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// Entry 1: My Beginning 
// Story: Samudra's Journal 
// by vren55 
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First Entry
The Empress suggested I start this journal. I’m unsure as to why. Writing can be quite tiring as we have to use magic to do it. The ink that surface worlders use doesn’t work in the depths. 

She’s also told me that written words can be dangerous. That they can fall into the wrong flippers and they will never really tell the whole truth. Even to the person who wrote them. 

But she must have a reason, so I suppose I should introduce who am I. I am Samudra a deep pony. One of the two Aquestrian races. What’s a deep pony? Well, I’d have to explain what Aquestria is.

Aquestria is the underwater kingdom of Sea Ponies on Domus, this planet. It spans the entire length of what the primitive landdwellers call the Eastern Sea. We call it the Aquestrian Sea, as it rightfully is. 

Our seat of power is the coral-ringed city Aquamaris, where my mentor Empress Panthalassa of Aquestria, rules. Immortal, she’s the most powerful of our species, combining the attributes of both deep ponies and sea ponies.

Sea ponies are the more common of the Aquestrian races. In the front, they are like a pony, in the back, they have a horizontal tail. Aside from these, the Great Creator gifted the Sea Ponies with hydromancy. The ability to control the currents through the movement of their hooves and tail. Master hydromancers can even change the state of the sea itself, freezing it or turning it into steam. 

But there is a more powerful race in Aquestria, though a bit fewer. Four out of ten Aquestrians are Deep ponies, like I. We can channel the mystical energies of the world and to cast a milieu of spells. We can move earth, crack stone, lift things by our will, and fire bolts of energy. We can also live at depths greater than that of sea ponies, though we cannot go into the trenches and abysses that lead to the bottom of the sea.

In many respects, we are more powerful than our seapony brethren, though they are more numerous. As such, Aquestrian jobs tend to be divided based on our separate abilities. Deep ponies serve in the military and as mages, whilst Seaponies tend to tend the seaweed fields and clamfish harvests. The entirety of our Empress’s elite Myrmidon Guard is composed of deep ponies. 

Huh, this is proving to be easier than expected. I think I should thank Empress Panthalussa. She’s my mentor and the wisest Aquestrian I know. That being said, she is thousands of years old.

Ah yes diary, my teacher Empress Panthalussa is immortal. Or so far as I know. I’m aware she can be hurt, but frankly that’s a very rare occurrence. Aquestria has always maintained a very strong military, though we have rarely seen any threats to our dominance at sea for years. Furthermore, Empress Panthalussa wields magical power and hydromancy that far surpasses even our strongest Deep pony magi, and thanks to her long years and the experience she has gained, she knows how to use it well.

I must admit that there are many times when I question my mentor though… I am proud of being her student, but sometimes I wonder why.

I mean… My father Cardiidae and my mother, Actiniaria were sea ponies who ran a farm just outside of the capital, Aquamaris. Like every deep pony born to a seaweed farm, I originally wanted to be a Myrmidon. So I enrolled into the Myrmidon Training Academy at ten years old and left my family to go the capital. 

Myrmidon training was intense. Constant exercising, sorcery lessons and this may surprise many, but we also take lots and lots of classes on tactics, strategy and administration. 

I do have a guess as to why the Empress finally chose me for her student, but not the full reason. I think she realized I was an excellent commander. She was watching me during a command exercise. I was commanding the cadets on my team against the senior class. We were outnumbered, we didn’t have as much experience, but we beat the senior class in the mock battle. 

Oh you should have seen the looks on their faces. I used my own cadets as bait for the senior class. Neither the bait or even the senior class realized until the last moment when I swept my reserve forces into their rear.

A few days later, The Empress had approached me to ask me if I could be her student. I think I mumbled yes, because the next thing I knew it, she had swept me into her chambers and we were having lunch.

Even now, I sometimes can’t believe that I’m her student. Yet, I only have to come to our daily lessons, watch her manage Aquestria, and remember… that the Empress knew exactly what she was doing when she chose me.

I suppose that’s good enough for me. And good enough for this entry.

Maybe she has a point about this journal… it felt good to write this.