Nothingness.

I was sitting back on the floor. I wasn't exhausted, and I felt myself breathing again. "Did it work?" asked Twilight. Suddenly I realized what had been happening before. My heart was just about to hammer itself out of my chest as I walked over to Wave. I placed an ear on her chest. At first I heard nothing. My heart just about dropped into my stomach, but then I heard something.

A tiny thumping noise, barely audible but still there. The beeping noise from the monitor ceased, and I held by breath. I felt her chest moving, and I heard a tiny breath, then a couple, steadier, louder, and then a soft groan. I got up, and I heard her voice, however faint, calling me. I held her hoof between mine and tapped on it, "I'm here, Wave." "Wind?" I heard her groan, she sat up a tiny bit and looked over at me. She tapped on my shoulder, "What happened?" I sighed, then signed out the entire story to her.

"YOU DID A SONIC WINDBOOM?!" she tapped with great enthusiasm, then let out a groan and sank back in her bed. "Wow," she said softly. I nodded. Twilight walked over, and having apparently recognized the sign language, signed a quick hello to Wave, then tapped, "Your marefriend told me a lot about you." "My…" she said, then threw her hooves around my neck. Her wings, thankfully healed from the spell, popped off her back. We shared a short but enthusiastic kiss, and by the end of it everypony was smiling. Nopony knew quite what to say, but then a greenish flame appeared and out from it a scroll materialized. Twilight grasped it in her magic, unrolled it and read. It took her about two seconds to read the entire thing, and she gasped toward the end. She rolled it back up, set it on the bedside table and said, "Oh, no." "What is it?" I asked. "The Changeling Queen has returned," Twilight said dramatically. "I've read about that," tapped Wave on the bed frame, "She was banished before by the power of love, created by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," at this time Twilight whispered something, it sounded like she'd said, "Cadence," but Wave continued tapping, "and Prince Shining Armor," and Twilight murmured something even quieter so that I couldn't make out what she was saying. "It is said that as she was being tossed out of the castle by the powerful magic, she shouted out to the kingdom of Canterlot that she swore revenge on Equestria, and that she would strike again someday," Wave continued. "But since my brother and sister-in-law defeated her last time, she would probably have been resistant if not immune to that type of magic," Twilight thought out loud, "We need another type of magic, but the Elements are designed to target a single pony, not an entire army. Also, the Elements don't harm, they can imprison or reform at best. So we need a different kind of magic, she would be resistant to Shining's protection spell, so what could she not be resistant to?"

Through this entire process, I was listening and tapping it to Wave. I'd been thinking about what may work, then I thought of something. What if the reason Twilight had put her horn on my wing while casting the spell was because that pegasi have magic, too? What if the reason that I barely flapped my wings at all while in the process of the windboom was that I didn't need to? What if I could do a certain amount of magic with Wave helping me? What if…

"Twilight," I said to her, "Could we help?" She seemed to go through same thought process that I did, but much faster. "Yes…" she started not even a minute later, "I think you two could do something, but I'll have to figure out a position in which you're interlocking wings so that the magic has the most potential." "Is it okay for Wave to get out of bed?" I asked. "Yes," said Twilight. I nodded, and flew up. I lifted Wave by the front hooves down out of the bed, and Twilight asked, "How can you do that?" Smiling, I said matter-of-factly, "I work out." "How many wing-ups a day?" she asked. "400," I said, "Why? Is that not enough?" "Whoa…" Twilight said. "You're doing more than Rainbow Dash did at your age."

"Anyways," started Twilight again, "Yes, she can walk now. She probably can fly just fine, too." "I… I don't fly…" Wave tapped shyly. "Wave?" I tapped to her, "Mirror me, okay?" I got up on my back hooves and put my wings out in front. Wave did the same, and I felt her wings over mine. "Is this good?" I asked Twilight, who tapped on both my shoulder and Wave's, "Yes, that's good. That'll do fine." She then stood up on her back hooves, she seemed incredibly comfortable doing so for some reason, and placed her horn between us. "I'll get us to Canterlot," she tapped to both of us. We nodded almost in sync.

