"There's a hotel to stay at for the competitors at this year's Equestrian Surfing Championships," she tapped to me, "it's right here. Tell your dog to follow me." "Follow Wave Pool, Wavy girl," I told her. Wavy barked happily and followed Wave. As I was trotting along beside her, I tapped on her shoulder and she looked over at me, so she could see me tap, "My dog's name is Wavy." "Okay," she tapped.
We walked into the hotel; I felt the soft carpet under my hooves and heard the wind through opened windows and drapes. "This is where we're staying," she tapped, although it was more difficult to hear because it was muffled by the carpet. "I know," I tapped, "I'll get us a room. Just tap out what to say and I'll say it. I doubt the receptionist knows sign language." She tapped me on the shoulder with her hoof reassuringly, and we walked together towards the desk, her hoof still wrapped around my shoulder to lead me.
Wave Pool tapped all this out for me, and I said it to the receptionist. The conversation went like this. "Hello, our names are Wind Rider and Wave Pool; we're surfers in the Equestrian Surfing Championships, Pegasus Division group C. We're checking in for the next three weeks," I said. "All right, thank you Miss Wind. Your room is #426. Here is your card key," said the receptionist, handing me a card. I took it in my mouth and put it in the outside pocket of my suitcase, which was recently brought in for me by a stallion from our ship along with Wave's suitcase.
"Want to take the elevator?" I tapped to Wave. "Nah," she tapped out, "I'd rather take the stairs." I nodded to her, and we opened the door to the stairway and closed it behind us. "Can you say something when we step up a step? If you don't, then I can't get up the stairs, I'd trip," I tapped to her. "Okay," she said hoarsely, then tapped the rest, "I'll say 'step'. Okay?" "Of course," I tapped, then we held hooves and we made our way, extremely slowly, up the four flights of stairs.
"Step," said Wave for the last step, then said, "Done." "Good job, Wave. You did great. Thanks so much," I tapped out, "Oh, and to repay you for your appreciation earlier…" Then I leaned over, put my wing around her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then tapped with my hoof on her front leg, "Come on. We should go to bed. It's really late, almost midnight. We only got three hours of sleep before, and we have a room to get to."
We walked down the hallway to room #426. Wavy was already at the door, barking. I pulled the card key out of my suitcase, unlocked the door and opened it wide with my wing for Wave and Wavy. Wave Pool walked inside slowly, admiring the room. I was happy she liked it, I could tell from her spinning around on the carpeted floor that she did. I took her suitcase inside as well as mine, and the door closed behind me. "We can unpack tomorrow; the Championships are in five days. That'll give us a chance to get settled in," I tapped out to her once she looked back to me, "For now, let's get to bed." "There's only one bed," she tapped back on the edge of the bed. "It's fine with me," I said, motioning for her to get in bed. I nearly tripped over Wavy's leash as I climbed into bed, and Wavy then undid the leash. "Thanks, girl," I said. Wave Pool and I climbed under the covers, which Wave had told me were beautiful. I didn't much care, they felt nice. I stretched my wings out to the sides, and wrapped my hoof around Wave to keep her warm. "Let's go to sleep," I tapped on the headboard. I felt her nod. Sooner or later, the white noise of the waves against the shore put me to sleep.
"Wind?" asked Wave hoarsely, "Wind Rider? Are you awake?" "Yeah," I tapped. "Good," she tapped back, "Do you want to go on a hike? I can tell you what I see and you can tell me what you hear." I smiled and opened my eyes, planting a kiss on her muzzle. "What was that for?" she tapped. "For a great idea," I tapped back. Then I got out of bed. "Do you want to help me get dressed?" I tapped on the hoofboard, "I have no fashion sense." "Well, of course you don't, silly!" tapped Wave, "You're blind, remember?" Mock-hitting myself in the head with my hoof, I tapped, "Oh, yeah! I forgot!"
Wave got into what felt like a lace-trimmed, fluffy saddle, and helped me into something she brought. She told me her saddle was pink, which matched her orange coat and blonde hair. She told me my saddle was red with a purple trim, to match my white coat and sky blue mane. We both put our manes in ponytails, using black hair bands. "Ready?" I tapped. "Ready," she tapped back. Then we walked out the door. We didn't bring Wavy along with us, but only because Wave would be guiding me. She managed to convince me of that much.
