Second Wind

Your mind went quiet for awhile. After you heard the voices, you laid back down in the bed, next to Vinyl. You couldn't think about what you were doing, your head was spinning with a mixture of fatigue and pain. You immediately closed your eyes, and decided to sleep a little more. Maybe it would bring you peace.

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Your squad was relatively small. Three other men, Anthony, Victor, and Thomas, joined you in this operation. Your briefing was simple: Rival PMCs were meeting in the thick forests of Eastern Europe, purportedly for an exchange of weapons and information regarding other PMCs. Including yours. The Chairman's words still echoed through your head.

"Find them, hunt them, kill them." You fumble with the straps on your gas mask, ensuring they're tight. You'll be damned if you breathe in your own gas, should you decide to use it. You look around your squad, all of who looked to you, waiting on their orders. You were told to operate in complete radio silence, so if you fucked this up, you were on your own. You raise your hand, and signal your squad to follow you. You slowly walk through the forest, careful not to step on anything that would make a noise. It was going to be a long night.

As you trekked, you eventually began to hear voices. Your snail pace then became a glacial pace. The night sky was completely obscured by the forest top, which provided you all of the camouflage you could ever need. You slowly crept up over the side of a hill, and sure enough, there were two vehicles facing each other on the thin road, headlights still on, engines still running. You watched as, on one side, two men got out of the vehicle, with a little girl.

"What the hell? Is that a child?" Victor whispered. You held your hand up to quiet him down. You watched as two other men got out of the other car, with a briefcase. These groups of men met, and exchanged. The girl for the briefcase. You watched as they removed the blindfold from the girl, who immediately yelped in joy, and ran over to the man that held the suitcase. She jumped up on him, and he hugged her close.

"Shit...this wasn't a trade of information OR weapons..." Victor continued whispering. You held your hand up again, signalling him to shut up. You couldn't speak Ukrainian, but you could hear the little girl crying, and the man slowly stroking her hair, comforting her. You heard a magazine slide into a weapon and lock in place. You turn to your right, and see Anthony loading his rifle. He looks at you. You know he's smiling under the gas mask.

"Orders are orders. Do you wanna get paid?" He screwed on his silencer, and aimed his rifle down at the group of men and the little girl.

This wasn't right. Anthony closed one eye, and you heard him take a deep breath.

This wasn't right. He put his finger on the trigger.

This wasn't right. He pulled the trigger, the bullet connecting with one of the men who now had the briefcase. His head jerked back violently, blood splattering all over the hood of the car and the headlights of the car. Before they could react, your squad followed suit. The other man was gunned down before he knew what was happening. The two that now had the girl had just enough time to react.

The man that was hugging the girl put her down, and yelled something in Ukrainian. The girl darted off behind the car. The other man that was with him was shot as he tried to take cover with the girl, and he it appeared as if he was dead, lying on the side of the road. All that was left was the man that had hugged the girl and the girl.

You hadn't fired a single shot. You couldn't. Something about this seemed extremely wrong. You had never questioned it before, but now, it was all just too much. This wasn't a trade of anything harmful. This was a father reuniting with his daughter. And you were slaughtering them. You KNEW it wasn't right.

The final man poked his head up, and Victor fired this time. It hit him in his shoulder, and he dropped back behind the car with a shout. You were sure it was an obscenity in his language.

I can't let this happen. This isn't right. That's when you get an idea.

"Stand back, I'm going to finish the job." You say. Anthony laughed.

"Thatta boy, Locke." You cringed at his compliment. You slide down the hill, and walked in between the cars. When you got around the car, you saw the man sitting against the car, bleeding profusely out of his left shoulder. He was also holding the girl. She was crying in fear, burying her face into him. He looked up at you, and put his arms around the girl as tight as he could. You could tell he was sobbing, too. You got down on one knee, and removed your first aid kit. You opened it up as both the man and the girl went wide eyed, watching you. You withdrew a syringe filled with pain killer, and forced it into him. You then took several heavy linen bandages, and wrapped his wound. You looked over your shoulder, to make sure your squad couldn't see you.

"This will keep you alive for a few days. You need to get help immediately." You whispered to him. To your surprise, he spoke back, in fluent English.

"I...thank you..." His daughter spoke back to him, obviously asking what you had said. He told her, and she threw herself back on top of him, crying again, but a different type crying. A cry of relief. You leaned back down and whispered to him again.

"I need to fire two shots, make them think I killed you. Cover her ears. The moment I walk away, you get her in the car, and you get the hell out of here." He nodded, and slipped his gloved hands over his daughters ears, who stopped crying, and now watched you intently. You pulled out your rifle, and fired two shots. Even with a silencer, it sounded like someone was slamming a car door as hard as they could. Twice. As you turned to leave, you felt someone grab your pant leg. You turned around.

It was the girl, who was now sobbing again. She said something in between her sobs.

You looked down at the man for a translation.

"She says, 'thank you, Mr. Angel'."

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You feel something moving on top of your mouth. On your lips. That's what stopped the dream. But you still were in the state of being half-awake and half-asleep, so you didn't bother to move to stop it. You had a lot on your mind. That wasn't seriously you, was it? You didn't do that. Did you? And Anthony, was that the one from the imageless memories you had? Your blood runs cold at the thought. That had to have been you. He called you "Locke". That WAS you. You had a lot to think about. A lot to come to terms with. You attempted to look on the bright side. If you came to terms with it once before, you can do it again.

