Second Wind

Aaden was changing. He was changing a lot. What was once the cocky, arrogant, and eager recruit, had become a silent, prophetic soldier. His eyes used to shine with youth. He wasn't even close to 30, and his eyes now had the deepness and wisdom of an elder. That is, if you ever had the rare privilege of seeing them. Which brings you to another concern:

He didn't like showing his face much anymore. Possibly out of disgust. You look over at him. He was sitting on the iron bench, his hands on his knees. He looked like a modern day soldier, but without the camouflage patterns. The camouflage was traded for a straight black and orange color scheme. He also wore a black duster over the uniform, one that had a long, white angel wing painted down the right sleeve, which traveled all the way up to his shoulder blade, and he always wore this gas mask. The gas mask was also black, but the lenses on it were completely illuminated a bright orange. It was eerie to find him in a dark room, because all you would see were the two beady orange lenses staring back at you. He didn't wear a helmet, but his hair was about 1-2 inches long, and it always looked rustled and unkempt. He looked down at his hands. He was holding dog tags, let them dangle at his knees.

You knew they belonged to Major Adam Howard and Alan Moore. They had both died right before Aaden, both were good friends of his. Howard was his mentor, taught him all about fighting, taught Aaden that was was much more than just mindless killing. He was almost like a father figure to him. If that was the case, then Alan was Aaden's little brother. Alan always looked up to the guy, always thought he was a hero, that he would be the reason that PMCs would start doing the right thing. Poor bastard died following his ideas that he was doing good. Evidently, these two deaths really hurt Aaden.

You looked back up at him.

Evidently now became obviously.

A soldier walked in the room holding a smartphone, and froze in his tracks.

"H-holy...holy shit. You're real. Y-you've got a phone...call..." Aaden stood up, seemingly towering over the soldier. Aaden walked over, and gently took the smartphone from his hands. The soldier laughed in disbelief, and walked over to you.

"Dude! Max, look! He's fucking real!" You look at him. Aaden had also become a kind of legend. A silent, brutal soldier that attempts to serve justice and good, one that wears a gas mask and duster, one that had a callsign of "Angel". Sounds enough like a legend, so it became one. "I mean, Max, look! It's Angel! He's right there!"

"Relax Carter. Damn. I've been assigned to his squad for awhile now." His eyes light up.

"You? In his squad? HOLY SHIT. Is everything I hear true?" You shake your head.

"Yeah. I may as well have enlisted in the regular military, all of the charitable deeds we do, all of the moral things he does." The fact of the matter was, you didn't mind all of the good things you did for people. Granted, you were only in it for the money, but it was easier on your conscience to serve the innocent and get paid rather than kill the innocent and get paid.

"Dude, I would kill to be with that guy! I hear he's really smart!" That was also true. You've heard some of the only prophecies and ideas you agree with from Aaden. He also had this interesting presence about him, one that was extremely calming. He always seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing, and that was very relaxing. From the heat of battle, to dismissing you to lunch, he always seemed very collected.

"Are the rumors about his promotion true?"

"Yeah. He declined it."

"WHAT? HE DECLINED BEING PROMOTED TO MAJOR?" You heard another voice chime in. One a little grizzlier than Carter's.

"Yes. I did. Only one man I know deserved that position. He has left us." Carter looked up in awe at the two bright orange lenses staring at him, handing the smartphone back to him. Carter takes the phone, salutes Aaden, then prompty leaves the room.

"Max, do you have the imports I requested?" You nod your head, and open up the mailbag. 6 cans of wet dog food and a bag of dry dog food. Aaden loosened up the straps of his gas mask, and slid his fingers underneath, and let out an ear-piercing whistle. A small, black labrador puppy came scrambling and yelping into the room, wagging his tail at the speed of light. He got down on one knee, and plopped some of the wet dog food out on the floor for the puppy. He ran his gloved fingers through the puppies fur while it lapped up the food.

Aaden had loosened up his gas mask just enough to where you could see his mouth. You could see him smiling. You couldn't see his eyes, but you could see his white teeth smiling as he fed the puppy.

"Does he have a name, Captain?" Aaden looks up at you, and readjusts his gas mask. The puppy also looks up at you, his head turned slightly in adorable confusion.

"Pepper." Normally, you would question this situation.

You watch as the puppy leaps up on his leg, and curls up in a ball on it, whimpering in exhaustion and excitement. Aaden picks him up, and drapes him over his shoulder, like one would a sleeping child.

Aaden deserved this. You had no question regarding that.

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You feel a hoof nudging you.

