I swam hard, and as fast as I could. Last day, I learned how much of a mistake I made in sleeping too much. Now she Sea-ponies are practically right behind me. I don't even have time to stop and eat! My gut grumbles loudly again, but there's nothing I can do about it.

"Hey there sea-beast! I can't wait to mount your body in the Main Hall!" A sea-pony growls in front of me, holding a 'spear' I've heard them referred to, aggressively. I may be cold, hungry, and tired, but I'm still not defenseless. Lifting my jowls, and exposing my teeth, I open my mouth and let out the loudest call I can make. The water between he and I seems to shake as the sea-pony drops his spear and holds his ear holes with his fins. I see through the shaking, that blood seems to come from his ears. Ceasing my call, I swam past his shaking body.

"Sweet mako that was loud!" A voice yelled from behind me. "What was that?"

"I think that was our sea monster." Another voice replied. "Where's our scout?" it asked.

I can't stop swimming... Even once the day has turned to night, I can't stop. I even find myself eating on the move. I can't stop moving. Stopping means death.

"Gotcha!" I hear a sea-pony, no. A hippogriff. He's got me by my tail and is trying to pull me out of the water. "Novo's gonna love this!"

The twisting in my gut began again, building quite quickly. Letting out a call, the twisting stops, and the hippogriff yells out in pain, only to fall into the water with me. Moving my tail, I slap him in the face. My body is growing more and more tired from this... It's going to slow down... I see the surface of the water is beginning to turn hard. The water is always coldest right near those spots of solid water. Another sea-pony splashes down in front of me, spear ready.

I'm too close to stop and call to him, and it's too late to make the shocks. Thrusting my tail as hard as I can, I swim right into the green sea-pony, teeth barred. I bit into him as hard as I can right under the fin holding the spear, drawing lots of blood. He screams loudly in pain, and tries to use his spear against me. He never got a good stab, but he came close enough to draw some of my blood. Looking up from him, I see a wall of rock, and swim forcing him into the rocks as hard as I can force.

Swinging my fins at him, the teeth on the edges dig into his flesh, drawing more blood. He struggles as hard as he can to get out of my bite, and the more he struggles, the worse it gets. Next thing I know, it's not a sea-pony in my mouth, but a hippogriff. The teeth on his front fins bite into my flesh, but he can't last long in that body. That body needs air from above the water. It was only a short while before he scrambled out of my jaw. I let him go, and continue to swim.

~~~~***~~~~

Tide wandered the school of friendship. waiting on the marine biologist to arrive was proving to be a boring, and time consuming endeavor. He decided to sit in on 'Professor' Fluttershy's class, talking about ocean life of all things today.

"And so the Remora eat the parasites off the shark, making sure the shark is healthy, and in return, the shark doesn't eat them. Another beautiful symbiotic relationship in nature." Fluttershy explained, a wistful look flashing in her eye. "Oh, hello Tide Pool. Care to share with us some things you've seen out in the seas?" She asked.

The sandy colt was suddenly nervous. He hated it when his teachers called on him back at school, and preferred to get his good grades in quiet; Through extra credit reports and personal studies.

"C'mon dude, you got this." Sandbar cheered, quickly followed by other class members.

Tide stood up from the desk in the back, took a deep breath, and began.

"Have you spoken about the familial bonds of the pods of whales or dolphins?" Tide asked.

"Honestly, I know more about the animals and beings out here." Fluttershy replied honestly. "I don't know that much about the sea, but your 'Project' inspired me some for today's lesson. So anything you could offer would be lovely."

Tide looked contemplative, then settled it.

"Did anyone know that Dolphins are some of the smartest animals in the world?" Tide started. When almost no-one raised a hoof, claw or other appendage, save Silverstream, he continued. "Dolphins, amazingly are. They're just a few steps away from being able to create a whole civilization. The pods and family groups they form, are not unlike our ancient pony tribes from way back when." When Tide could talk about the sea, he never complained. To him, the sea was a second home in a way.

"Dolphin, and even whale pods form around a matriarch. The males, or bull offspring will never leave the pod, or their mother. Instead, the females, or cows, however, will travel and pick a new pod. Keeps the genetic pool open instead of inbreeding." The colt was suddenly in his element. He knew the sea. "It's a life long bond that Marine biologists with all the science and magic in the world still don't understand, and maybe won't within several lifetimes."

Several students raised their hooves.

"Yes, green changeling, third row?"

"Are there any hive like creatures in the ocean?" The changeling asked curiously.

"I don't think so. If there are, we haven't seen them. There are plenty of creatures that live symbiotically with each other though. As Fluttershy said, there's the Remora, Pilot fish and sharks, certain types of anenomies and fish, but the most interesting has to be Pyrosomes. They're literally hundreds to thousands of genetically similar life forms, or clones for a simpler term that form and live together as one colonial being. Some have been found to be twice as long as this room, and are typically found in the deep sea." Tide explained, drawing on the chalk board.