You now felt something on your teeth. It moved to your neck. Your shirt was now being lifted up, and you could feel wetness on your chest. Stomach. Lower abdomen. It really tickled. You shifted, and sat up in the bed, slowly opening your eyes. With a few blinks, your eyes were now completely adjusted. It was Vinyl. Licking you.

"Vinyl...What're you doing?" She jumped a little, not expecting you to wake so easily. She froze at your pants, not moving. "Vinyl. What are you doing?" She looked up at you, and smiled.

"What do you want me to do?" You sat up further, her mouth now at your knees. She sat up as well.

"Vinyl. I'm just going to pretend that this didn't happen. God knows I've got bigger problems."

Thank you, Mr. Angel.

What the hell kind of Angel lets his squad do that?

Why didn't I stop them?

Vinyl smiled at you, and sat next to you.

"Maybe another time, huh honor-boy?" You weren't paying attention, and just responded with a quick, generic answer. It was probably your fault for laying down next to her. Vinyl got up, and walked into the living room.

Mr. Angel.

You laid in the room. The sun was still out, so you couldn't have been asleep very long. You pulled your shirt back down. What was awful about this, is you didn't know if you could tell Rarity. She looks at you like you're a saint. If she knew about this, if ANY of the ponies knew about this, you may be viewed in a completely different light. A less friendly one. You wouldn't feel right hiding anything from her, though. As you ponder these thoughts, you heard the door to your room open. The girls must have just got home. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash walked into the bedroom. Rainbow Dash had a paper bag in her mouth.

"H-hello Aaden. I hope we d-didn't wake you." You patted the side of your bed.

"No no, I was already awake, Fluttershy. I have a question for you, actually." Fluttershy smiled, albeit bashfully, and partially behind her mane. Rainbow Dash sat the paper bag down on the nightstand, and hopped up onto the bed with Fluttershy. "You wouldn't happen to know of any good hiking trails, would you? I've got a lot on my mind, and I feel like a good walk through nature would really help me out." Fluttershy emerged from behind her mane.

"Well, actually, I do know of a few! There's one through the outskirts of the Everfree forest, and then there's one through the Silversong forest, just outside of Canterlot!" You smile, and reach for the paper bag.

"Then Silversong forest it is! How about tomorrow, after I wrap up my training, you and I head out? I don't think Rarity, or any of the other girls would want to go." Rainbow Dash immediately interjects.

"Hey! I wanna go!"

Called it.

"Well, alright, Dash, Fluttershy, we'll head out tomorrow after training. Sound good?" Fluttershy just nodded her head with a smile, while Rainbow Dash seemingly clinched her hoof.

"Sounds AWESOME!" You opened the paper bag. Some breadsticks, a piece of garlic toast, and what looked like a bunch of spaghetti noodles at the bottom of the bag. You take out a breadstick, and chomp off a piece.

"So, Fluttershy. Tell me about this Silversong Forest."

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You CANNOT believe you just did that, and got away with it! That has to be a for-sure sign that he wants it, right? That he wants you? I mean, he did lay down next to you. He HAD to have wanted it! You notice Rarity isn't with the other girls.

"Hey, AJ, where's Rarity?" Applejack turned from the balcony.

"She said somethin' about buyin' Aaden somethin'. Ah can't remember." Twilight chimed in.

"She went to go buy him a present. I forget why. She seems to really like Aaden." You laugh nervously.

I ALSO REALLY LIKE AADEN.

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Fluttershy finishes explaining the Silversong forest to you, and you both begin talking about the hike itself. You swallow a mouthful of breadstick.

"So, how long do you think we'll be on this trail?" Fluttershy tilted her head in thought.

"Uuhhhhm...maybe 3 hours? Is that okay?" You smile.

"It's perfect. I've got plenty of candy and other junk foods to take with us, so snacks are covered." For the first time since you had known her, Flutteshy asked you a question. Two, actually.

"Aaden. May I ask you question?" You nod your head.

"Of course."

"Tomorrow, if it would be okay, do you think that maybe, you could tell me a little more about yourself? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, it's just, the other girls seem to really think you're nice, and you seem really nice and interesting, and I-" You motion at her with your hand.

Thank you, Mr. Angel.

Your mind shudders. You force a smile.

"Absolutely Fluttershy. I'd like to hear a little more about you, as well." You knew for a fact that Fluttershy had zero romantic expectations of you. She legitimately just wanted to be your friend. That sounded amazing to you. A good friend, and a nice hike through what she described as a beautiful forest. Rainbow Dash would be there, but you didn't foresee her causing any problems.

You looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was smiling. It's not that you don't like her, she could be a good friend, she really could, she just seems to have more in mind. But you're willing to give her another shot. Hell, you'd be willing to give her 3 more shots, if you had to.

"So, Dash, are you sure you're up for the hike?" Rainbow laughed.

"Am I up for the hike? Ha! I could fly three times as far, twice as fast!" You couldn't help but smile. You liked her competitive nature.

"Well, Dash, keep in mind we don't wanna go fast. We wanna walk, talk, and take in the environment." Rainbow Dash looked down at your comforter.

"Well...I dunno...you did say you were going to talk about yourself, right?" You nodded your head, and watched as she started to blush, while she circled her hoof on your bed.

"Then I'm definitely coming."