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Though he usually kept company in the GloryHeart meadow with his many times Grandmother the Queen, today was just one of those days that it was nicer to get away. Away from the rest of the court. Away from the expectations. Most of the time it wasn't too bad, but today, oh today. Today there was a new Glory being initiated. He had done his part. At least what was expected of him. Then he had left.

Today Taffy had decided to head over to the river. The thought of playing in the water and letting the river wash away all his formality was very tempting. However, as he was dipping his hooves in the crystal clear water he discovered that the river wasn't quite far enough. He could still hear the other Unicorns celebrating.

He decided that this was not going to get him down. He would have his fun time! With thah, he started to trot up the river, just in the edge of the water. He had to travel for quite a ways before the sounds of the meadow began to fade, but he didn't mind. Exploring was his other favorite thing to do. When he was satisfied with the area he had found, he stopped for a breather.

Then without further ado, he plunged into the water. He had only been splashing around for a few moments when he heard another Uni calling out. He stopped and looked up at the young male approaching him. the other Uni didn't seem much if any older than himself. He only allowed himself a moment of study before his formal politeness training kicked in.

"Hello to you! I am Taffy. The many time Great Grandson of the Queen. Is there any way I can assist you?" Inwardly he cursed how formal he sounded. Too much time around the royal court.

Taf groaned inwardly as Tinder started to posture. This was exactly why he had left the meadow today! He tried to remain friendly in posture and bearing as Tinder went on to talk about some relation to the Queen or other. He tried to listen politely, he really did. But his mind kept turning to how he could politely extricate himself from the situation.

Then he saw all the steam come out of the male. And decided that now was probably a good time to start listening again. He really was quite taken aback by how the male tried to salvage the situation. 'Grandfriends? Something cool?' This might not turn out to be too bad at all. With a great effort he threw aside his manners.

"Uh . . . . Sure. Yeah. Of course. Grandfriends!" He let out a small snort of laughter at the idea. "There's something cool? Nearby? Is there water?"

He trotted into the water until it became deep enough to swim. With a few strokes of his legs he felt his hooves touch ground again. Lucky this was a shallow not too currented part of the river. It wasn't long till he was coming out of the water and making his dripping way closer to Tinder. At least this way they didn't have to shout.

Taffy walked along the river bottom until he came to the place where Tinder had said something about a shelf. He found it with his toes and made a big leap off of the edge of it, letting his momentum carry him under the surface of the water.
He surfaced again to get a breath before going under to find the opening to the cave. He found it easily, as he had much experience looking for things underwater. He often made a game of it actually. To drop something in the river and find it to retrieve it.
He pulled his mind back to getting into the cave. He pushed himself in and surfaced to breath, looking around for Tinder.

Taffy splashed his way further in until his feet hit muck. He flailed around in it a bit, stirring up a big mucky mess that soaked into his pristine white coat.
He drug himself out of the water and onto the mud pile next to Tinder. Pausing a minute to catch his breath he looked around taking in the cavern's surroundings. He wondered just how far it went and how long it would take to find the end.
He flopped over onto his side and rolled around int the mud. He sank halfway under and had quite a struggle pulling himself out of it. When he finally got free with a giant sucking noise, he laughed.
Focusing back on the other Uni he figured that it would be alright to tell him the truth.
"I was trying to get away from The Meadow for a bit. I love the river and was just going to relax but the sounds of the Glory welcoming were rather loud today. So I headed upstream." He shook his head, splattering mud everywhere from his mane.
"It's such a pain being related to the Queen. People expect so much from you. And sometimes all I want is to play. Of course Grandmama understands and even at times encourages my exploring. But her advisers. They'd have their tails in knots if they saw me now." He snorted at the picture of their reaction in his head. "I mean, I do love my family. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea. But I just want to explore the world. And that isn't proper for one of my relation."
He moved his feet around in the mud enjoying the squishy sounds it made.
"So. what's your family like? You said you have a brother? What's he like?"

Taffy listen intently as Tinder talked about his family. There was no mistaking that he really loved them. No matter what changes his new younger siblings would bring.
It caught Taf off guard though when Tinder spoke of his family and the chain of command. His new friend was part of an important family. He lost himself deep in his thoughts for a moment while he tried to remember what he had been taught about the other Glories that were around. Ah! That was it! Tinder must be the son of the leader of The River Guard Glory.
"Wait. Did you say whirlpool? And you jumped in?" Taf grew excited as his new friend started talking about the river again. "How did you get out?"
He knew there was the river called Azure Rush but he had never had the chance to see it himself. He would love the chance to see the rapids sometime. Maybe he could talk Tinder into taking him later.