~~~~***~~~~

These Sea-ponies just don't give up! They seem to slow down when in the dark... But at this moment I can't slow down. Another sea-pony comes from the air above, trying to slash at me with a claw, only to find his fin in my mouth. He screamed as I bit down, hard. I felt something in his fin break, and he screamed louder. Letting go, I look him in the eye and screamed.

"Why can't you just leave me alone!?"

The Sea-pony looked stunned as I swam past. I needed to find a place to hide. I'm getting tired of this... and just tired... I need to rest... and eat. The waters here kept changing. From deep and slow, to shallow and fast. If I'm lucky, maybe I can find another wall of water that I can hide behind.

The Sea-ponies seem to have stopped chasing me... for now... I always get found. Ow... my body is screaming in pain... Can't stop swimming.

I manage to find myself a nice deep hole to hide in. I can't afford to wonder what made it... Maybe I can rest during the light, and move in the dark...

Yes... I think I can pull that off... Now... to just... rest.

~~~~***~~~~

Tide was wandering by the lake near Ponyville, knowing that within days, Levi would arrive, with Novo and a small Sea-pony/Hippogriff army right behind him... The colt needed to put together a strategy.

"So, what's the plan Tide Pool?" The seafoam green earth pony, Sandbar asked.

"Yeah. How are we gonna stop Novo?" asked Smolder, punching her fists together, huffing out smoke.

"I don't know..." Tide answered, not looking up from the water. "They should be here in a few days but... I don't know how to stop them."

"If it makes you feel any better, Twilight took a contingent of guards with her to meet with Novo and try to stall her, if not stop her outright." The smaller purple dragon, Spike responded, unsure if he was helping the colt's mood.

"What?!" almost everyone responded.

"Yeah. Turns out, that Novo is technically invading equestrian territory, and that if she keeps it up, she could start a war." Spike said. Silverstream and Terramar suddenly looked nervous. "I doubt it'll go that far though." He amended.

"Let's hope so..." Tide said, staring out to the sunset.

~~~~***~~~~

I open my eyes slowly, and see that it has gotten dark. Good. I don't hear any Sea-ponies nearby. My gut aches from not having eaten in some time. Swimming out of the hole, I swim on. Maybe I'll find something to eat along the way. Lifting my nose above the top of the water and into the air, I take a breath, and smell... lots of strange new things. I never smelled any of this when I got close to the land pony dens...

Looking above, I see the silver light come from the sky. To one side of the water, is near endless grass. Not very appetizing, but edible. To the other, larger plants that block out the silver light. I watch as an animal wanders out of the plants and to the water. It seems to be red in color. It stops be the water's edge, and leans down to... drink I guess.

My gut wont let this opportunity go. Using my fins instead of my tail, I slowly move closer to the animal. It doesn't seem to notice me. I'm practically right under it's face. Exposing my teeth, and twisting the inside of my gut, I thrust myself up and out of the water, grabbing the animal by the neck and pulling it into the waters. Once it's inside, I release the twisting, and the small animal stops moving. It's not even twitching.

I twist and hold the small animal. It's body rips apart under my efforts, and I begin to eat. I ate until all that was left was fluff, some guts and bones. Feeling suddenly full, I swim further up current.

I repeated this pattern of hide in the light, and swim in the dark for the next two cycles... seeing very little of the sea-ponies. Some part of me wonders what happened to them, but I shouldn't think some things. Last time I did, they found my hole.