"Sir? Sir, please wake up. We have arrived in Ponyville." You blinked both of your eyes. It amazed you how fast time passed when life was mundane. It felt like just yesterday you had finished your training and returned home. You were just now getting back from a second trip to Centerlot to retrieve your official armor and sword. Today was the first day you were going to spend with Rainbow Dash. The first day out of two weeks. You really hoped that Rarity was okay with this, that she knew what she was doing. You get off the train, and sure enough, there is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, both smiling like madponies, waiting for you in the terminal.

"Hey girls."

"Hiya Aaden! How was your trip?" Rainbow asked.

"I actually just woke up from a nap, if that says anything." Rainbow Dash laughs.

"I hear ya. Trains are too slow for me." You look over at Fluttershy.

"Hi, Fluttershy."

"Hello Aaden." She says bashfully.

"C'mon Aaden, lets head back to my house." You all three begin your walk out of the terminal, and to the edge of Ponyville. Your armor clunked the entire way. Several ponies wished you a good day on your way to Rainbow Dash's house. It made you feel good, feeling so accepted and loved by everyone. While some ponies took it too far, like Rainbow Dash and Vinyl, it still was good to know you were cared for.

On the edge of the forest stood the oddest looking cloud you had ever seen. It looked an awful lot like a big house with rainbow waterfalls and streams all over it.

Wait.

"Hey, Dash. Is that your house?" She doesn't look back at you when you respond.

"Yep!"

"Uhh...Dash. I can't walk on clouds. Remember? Plus, I don't have wings."

Some angel you were.

"Don't worry about that dude. That's why Fluttershy is here." You had no idea what was about to happen, but you trusted her. As you approached it, Rainbow Dash put herself under your right arm, and Fluttershy under your left.

"Alright Aaden, hold on tight." You felt your feet lift off of the ground. You felt bad, you had no idea how heavy you must have been to the two mares lifting you. Slowly but surely, you reach the cloud staircase of the cloud house. They let you down, and the moment your feet hit the clouds, you begin to panic. Your feet sink slowly.

"Uh, Dash, I-" Your feet stop sinking. She looks at you with a mischievous smile.

"I know it looks like it's only made of clouds, but there's actually a foundation under it all. C'mon in." You wade your way through the clouds, and go through the door. You were relieved to see tiling and pillars without cloud cover on the inside. You could walk normally.

"Welcome to my place." It really was beautiful. The front door gave way to a foyer area, large and open, with two staircases winding their way up to the upper floors.

"Where will I be staying?"

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Aaden just asked where he would be staying. You know where you wanted him to stay. You were turning into Fluttershy once again. You hated to think about it, but a lubby-dubby side did exist within you, a side of you were you felt shy and unsure, it really was there. And it was certainly about to show.

"Well, I, uh..." You start. "The guest bedroom, the clouds are, uhh..." You break eye contact with him for a moment when you get an idea. "The clouds are dirty!" He looks at you in confusion.

"The clouds are dirty?"

"Yeah, filthy! The clouds that make up the mattress? Blegh! Gross!" You feel yourself starting to blush, and you try your hardest to suppress it. "You can sleep with me. I-If that's okay..." Aaden gives you another confused look.

"Dash, I dunno..." He examines you. "I don't know if Rarity told you, but sometimes I wake in the middle of the night abruptly, sometimes with a shout or yelp from some of the memories I have. Not to mention that I don't want to be a bother. I'm already a guest in your house, you know? I'd hate to just kinda intrude like that, ya know?" You blush slightly harder.

"Well, the b-beds are made of clouds, so, ya know, I won't feel anything if you wake up like that...I'd really be okay with it." He looks at you intently.

"Are you sure, Dash?" You feel your heart skip a beat.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Then I suppose we'll be sharing a bed. Sleeping on clouds sounds pretty inter-Is that a turtle with a propeller on it's back?" You immediately stop blushing, and look up to see Tank flying over to Aaden.

"Tank! Yeah, that's Tank! He's my pet turtle! Tank, say hi to Aaden, he's gonna be living with us for awhile!" Tank looks at Aaden curiously. Aaden carefully reaches a hand up, and strokes Tank's head with one of his fingers.

"Tank, huh? I used to have a pet back home. A big dog." Tank smiles approvingly at Aaden, seemingly enjoying his presence. It was nice that he didn't slam into Aaden. You only want to get hit by a flying turtle once, afterall.

