Second Wind

You were pretty sure Pinkie Pie has had brownies before. In fact, you're damn sure she has. But, she hasn't had them like THIS. And neither have you. In fact, you have no idea if this is going to work, but you decide to do it anyway. You mix brownie batter furiously with a whisk the size of your arm, while Pinkie Pie chops up several Butterfinger and Three Musketeer bars. The whisk smacks the sides of the bowl, making an annoying dinging sound, and your right arm is starting to get tired.

"Pinkie, my arm is getting tired." You slow down a little, as does the dinging of the whisk on the bowl.

"Nono! Don't be silly, keep stirring!"

"But-"

"KEEP STIRRING!" With the fear of God now pumping through your veins, you now go back to stirring full speed. Finally, she walks over with the cut up candy bars, and slides them off of the cutting board and into the bowl of brownie mix. You keep stirring, the chunks of candy bar getting evenly distributed. Pinkie Pie walks over with a tray in her mouth, and sets it on the table next to you.

"Alright, now pour it out, niiiiiiiiice and sloooooow." You tilt over the bowl, and whisk the contents out onto the baking tray. It all finally settles, so you walk the bowl over to the sink and place the whisk in it, as well. Pinkie Pie slides the tray into the oven. You look up at the clock. It's 4 PM.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie, I've gotta get home and shower, get ready for Rarity's parents to come over with Sweetie Belle. It's my first time meeting them, so, I'd like to be properly prepared. I'm gonna run." Pinkie Pie nods her head.

"That's fine Aaden! I'll run the brownies by when they're done!" You give her a hug, and back out into the rain you go.

Truth be told, you were kind of nervous about meeting Rarity's parents. they were simple folk, not as attentive to detail as Rarity was, but you still wanted to assure them that their daughter was in good hands. You never liked to brag, but you were almost, in a way, hoping that Rarity would bring up your recent accomplishments to them. Their daughter dating an Honor Guard would hopefully make up for the fact that their daughter was also dating a member of another species, one that nobody has ever heard of before.

You walk inside, and slide your backpack off at the door. The rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy outside.

"Hi Rarity. We've got some tasty dessert on the way." She turns around from the kitchen, and smiles at you. It almost seems seductive. She walks towards you, hops up on her hind legs, and kisses your neck. You feel her tongue stroke up and down. Your blood runs cold from surprise and pleasure, but she hops down after a second.

"I can tell, darling. You have chocolate all over you." You examine yourself. You are COVERED in chocolate. Sure enough, the only place there isn't any chocolate, is the spot that Rarity just "cleaned". You immediately get goosebumps, thinking about what just happened.

"Well, I, um..." You clear your throat to make up for the fact that your voice just cracked.

"I'm gonna go shower." Rarity smiles at you seductively again.

"Alright, darling."

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Aaden just went upstairs to shower. You hope your little move on him wasn't too much. The pizza is turning out great, so far. Just have to let it bake a little more, and then you're sure it will please everyone. You begin to think about how Aaden will do around your parents. Granted, they will literally only be walking in, saying hello, and then leaving, but you're pretty sure Aaden is scared out of his mind. He's always been one for first impressions.

Sure enough, after about an hour, he comes down the stairs. You laugh. He's wearing the pair of dark blue jeans and  long sleeve white T-shirt he asked you to make.

"What? Do I look dumb?"

"No darling, you look fine."

"I dunno. I spent a good 30 minutes deciding if i should dress casual, or formal. I guess this is in between." It was funny to see him worry about how he should dress for a change. It was almost a role reversal. Soon enough, there was a knock at the door. Aaden ran over to the door, and opened it.

"Sweetie Belle, hi!" Sweetie Belle smiles, and immediately runs into the guest room with her things. Aaden greets your parents next.

"Magnum, Louisa, it's nice to finally meet you!" Dad walked forward, a very lazy smile on his face.

"Son, you must be the one that handled the manticore!" Aaden rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Oh...you heard about that, huh? I'm really not a violent person, i really didn't want to hurt it, it, it just wouldn't st-" Dad waved his hoof in the air.

"I will hear nothing of it! Son, if you wouldn't have stopped him there, he could've hurt my pumpkin!" He took his hat off, and put it over his chest.

"And to see you with her, it warms my heart!" Dad smiles. Mom decides to pick up where he left off.

"Rarity told us everything. We'd be proud to call you our own." You blush at the implication. Dad puts his hat back on.

"Pumpkin here doesn't get many serious "suitors". In fact, we believe you're her first. And we couldn't be happier. What do you do for a living, son?"  Aaden rubs his neck again.

"Actually, I was just made an Honor Guard. Honor Guard of Ponyville." He chuckles, and gives Aaden a hearty pat on the back.

"Well would you look at that! My pumpkin, courting an Honor Guard." He tilts his head towards Aaden, with a mischievous smile.

"Son, if you ever need to ask for pumpkin's hoof in marriage, you've already got my permission." He laughed. Aaden joined in, still rubbing his neck and blushing. Mom and  Dad bid their farewells, and left. Sweetie Belle went to go take a shower, apparently she hadn't done so all day. You removed the pizza from the oven, and started cutting it.

"So, do you think your Dad liked me?" Aaden asked. You know he did.

"Darling, I don't think he would give you permission to marry me if he didn't." He blushes.