Right beside our hotel was the start of a hiking trail. It was about ten miles long, and it was through a gorgeous woods. I knew this much because I heard the slow hoofsteps as we walked through the forest, and I heard birds and insects and little animals. I'd heard of Fluttershy, the famous model and animal caretaker, and thought she'd love to come here. But that thought flew away along with all the others and I lost myself in the nature. "There are bright green woods and trees that are fifty feet tall. There are birds of all colors sitting on branches," tapped Wave, who was walking right beside me. "That sounds amazing," I tapped back, making sure she could see me, "There are humming noises and birdsongs and frogs. There are streams and brooks and creeks. There is clattering of boards against our hooves when we walk over wooden bridges. There is snapping of twigs when we walk over them."
This went on for several hours, talking back and forth about what we heard and heard respectively. While Wave was looking away, though, I tripped over a large rock in the path and fell flat on my muzzle. My right forehoof hurt an awful lot, but I couldn't see what I'd tripped over. I knew it was a rock because of its texture, but I couldn't hear anything because all I heard was a throbbing in my ears. I couldn't open my eyes, and although I wasn't crying per say there was a watering in my eyes.
I had no idea where I was, but there was a loud THUMP as I hit the floor. I didn't actually know what it was, it was dirt but it didn't feel like the trail, then I felt a hoof on my back and a whine. I felt a couple drops of water on my back, and knew that Wave was kneeling over me. I pulled out all my willpower just to roll over and open my eyes. I heard Wave doing exactly that, tears in her eyes. I then did something rather instinctual, took my hooves and wiped her tears away. "I'm fine," I tapped on her shoulder, and then tried to stand up. My back hooves worked fine, but my left forehoof refused to respond. I tried to walk using only three legs, but when it didn't work I tried to walk on my back hooves. That too failed, and I toppled down onto all fours before my left hoof buckling and toppling over onto my stomach again. "You need a doctor," I heard Wave tap, "Thankfully I know a bit. She reached under her saddle and pulled out a splint. "Your left forehoof is broken," she tapped, and although this was terrible news I realized I didn't use my left forehoof at all in surfing. Or at least not very much. I'd have to work on one-hoofed pushups if I was going to be able to get up off the board and into the standing position, given that my left hoof was broken. Wave had now finished the bandaging, covered it in plaster and had waited a minute or two for it to dry before taking a small pen and signing it. "Get well soon," it said, she wrote more with her mouth, "Love, Wave Pool." Then she drew a tiny heart next to the last word.
She packed up all her things, and I tapped out, "Thanks, Wave." "Here, you can walk on your back hooves if you either have a lot of momentum or have somepony holding you up, so…" she tapped before standing up on her back hooves and putting her wing around me, tapping "Here, this should help. I need to work on my posture anyways," with her back hoof. Then we started walking again.
Every thirty feet or so one of us would wobble, but then the other would grasp the first one's hoof a little tighter and we would stay upright. We went the rest of the full circle around the trail like this, looking and hearing but not tapping anymore, having no open hooves to do so with. We walked out the exit, across the lawn, in through the back door of the hotel, up the elevator, and to our room. I then collapsed on the bed, lying on my back on top of the covers. Wave came up on the bed too and sat between my back legs. "What are you doing, Wave?" I tapped on the headboard. She heard me do this, and tapped with her back hoof on the hoofboard, "I'm putting a support around your back hoof. You pulled your hamstring." "I what?" I tapped back, astounded. "You pulled both your hamstrings. I'm supporting them for you. I have the equipment on me now," tapped Wave.
Once she was done, I ached a lot. My forehoof hurt, my back hooves hurt, and I motioned with the only hoof that wasn't damaged for Wave to come over and lay with me. I was sprawled across the entirety of the bed, and apparently not wanting me to move she lay on top of my right hoof and wrapped her back leg around mine. I felt incredibly tired but less hurting, and managed to doze off.