You were actually really enjoying this sight. You had seen some of Aaden's memories, you knew he was really good with kids and animals, but to see it in person really made you giddy. His eyes were starting to get to you again. Tank scuttled away, going somewhere undisclosed within the house. Fluttershy led both of you up to your room. Aaden took his armor off and placed it in a corner.

Aaden was such an amazing human. He was smart, he was cute, he was funny, he embodied every physical and mental trait that you have ever desired. You've met a lot of ponies, but nothing quite like Aaden. You watched him sit down on the bed, and sink a little into the cloud mattress.

"Whooooa." He giggled. "This is trippy. I think I might like this." You laugh.

"Me too dude. Me too." You aren't sure how Aaden got here exactly. But you kinda hoped that there was no way for him to get back. You couldn't imagine not having him around.

Still, you wondered what the humans back in his world were doing without him.

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The Angel was dead. It was still hard to swallow. Such a hero, cut down cheaply, and in cold blood at that. You shudder to think that you were almost involved in that murder. You accepted the promotion to Captain to honor him. You were going to continue his work. You were going to become the next angel. You called for a meeting of your squad that the IMO lovingly referred to as "The Pathfinders".

You were going to hold a vigil for him. A memorial. The entire squad knew what was happening, and entered the room silently, around the makeshift memorial you had created.

The memorial itself was his gas mask with a rose in front of it, with his duster folded up put beside it, with painted angel wing on the sleeve showing. As everyone gathered around the monument, you pulled out your phone, and played the song you had found. It accurately represented his work. His life.

Youtube Video

The title of the song really matched him, as did the sound of it. Aaden turned you completely around. He showed you that, while you may be mercenaries, you can also be good people. You examined the picture, how truly fitting it was.

An angel radiating the battlefield, shining his light. An ally to be respected and enemy to be feared. That was Aaden.  When the song was over, a voice spoke up.

"Max?"

"Yes, Carter?"

"We will never come close to doing as well as he did."

"Of course not."

"But we will try. We will continue his work."

"Absolutely. In his memory, we fight on. For the greater good, brothers. Just as Aaden did."

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Fluttershy left, and Aaden was in the shower, so you took off to the kitchen to prepare dinner. You remembered that he said he liked spicy food, so you decided that some spicy cheese pizza would do the trick. You found several of your hottest peppers, and the rest of what you would need to make dinner. You never really cared much for cooking, but since you were cooking for Aaden tonight, it became the most precious talent in the world to you. Maybe you could impress him with some really good cooking. You look over on the windowpane, at the bright red pepper you kept there for some special occasion.

Mr. Tasty, the biggest, meanest pepper in all of Ponyville. You mainly held on to it to try and impress some guests by eating it whole, but you never had many guests up here. Maybe tonight was the night you would eat it, in front of Aaden.

Can you eat a pepper seductively?

You giggle at the thought. You can still hear the shower going upstairs. You hope the brief lesson you gave him on how to operate the shower was enough.

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You think you scolded yourself in the shower. Rainbow warned you that dial was sensitive, but you had no idea how sensitive. You had it in the center. Turning it a little to the left activated arctic ocean mode, and too far to the right activated Satan's piss mode. You had turned it just a few millimeters to the right. After some frantic adjusting, you managed to get the temperature back to normal. You liked this shower a lot. The clouds were soft between your toes, and the water just kind of fell from the clouds above you, like rain. Warm rain. You were washing your hair. You hear the door open.

"That you, Dash?"

"Yeah. Just making sure you were alright up here. I heard you yelp." You remember how you had scolded yourself.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You see the curtain open slightly, and watch Rainbow's hoof enter the shower.

"See, if you hit this button here..." She presses a button hidden below the dials. More water comes out.

"You get higher pressure. Neat, huh?"

"Yeah. So, uh..." Rainbow removes her hoof.

"I'll go back to making dinner. Spicy cheese pizza! I hope you're hungry. Your stomach rumbles at the sound of it. "I'll take that as a yes." She laughs.

You had a feeling that something was going to happen tonight. Rainbow Dash was either starting to get brave, or you just didn't accurately understand the do's and don't's of pony culture. But you'll soon find out, you suppose. You finish up your shower, and wrap a towel around your waist. You walk out of the bathroom, and begin your walk down to Rainbow Dash's room where you kept your clothes.

While you missed Rarity, you tried to look at the bright side of things. Rainbow Dash was pretty cool. Plus, spicy cheese pizza. And a turtle with a propeller on his back. And gnarly rainbow pools and waterfalls. It was really pretty here with Rainbow Dash. You caught the scent of a pizza baking as you walked down the hall.

Maybe this won't be so bad.