I felt the now familiar stretching sensation, but since it was probably Wave's first time I held her a bit tighter as we teleported. She held my hooves a bit tighter, too, and soon I felt the soft carpeting of the Canterlot Castle underneath my hooves. "Here we are," said Twilight, which I tapped to Wave. We both dropped onto all four legs and walked with Twilight up to Princess Celestia's room. "Celestia?" Twilight asked, knocking at the door which had a sun painted on it. I heard Celestia open the door. "Oh, hello, Twilight, please come in," then I felt the Princess's gaze upon me and Wave. "Your friends?" she asked Twilight, to which she must have responded with something affirmative for the Princess then said, "All right, they may come in also."

"Luna hasn't been acting the same recently, that's what I sent you in my letter," said the Princess, sitting down on her bed and having us sit on some sort of really fluffy couch. "I'm not sure what it is," the Princess continued, "but…" "My friends and I believe that the changeling queen has returned. Wave Pool here," Twilight said, pointing to Wave before continuing," told me that right before she was flung out of Equestria, Chrysalis (which is what we believe she called herself) swore vengeance on Equestria as a whole, Canterlot specifically. I figured out that the Elements wouldn't do anything, since they are meant to target a single pony and Chrysalis has over a thousand in her army, and I believe that she would probably have become resistant, if not immune to, Shining's protection spell. I believe that Luna has been imprisoned somewhere, and I think I know where, and Chrysalis has taken her place."

The Princess was quite shocked, I could tell in her voice, and it was quite understandable. "But, if she can't be defeated by the Elements OR Shining's spell, then what CAN protect the kingdom? Our only other method of defense is… Twilight! You can't be serious!" "And if these two can't do it, then I have yet another trick up my sleeve…" Twilight continued, a smug tone in her voice, "I have made alliances with the Griffon Kingdom and the Southern Dragons. They are ready to help us defeat the Queen, or any other enemies we may face."

"I am impressed, my dear Twilight," said the Princess, "but, then again, I cannot think of a time when you have NOT impressed me." "Thank you, Princess," said Twilight. "But I believe there is something you may want to see." We then walked over to the balcony adjourning Princess Celestia's room. What we saw amazed us.

There were dragons of all shapes and sizes, standing outside Canterlot gates. Hovering in the air were at least two thousand griffons in V-formation. Then the griffon in the front and also one of the dragons flew up together and saluted. Wave was tapping all of this to me, and I heard them say in unison, "Griffon Kingdom and Southern Dragons, at your service, your majesty." I tapped this to Wave. "Cover all sides of Equestria. As far as I know, the changelings attempt to get revenge on Equestria proper, but not any of your kingdoms. I trust you have warriors to protect your fronts nonetheless?" said the Princess. "No, sir," said the griffon, "We have all of our troops here." "We do as well," said the dragon. I only knew which was which because griffons speak in a sort of haughty slur, and dragons speak quickly with an undertone of greed. "I admire your courage," said the Princess, "and I thank you for bringing all of your forces to defend your neighbors."

The Princess saluted the commanders, then they flew off. "As for you two," said the Princess, "I really don't want to put your lives in danger, and will use your magic as a last resort." Clearing my throat and bowing, I said, "With all due respect, your highness, we want to be your first resort. If not our magic, our lives. We want to protect our home just as much as you do, Princess." I tapped this to Wave, who nodded vehemently. "Well then," said the Princess playfully, "I guess I've been outvoted. In this case, let me get you some armor. Follow me. You too, Twilight."

We followed the Princess into the armory, where she fitted both of us with armor. "What's this made of?" I asked. "The material is called alluminite, it's found deep inside the mountain that this city is built on," said the Princess, "It's a very flexible yet strong metal, it allows you to move and will protect everything but your head and wings. That's what the helmet and wing-guards are for," she said, getting a helmet and wing-guards for each of us, made of the same material. It was incredibly light, I didn't feel weighed down by it at all, and I shoved my mane up through the slot in the helmet.

