80 Days: Under the Waves

by Sharp Spark

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And then I came to the end of the tunnel. I was expecting just a rocky dead-end. Instead, the passage opened into an incredibly vast cavern. Far, far below, I could see where the drill head had fallen, to land among rocky outcroppings below.

Ever so slightly, one of those outcroppings moved. I blinked, unsure if I had seen it right. I couldn’t see walls to the right and left, just water stretching out. If the terrain below was the body of a creature, it was immeasurably vast and terrifying--perhaps a gargantuan serpent coiled upon itself, or some even more strange and otherworldly being, beyond the knowledge of ponykind. Or perhaps my imagination was simply running wild in the moment.

Then, I noticed movement below. Tiny creatures streamed over and through the outcroppings below--or rather, they were so distant as to appear as ants. They were pale and sinuous, despite having roughly equine forms. One stopped, looking upwards, and I realized my light was still on. I fumbled with it, trying to switch it off. When I looked back down, they were all staring at me.

They were like lice, I realized, feeding off of a larger animal…
They must be protecting the being below, I thought…
I wondered what creatures could survive at this depth...