I woke up with a heavy feeling on my chest, like a weight was pressing down on me. I opened my eyes instinctually but it didn't help any, then I opened my ears. That helped a great deal, I heard the steady breathing of Wave Pool, and it sounded really close.
It was then I realized that Wave was on top of me, and I tapped a "Good Morning, Wave," on her shoulder. She woke up, hugged me really tight and then rolled over onto the floor. Thankfully she caught herself with her wings, and sat down on the floor beside the bed. I heard her shift her tail around on the carpet nervously, and she tapped on the bed frame, "Are you okay?" I tapped my right hoof on the frame twice, quickly, which she knew meant "Yes." "Are you sure?" she tapped, tilting her head to the side as her forelock was swept across her face. I heard that, and tapped my hoof on the headboard quickly twice again. She smiled; I could hear her sing a low, solitary note as she did so. "You have a beautiful voice," I tapped, "Can you sing?" "No, but I can hum. Here, let me hum you a song," she tapped back to me, getting back on the bed and sitting there beside me. Then she hummed the first couple of chords in "For a United Equestria".
Once she finished the song, I tapped on the headboard, "Hey, Wave? Can you hum again? I'd like to sing with you." She tapped out a "Yes, absolutely," and started humming. I both sung and tapped out the lyrics in Old Equestrian for the song, and when we finished she tapped to me, "Why'd you tap the lyrics?" "Because I wanted you to hear them too," I said. "Oh…" she said, blushing a bit. I could only tell because I heard her forelock shift when she moved her head back and she made the same low but absolutely adorable sound when she smiled. "I never heard the lyrics before…" she tapped. "You never heard anything before…" I tapped, "Which reminds me, how did you learn to sing- I mean, how did you learn to hum?"
She tapped back, "I wasn't born deaf. I became that way when I was three. That's how I can speak, but not very much. I learned sign language at four. My mother was a singer, a professional one at that. She's gone now, but I remember her singing to me. That was her favorite song, and I've grown fond of it. She loved Old Equestrian songs, and so I learned Old Equestrian too. She hummed it to me for a lullaby. But shortly after I turned six, she left. So I've been humming it ever since to keep her with me."
"Wow." I tapped, saying it at the same time. "It's okay," she said musically, keeping her beautiful voice. "That's only one of the three songs I know. Want to know the other two?" she tapped. "Of course, what are they?" I tapped back. "My favorite pony, other than you that is," she started tapping, I couldn't help but smile at this though, "Is Rainbow Dash. Therefore, I made sure I knew this song, it's called Loyalty. Want to hear it?" I nodded. Then she started humming, walked over to get her surfboard, and played air guitar on her surfboard. I laughed as she did this, but I heard her hoof strumming against the grain of the wood in the board and it sounded a good bit like a real guitar. After that I just smiled and listened to her sing, not hum this time, but sing, the words to Loyalty.
"THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME LOYALTY!" we exclaimed at the end, I'd joined in after the second verse. Wave Pool put her surfboard down, and then tapped to me, "Was that good?" "You must have been incredibly smart when you were three if you could have memorized that entire thing by then," I tapped. "I didn't," she tapped back, "I only knew the first verse. I imagined how the tune would go after reading the lyrics written out for me." "Wow," I tapped back. She smiled again, and I couldn't help but smile too. She turned around in the bed and gave me a hug. "I should probably work on one-hoofed pushups," I tapped to her on the bed frame. "Good idea," she tapped back to me, "I can help you. But actually, I have a better idea. I heard of a new exercise, one that you could use to push off your surfboard. When you're pushing off, you're through with paddling out with your wings, right? Well, you can push off with your wings. The exercise is called wing-ups, they're really hard but I think it's our only viable option, one-hoofing it wouldn't help and wouldn't get you up all the way."
"Okay, I'll try it," I tapped to her, walking on my back hooves over and extending my wings in front of me. I let myself down slowly onto three legs, and then I picked up my right front hoof. My wings nearly buckled under me, I'd nearly never worked out other than surfing and I'd never flown before in my life. I clenched my teeth, squinted my eyes, and did one. I did, in fact, know what going to failure was, and although it hurt I kept going. Probably the only thing keeping me going was the sound of Wave Pool's singing. She sung the lyrics to "For a United Equestria," then she sung "Loyalty".