The top of the water continues to get solid as the cycles go by, with both the air above, and the water below get colder. I've never felt water this cold. Not even in the deep sea did it get this cold... at least as deep as I went. My body continues to shake and shiver; And get slower. If I go any slower, I'll be easy prey for those sea-ponies. The silver light above guides me through the water, but the surface keeps getting solid.

The current seems to slow with me... Until a spear from a Sea-pony is thrust through my gut. Letting out my loudest scream, both in pain, and defense, I get him off of me. My gut is bleeding more than I've ever seen. More spears are moving towards me at amazing speed. Some biting at me, others missing, some hit me directly. Turning and swimming as fast as I can up current, despite my chills, I see what appears to be a large body of water.

The Sea-ponies suddenly stop chasing me for some reason. Swimming into this large water, I notice a lot of sea grass, and plenty of places to hide... my gut is complaining in pain... both from hunger and pain. I swim around the water, looking for another way out. I can't find one.... I CAN'T FIND ONE! I'm trapped... I... I can't do this anymore... I curl my body up near a rock, lick my wounds... I can't stop the bleeding...

I can feel my body start to fade... Black starts to fade into my vision. I hear a faint ringing in my ears... Then I hear what sounds like splashing, and voices... Looking up... I see... The sandy pony from earlier... only hes a sea-pony, and with three other sea ponies!

Uncurling and showing my teeth, I growl.

"I may be hurt... and tired... But I will take you with me!"

"Levi! It's me! Tide Pool! We met at the sea, remember? You saved me and my pa from a shark." The sandy sea pony said, scared.

"Tide Pool is a land pony... You may look like him, but-

"That would be because of us. We sea-ponies can turn land ponies into sea-ponies for a short time. My name's Terramar. I'm a friend." The sea-pony said to me. How do I know they're telling the truth?

"If we were really going to hurt you Levi, we would have done so already. We're gonna take you somewhere safe. Get you a doctor." 'Tide Pool' claimed.

"How do I know your speaking true?" The youngest sea-pony responded by holding out a fin gently to me, My vision fading more.

"You're just gonna have to trust me, friend." He said with a smile. I have little choice... Go with him... or don't... I find myself to weak to move. The next thing I feel is fins grabbing mine, and gently pull me up to the surface.

Looking up through the tunnel of black, I see a swirling, then the smallest sea pony became the tiny land pony I saved those cycles ago. So he told the truth. Looking around, I see lots of creatures. from land ponies, to horned ponies, It's a varied as the reefs! I suddenly notice something... A hippogriff flying right at us... with a spear. The rest right behind him.

Showing my teeth to the sky, the only sound I can make is a hissing noise. I lower my front, and raise my tail. I don't know why but my body just acted. All the creatures look where I do, and either begin to run and scream, others get aggressive.

"NOVO!" A purple pony yells. "I ALREADY TOLD YOU TO TURN BACK!"

"Princess Twilight, that beast there must be exterminated" The hippogriff said in reply. "His kind were a menace to the seas a milenia ago. If we let that one grow, it will become a menace again."

"Only because they were attacked!" Tide Pool yells, stepping beside me. I begin to feel dizzy, and start to wobble. When I do, I see another hippogriff... one with a bandaged leg, holding a spear. I watch as he takes to the air. I don't think the ponies noticed...

My vision has gotten so dark it's hard to focus... The ponies have begun to yell at the hippogriffs... The one hippogriff... He flies to me as fast as he can, landing next to me, and plunging his spear into my body. I Let out one last, loud scream, but I'm not the only one who's screaming. I feel the spear jerk, and see the hippogriff hit the ground, landing next to him was a smaller sky pony.

"Tide! BROTHER!" The sky pony screamed, as I fall to a deep sleep. My body too weak to keep going anymore.

Author's Note

I am trying to be as accurate to actual marine biology as possible. Dolphins, really are right behind humans in how smart they are. The only other animal that comes close is Chimps. And pyrosomes really are the largest colonial animal in the sea, with the largest called an Apolemia, and has been measured at several hundred feet long(when stretched out, since they form a giant spiral with the outermost ring, being over 150 ft long)

Sorry for the late update. What with it being Thanksgiving(or some time close to), along with an IRL project that I'm super stoked to finish. I will most likely post a video to my Youtube/Rumble/Full30 accounts, with links to my Parler when it's done.

I wanted to play this chapter out more, but I'm not good at filler. Sorry.