"Yeah, I guess not, huh?" There was a knock at the door, and Aaden went to go answer it. You continued getting plates and glasses out. You also heard the water turning off upstairs. Sweetie Belle must have been getting out of the shower. You put two pieces of pizza on each plate, pour two glasses of soda, and one glass of water for yourself. Aaden comes back in with a bright pink box with a purple ribbon.

"What's that?" you ask. Aaden smiles.

"Dessert." As you all take your seats, Sweetie Belle starts up with a torrent of questions. I suppose she felt slightly more comfortable around Aaden now, so she could ask him just about anything, in her mind. Eventually, they got to the subject of Aaden becoming an honor guard. She gasped when she heard it.

"An HONOR GUARD?!" she looked back at Aaden and yourself multiple times, in disbelief.

"Do you think you could walk me to school a couple of times when you're wearing the armor?" Aaden laughs.

"Uh, sure. I don't see why not." Sweetie Belle then did the thing where she kicks her legs as fast as she can in excitement. Dinner passed, but before we left the table, Aaden opened up the pink box.

"Pinkie Pie and I made these." He started.

"We blended a bunch of candy bars into the brownie mix, and even better news, Pinkie believes she can replicate the candy bars! So we don't have to worry about running out!" The brownies themselves were absolutely amazing. You'll have to chalk baking up to the never ending list of Aaden's skills. Sweetie Belle, full of pizza, soda, and brownies, went to bed. Aaden helped clean the dishes, and put everything up, and you both went off to bed, together. He took his shirt off, and went into the bathroom to clean his wounds and change his bandages. As he did, you put on your silk pajamas, and sat on the bed, waiting for him. He came out of the bathroom soon after, fresh linen over his shoulder and stomach. He had also changed into his pajama pants while in the bathroom, the ones with the white and purple checkers. He sat on the edge of the bed, next to you, taking your hoof into his hands.

"I know we've got a big day ahead of us. I know, while you're proud and supportive, you've got to be terrified in the back of your mind. I want you to know that everything will be okay. This job will not come between you and I. I took this job so that I could rake in some extra Bits, but mainly, to protect you. I don't know if that thing will come back. I don't know what could happen to us. But with this job, not only will I be ready, but I will have an army with me. Nothing can take us apart." You give him a big kiss, knocking him back on the mattress. You both climb under the comforter, and hold each other.

You awake several hours later. Aaden is still wide awake, staring into space.

"Darling. Are you okay?" He looks down at you, and kisses your forehead.

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"Yeah honey. I'm fine." You kiss her forehead again. Your mind was going a million miles a minute. You couldn't tell if memories were trying to come back or not, but you certainly couldn't rest. As you went deep into your thoughts, you heard the gentle start of a song. Rarity must have started it from your phone.

Youtube Video

You're falling in a lower gear

A little rest is what you need

You're rolled up on the seat

Your arms around your knees

We met by chance, talked on the phone

We kept in touch

I took you home

Sure, it proves we get along

And it will only get better from now on

We found a place to which we drive

And I offer you the time

To sleep - to dream

To wake up when we arrive

Right moments come out of the blue

But when there's one it's up to you

Even when the time was up I couldn't stop

I was floating all day long

You remember this song. This is the first song you've remembered so far. Your eyes start to feel heavy. You can feel tears building. You don't have the strength of either of these from happening. You close your eyes, a few tears escaping. You gently bury your face into Rarity's upper chest, and start to lose your grip on being awake. Soon, you were fast asleep. At the mercy of what memories you have left, and the pony you loved.

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Aaden must be remembering something from home. That song you started was one you found on your own while exploring his phone, but you remembered how to find it, and thought it would evoke a reaction from him. You were right. You could feel the tears against your coat, but you only pulled him closer. You had no idea how hard it could be for him, but you would make sure you were there for him in every way possible. He may be an honor guard, in charge of protecting and comforting the citizens of Ponyville, but who would protect and comfort him? You decided to fill that role. You wandered what he would be dreaming about tonight.

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Your puppy eagerly followed you up the staircase. He wasn't really a puppy anymore, in fact, he was just about the size of a full grown human, but that's just how big Labradors get. He would always be a puppy to you, though. With pizza and soda in one hand, and your telescope in the next, you ascended the staircase to the roof of your apartment. Pepper ran in front of you, sitting in front of the fold-up chair you kept up there. Even though Manhattan was riddled with light pollution, you could still see many stars through the telescope. You removed the telescope from the case, and assembled it, while Pepper chewed on his toy he kept on the roof. You finally assembled the telescope, and decided to begin eating. You took a piece out, flicking a few pieces of pepperoni and cheese to Pepper. You then begin peering through the telescope.

The night sky never stopped fascinating you. Pepper, although not gazing through the telescope, would also seemingly look at the sky. Each star twinkled in a different way. You would gazed at the night sky particularly late, your puppy becoming tired. Pepper, although big, insisted on climbing in your lap when he got tired, and would fall asleep. You carefully continued to peer through the telescope, and continued your routine, to avoid waking him.

An hour or so later, you accidently bumped Pepper, waking him. He whimpered a little, but woke up, saw you, and went back to sleep, burying his head in your lap. You began to stroke his fur, lovingly looking down at him.

"Don't worry boy." You said.

"I'm not going anywhere."