"How's it feel?" I tapped to Wave. "Great," she tapped back, "It feels like I'm not wearing anything at all." "Same here," I tapped. "Are you blushing?" she tapped to me. "No, it's from the cloud cake," I signed, jokingly. "There isn't any pink in cloud cake, silly," she signed back. "How could I tell?" I tapped to her. "…good point…" she tapped back, "But still." "I know…" I signed, "You're so pretty, though." "Thanks," she tapped shyly. By now, Twilight was done putting on her armor. "You two lovebirds ready?" asked Twilight. "Yes, Princess," I said, jokingly. "I told you, just call me Twilight," she said as we walked up the stairs out of the armory. "I know," I replied.

"Celestia?" I heard a voice from down the hall. "Celestia, where are you?" The voice was haughty, almost taunting, and I saw a figure coming down the hall. "What is it, Luna?" asked Princess Celestia. "Oh, there you are, dear sister. I've been wondering something…" started Luna. As soon as I realized who this was, I said, "Oh, hello, Princess! It's nice to meet you!" She looked down on me like I was an insect and said disapprovingly, "Uh huh…" Then she got back to Celestia. "Can we go someplace more private, you know, away from the general public, who seem to think that it's all right to be wandering around the royal palace?"

I was really astounded and, moreover, angry at the Princess's manners, or lack thereof, but I kept my mouth shut to keep her from insulting me further. They walked into a small room across the hallway, but she left the door open a tiny bit. I pressed my ear up to the tiny crack, and I heard their conversation. "I don't think we need the help of all those armies to defend the kingdom, sister," said Luna sweetly. "Luna, I'm aware that you share the power of ruling this kingdom with me, but I think that to defend our kingdom, we require more forces. That's why I brought them here," said Celestia. "Are you arguing with me?!" asked Luna, seemingly taken aback by this. "I'm aware that we usually agree on things such as this, sister, but this time, yes. I am, indeed, arguing with you. I believe I am right about this, but…" then Wave gently walked over and tapped on my shoulder, "I… don't think Luna's horn aura is green…" "Oh, Tia, are you having one of your migraines again? Here… let me help you…" said Luna. I heard Celestia then say in a monotonous and almost emotionless tone, "Mm-hmm…"

"Oh, no." I tapped back to Wave, "Run." Then we galloped down the hallway. Right after I turned the corner, I heard a faint, "Now, what did you want to…" from Luna, and then she said, "I guess they must have run off." "We aren't going to get any more help from the Princess now…" I tapped to Wave, and Twilight seemed to have gone a while ago, I wasn't sure where. "It seems that it's up to us," Wave tapped back. I nodded, and we galloped down the hall.

We burst through the door into the light of the setting sun, where apparently Luna had just given the order for all the troops to leave. "WAIT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Seeing me do this, Wave took off. Her flight was surprising for somepony who'd hardly ever flown before in her life. I took off with her, and while she was flying toward the edge of the city, she cleared her throat. She arrived at the edge of Canterlot, and she hovered there. "WAIT!" she exclaimed, fifty times louder than mine had been. I heard the sudden lack of footsteps right afterwards. She flew up to the front of the pack, I came with her. "The one who gave you those orders, she wasn't the real princess. She was an imposter, and get used to her. She's the one we're going to have to fight, and we're not going to get the aid of Princess Celestia either. She's been hypnotized by the spell," I told the leaders. They were clearly shocked, yet I continued, "United we stand, divided we fall." This must have reminded Wave of something, because she immediately took off. She sang, beautifully but extremely loudly to cover the entire distance, For a United Equestria.

The imposter Luna must have seen this, for suddenly I heard a ton of beating wings. I knew these must be the changelings. "BRACE YOURSELVES! THE CHANGELINGS ARE COMING!" I shouted out to the armies. I heard the thudding noises as they landed. "Come with me," I tapped to Wave. And we flew toward the top of the nearest mountain.