By this time it was around 9:40, and we grabbed our boards. "PEGASUS DIVISION: GROUP C. PLEASE GRAB YOUR BOARDS AND GET READY FOR YOUR EVENT," I heard over the loudspeakers. "Come on, Wave, let's go. You're first in the event," I tapped on her forehoof, "Break a leg!" She giggled, said, "I'll try not to," and paddled out. "COMING FROM FILLYDELPHIA, PLEASE WELCOME WAVE POOL!" I heard the announcer exclaim, erupting a huge round of hoof-stamping and whooping from the audience. Then there was silence, excepting the sound of the waves. They were pretty big, but I knew Wave could handle them. She stood up, did her signature double front flip, landed, and received a round of applause. She looked back at me briefly, I could feel it. Then I heard something odd…
It sounded like a huge wave was coming. I knew she couldn't hear me if I shouted to her, and I wasn't allowed to go out during her performance. I simply gritted my teeth and waited. I heard her paddling further out, she stood up and…
I took off. Wave had just gone under, and she was way too far out for any lifeguard to do anything about it nearly as fast as I could. I had complete confidence, and about two miles out I stopped. Sounds are incredibly amplified underwater, I knew this. I took a deep breath, and dove. I tuned out the sound of the waves crashing overhead, listening for any sound from Wave. I heard a gargling noise; it was coming from directly behind me. I turned around and located the noise. Running out of air quicker than I expected, I felt around desperately with my hooves and wings, then I hit something. It had to be Wave. I didn't have time to do much, so I grabbed around her waist with my forehooves and flapped my wings once more, pulling us at an incredible rate out of the sea. We weren't much above the waves, but we were about fifty feet above where the sea level would normally be. I gasped for air, my wings burned but I didn't care. My back hooves dragged in the waves until I beat my wings once more and was above them. Wave was coughing up seawater, and her back was wrenched in a strange position that I didn't know was even possible for ANY pony. I flew as quickly as I could back to shore.
I placed Wave on her back, on the rocks, and she emitted a low groan as I did so. I felt something on my hooves. It was only after the adrenaline rush faded that I realized what it was: Wave was bleeding. "I NEED A DOCTOR! IS THERE A DOCTOR ANYWHERE?!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, holding Wave's hoof between mine. I heard a lifeguard gallop over, stop beside Wave and say, "Her spine is broken. She's paralyzed… and her wings are broken also. "WE NEED A STRETCHER OVER HERE!" she shouted. Two ponies came over, the lifeguard hoisted Wave onto the stretcher, and she motioned for me to back away. "She needs air, all right?" she told me, not angrily but with urgency. I galloped alongside the stretcher as they did, going towards the hospital, and I told her, "I'm… I'm her marefriend. I need to be there for her." The lifeguard apparently accepted this answer, and she let me continue to gallop alongside Wave's stretcher. They burst through the doors of the hospital; I followed behind as they brought her onto another stretcher and hooked her up to an IV. They brought her into a room, transferred her to yet another bed, rolled her over, and bandaged up her wounded wings. "I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" yelled a nurse who had bolted in. Suddenly, a stallion who was obviously a doctor said, "We're going to need a spinal cast, none of the major arteries are broken, we're not going to have to do any surgery right now. Just put her wings and back in a cast," here I heard him feeling around at Wave's back hooves, "her hooves and legs are fine. I estimate she'll recover from her paralysis in about three days."