The Plea of General Torrente

by Greatmewtwo

The Letter

Dear Princess Celestia,

Until now, the story I'm about to tell you will never be found in a book. It is often said that history, such as that of Equestria, was written in your image, a victorious one. However, like many images, such as those of the eyes, they only tell as much of the story as is possible. We only observe what we can, but sometimes we are afraid to see everything else. This is a story that has gone missed for centuries, and it's long overdue for your subjects to know of our adventures.

As I watch my esca dangle from my head the way you see your horn, I identify myself not so much as a pony, but as one of the many species of sea pony, residing in what we call the Basaltic Republic. When we came to the section of your sea where we take pride in inhabiting, our ancestors were a group of nomadic peoples and species: You may have seen the hippocampi, the most common of the namesake sea ponies. You also have the kelpies, magic users such as myself not unlike the unicorns. Third, you have necks; you'd know them with the large fins or tentacles on their sides, and to assume strong and speedy forms to manipulate the currents the way your pegasi manipulate the water in the sky.

The earliest days of the Basaltic Republic were riddled with all kinds of political and social unrest; it is said that you and your sister introduced us to a divine right of ruling, which has had terrible results over the years thanks to countless acts of corruption within the families. For a time, our civilization went absolutely nowhere without some form of a leader. We water ponies had even endured long periods of isolation: the hippocampi would inhabit the daylight zone, so they had the most food; the kelpies such as myself spent their time in the twilight zone, using an abysmally black barrier to shield themselves from the outside world and feeding on marine snow that the camps leave behind, and warmed by the seamounts that stink with sulfurous brimstone. Meanwhile, the necks constantly conspired with the pegasi to bring about hurricanes to attack the earth ponies out of spite for the rest of us with their powerful tentacles and fins. There was no trust in anyone, especially under your colleague, Prince Igneosi.

Even though we would not interact with anyone other than our own species, the isolation ultimately brought out traits in us all. The hippocampi reproduce at rather rapid rates, using males to breed dozens of fry in a matter of months and assuring a large work force. Even their leader, General Sirenia, was instrumental in promoting a civilian happiness. The kelpies, like myself, became interested in certain forms of dark magic -- magic that would afford us the power of camouflage, cloaking, and mastery of assassination. This was, of course, necessary if we as a people of sea ponies were going to dwell in a realm filled with all sorts of leviathans; the sea serpents were almost always blasting vitriol and eating the hippocampi, the smoozes would bloom in the summer and spread infection and darkness with the necks who would carry them, and the krakens -- those big fish -- would show up out of nowhere and snatch up our food. Kelpies became dangerous in the world of espionage, even to where we were sometimes regarded as heroes in retrospect. It's a rite of passage for a kelpie to slay a leviathan, and some of the stronger ones are harder to find, as they are more likely to assume total transparency in the water. The necks learned little else, but they became masters of weather and meteorology, especially having to keep the currents in check.

I am told that when I was born, we were attacked by a remorseless leviathan, a member of a militia of dragons and sea monsters alike. We are not sure what he wanted besides control of Equestria's seas -- he was a dragon of unforgiving power. His eyes darkened with the abysmal shadows of the seas and his scales forged from steel. His strength comprising of the accretion of the ocean's fury. In one of the last decent things the royal family did, Igneosi and the rest went to the unicorns of Equestria for help, such as the bearded warlock he called "Stwirrell." He gave him seven stones that would be an important treasure in the Basaltic Republic: The Keys to Leadership, a means to make sure that his military strength is rigid. It is not known what happened to the unicorns who dwelt upon the coastline, as they were largely considered to have disappeared with the tides, but they told Igneosi to bestow the treasures upon the sea ponies who were most deserving and most showing of character.

Yea, it was the power of leadership that slew the beast, as well as seven sacred stones like your Elements of Harmony: Loyalty, for faith and fealty; Duty, the will to keep promises; Respect, like your kindness; Selflessness, the ability to die for your nation more than for yourself; Honor, for honoring your family and your ancestors; Integrity, in the name of ethics; and last but not least, Courage, we cannot let anything get in our way to distress us. It sounds like an old pony tale, but it has guided our military operations for the last few centuries.

Even now, as a true leader, The most courageous thing for me to do is know to call for help when I am in distress. As elections approach for the Basaltic Republic, we are broken again. A military coup displaced the very family who helped spare us from the wrath of all kinds of sea serpents and leviathans, but that is not to say that we are a bunch of despots. Unlike your kingdom, we can be identified as a military democracy; the people in charge are elected by the people, but they are all the top brass, like myself. Our next threat comes from a mob that has eaten away at the fabric of our society. They have terrorized innocent civilians, trapped sea pony and earth pony alike in sin, and move around silently with their thing. I personally believe that they killed some of our most promising leaders, such as the father of my student, Colonel Corvus. To make matters worse, attacks by leviathans, especially the dragons, have increased five-fold every few years. If you have anyone to answer our SOS, we will wait for as long as we can continue fighting the war at home. We will stop at nothing to protect the seas so that your subjects can live in peace.

Your hopeful ally,

General Torrente

Author's Note:

Not too long ago, I had been visiting the teachings of Sun Tzu's "Art of War."

Apart from my respect for G1 and my experiences with the JROTC in high school, I had taken some interest recently in the subject of deep sea creatures.