"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine…" I thought to myself, and then I heard Wave sing the lyrics to "Ponies like us" by Filly Clarkson. I heard her, and she sounded even better than the original. I sung it in my head as I counted, singing along with her gorgeous voice.
"Hey,
Everypony loses it; everypony wants to throw it all away sometimes,
And hey… yeah I know what you're going through
don't let it get the best of you, you'll make it out alive
Oh
Ponies like us we've gotta stick together
Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever
Here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten
It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom
Oh whoa oh, oh whoa oh
We are all misfits living in a world on fire
Oh whoa oh, oh whoa oh
Sing it for the ponies like us, the ponies like us…"
"Sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine…" I thought, and then I abruptly crashed to the floor. Wave finished the end of the song by now, and I tried to get back up, but my wings remained unresponsive. I tucked them back in to my sides. "Well," I tapped to Wave, "That's failure. Thanks for the motivation." "You're very welcome, Wind," she tapped back. "Well," I tapped definitively, taking off my saddle and walking over on my back hooves to the bed and collapsing, "sixty-nine is pretty good."
"I agree," tapped Wave, turning the AC on max and walking over on her back hooves to the bed, "but can you move over a bit?" "Of course," I tapped back, moving over. I could sense her looking at me, I didn't mind, though. "Can you share some of your furnace with me, Wind?" asked Wave Pool. "Of course," I tapped, opening my hooves and hugging her. "Better?" I tapped. She nuzzled my cheek, and tapped on the side of the bed frame, "Better."
The next three days went by quickly, I got up to doing 200 wing-ups a day, and my left hoof is feeling better now. I got to have it out of the cast that day. "Okay, hold still," tapped Wave on my shoulder. I kept my hoof perfectly still, and she undid the cast. Once she was done, she felt my hoof gently with hers. I managed to suppress a giggle as she continued feeling around. It tickled, and I was relieved when she was done. "So, is it done?" I tapped with my other hoof. "Yep," she tapped to me, "Try to tap something to me with your left hoof. It's mended; at least that's what it feels like." "Okay," I tapped with my left hoof, and then continued to tap out, "Hey! It worked!"
Wave smiled, hugged me and tapped "I thought it would," on my shoulder. "I have you to thank for it," I tapped back, still using my left hoof and trying to get used to doing so. Wave smiled again, it didn't seem like she was currently able to stop and I couldn't blame her. Then she helped me up. I stood on three legs, and then gently put down my left forehoof with the assistance of Wave. "Are you all right, Wind?" she tapped. I nodded, and tapped, "Can I try walking?" "Sure," she tapped, "But you should be careful." "I will," I tapped back, and then put my weight onto my right side first.
I walked really slowly, and put my weight onto my left side next. I put my weight onto my back left hoof primarily, slowly putting weight onto my front hoof. Surprisingly, I was only greeted with a small ache when I pressed my full weight on it. "It was only a hairline fracture, that's why it took so little time to heal fully," tapped Wave, "also, I've read some research papers on the subject, one of them conducted by Princess Twilight Sparkle no less, on pegasi and how they heal, pegasi seem to heal at least 3 times faster than any other pony type." "Well, we are sure lucky," I tapped, planting a kiss on her forehead, "We're pegasi!"
"It's only two more days until the competition," I tapped to her, "What are we going to do now?" "Well, do you want to go out for dinner?" she asked me. I looked out the window, it was almost dark out and Celestia's sun was setting over the horizon. "I'm kind of sick of eating dinner at this hotel, too," I tapped back, "But I don't have enough bits!" "It's all right," tapped Wave with a smile, "I've got a bunch." I heard her pull a bag of bits out of her saddlebag, making a jingling noise. "How many bits do you HAVE?" I tapped, to which she replied, "About two hundred, last I checked. This is all I've got; I brought it along because I wanted to have a nice time here. Now come on, let's go."