above these pony ships and make them know that they were at my mercy. I bared my fangs in a twisted grin, my snout pointed directly at the small pony.
“Very well.”
I must stop, now. This recollection weighs heavy upon my mind.