Second Wind

One of the things you think you'll really like here, is the fact that you could wear pretty much anything you wanted, and Rainbow Dash wouldn't much care. You put on a pair of light blue jeans and a white T-shirt.

Spicy cheese pizza, huh?

You were open to this idea. You've never heard of a spicy pizza. Then again, you had never heard of spicy onion rings until you ate at that restaurant by the Delaware River, either. Those were pretty damn good. You look around Rainbow Dash's room. It looks awfully what you'd imagine a Roman Nobleman would own. Two marble pillars near the bed, marble tiling, and the bed up on a peninsula-like tile up off of the floor. The bed itself was made of clouds. As was the blanket and pillows. Although you were going to be sharing a bed with Rainbow Dash tonight, maybe it wouldn't suck completely.

You smell the distinct scent of Jalapenos, sharp and sweet, wafting through the air, followed by the scents of cheese and what you assumed was some other kind of pepper. You would kill for a meat lovers pizza from back home right about now, but this spicy cheese pizza would do for right now. You leave Rainbow Dash's room, and enter the bathroom again, giving yourself one more look before you head downstairs. Although you were sure Rainbow Dash didn't care what you looked like, there was no need to be COMPLETELY sloppy.

What have you done to me, Rarity?

You decide you look presentable, and you go down the winding staircase, heading to the kitchen. Rainbow Dash was inside of it, watching the pizza bake intently. You don't think that even you could break her attention. That's when you see...IT.

An ENORMOUS pepper sat on the windowpane. It was at least the size of your forearm. It was an extremely bright red, and looked at if it had been polished, glistening brightly under all of the light offered to it. It's lime green stem curled outwards, like a long pigs tail. Equestria has yet to cease amazing you.

"Holy Hell. Is that a pepper?" Rainbow Dash swings around, obviously spooked by your sudden question. You don't break eye contact with the pepper.

"Oh, yeah. That's ol' Mr. Tasty. I grew him myself!" You struggle to find words for this thing.

"How?"

"Eh, I'd be a liar if I said I didn't have a little help from Twilight."

Fucking Magic.

"That's pretty amazing, Dash." Rainbow takes the pizza out of the over, and cuts it. She has no real table, but a bar-like counter with two bar stools, one on each side of the counter. She puts her plate down, with 3 slices for her, and she puts your plate down. 4 slices for you. No arguments there. You get an idea.

"I only have water to drink right now, I hope that's okay" You smile at her.

"Absolutely not." She looks at you, surprised.

"W-well, I guess I could r-run to the-" You shake your hand.

"Dash, I was kidding." You laugh to express your point. "I brought my backpack with me, I have some bottles of soda from back home up there. I've been saving them to share them for special moments. This seems special enough! Would that be okay?" Rainbow Dash breathes a sigh of relief, then smiles.

"Sounds awesome! I'll get some ice!" You run back upstairs, and snag a large bottle of Coca Cola you kept there. Of all the memories you had recollected, none really explained the massive amount of junkfood you had. You come back downstairs, unscrewing the cap on the bottle of soda. Rainbow was sitting at the table, eagerly awaiting this treat from another world. You near the counter, and pour both of your tall glasses full. Rainbow takes a sip, and her eyes widen.

"Whoa."

"I know, right? I love this stuff." She laughs.

"Aaden, this is really good. This might just be better than the pizza." You remember that there was pizza. You feel saliva collecting in your mouth as you think about. You go to reach for it. "Dude, you might wanna let that cool a little first."

She had a good point. You have a few memories of going to take a bite of hot pizza, only for the cheese to come rocketing off and slap you on the face, immolating the roof of your mouth and your tongue, along with burning your cheek or chin, whichever the cheese had chosen to plaster.

Nope.

Deciding you won't be getting burned tonight, you take Rainbow Dash's advice. Rainbow speaks up.

"So, Aaden. I've heard some music from your people before. Is it all that electronic stuff?" You shake your head. You pull out your smartphone.

"What genre do you like, Rainbow? I've got rock, indie hip-hop, orchestral pieces, dubstep and techno, metal, folk, I have pretty much anything on here." She turns her head at you.

"What's metal?

"It's like heavier rock. With screaming, sometimes." Rainbow Dash smiles.

"Let's try that!" You scroll through your phone, looking for something not too violent or loud.

Perfect.

You find a song labeled "radio version". That means they took the screaming out. This should be good to start her off.

Youtube Video

I watch you walk away

Helpless with nothing to say

I strain my eyes

Hoping to see you again

This is my curse

The longing

This is my curse

Time

This is my curse

The yearning

This is my curse

There is love

Burning to find you

Will you wait for me?

Will you desire?

Your silence haunts me

But still I hunger for you

This is my curse

The wanting

This is my curse

Time

This is my curse

The needing

This is my curse

There is love

Burning to find you

Will you wait for me?

Still I want

Still I ache

But still I wait

To see you again

Dying inside

These walls

Dying inside

These walls

And I see your face

In these tears

In these tears

And I see your face

There is love

There is love

There is love

There is love

There is love

There is love

There is love

There is love

Rainbow seemingly enjoyed the song.

"Hey, Aaden. What was that song about?"

"It's about someone losing a loved one to death. The curse he's referring to is the curse of living a life without said loved one, not knowing if you'll ever see them again." Rainbow Dash looks you over.

"That's really deep, Aaden."

"Yep. Metal tends to do that." You smile. This night was looking pretty good.

_________________________________________________________________________________

You all dressed as the Angel did now. Gas mask, dusters and all. Aaden had changed the Pathfinders into what it was today. You were happy to be leading them.

You had no idea what happened at the bank. It was all covered in secrecy. Aaden had got a job as an architect, then just kind of vanished until he was murdered. Why did the IMO have him take that position? What were they planning to do?

Your squad stalked the forests near a human trafficking compound. If there was anything Aaden hated, it was the Traffickers. you weren't sure what exactly he had against them, but you never questioned him. Your squad of 8 men prowled forward, each of your dusters flapping in the wind.

"Max, we've got movement up ahead." You look at your men.

"Got it. Everyone, load up. It's time for a massacre. Leave all slaves alive. We'll be taking them home."

"Yes sir." They said in unison. It was funny, how the traffickers had beefed up their security after how much Aaden had harassed them. Several guards stood outside, near the car. One looked right at you, and went completely pale. He fired wildly into the forest, screaming in fear.

"AH! OH GOD, IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM!" He ran off inside, tripping and falling, but quickly scrambling into the house. The other two guards aimed their rifles in the forests. You can only imagine what it would be like to see 9 pairs of bright orange lenses peering out at you. They also quickly retreated into the house, closing the door behind them. You had your squad stack up on the door.

"Carter, did you bring the explosives?" Carter laughs underneath his gas mask.

"Did I bring the explosives?" Mocking your voice.

"Good. Blow this shit." Carter steps in front of you, planting the door charge. It pops, blowing the door knob off. You throw a flash grenade inside the door, pump your shotgun once, and kick down the door as hard as you could.

_________________________________________________________________________________

You could finally eat the pizza, and it really was as good as it looked. It was spicy, but not too much so. The cheese kind of leveled it out.

"Dash, you did great! This is really good!" She blushes.

"T-thanks Aaden. I like it too!" She then perks up, but is still obviously shy. "H-hey? W-wanna watch me eat M-Mr. Tasty?" She was now as red as a stop sign. If you didn't know that she was this shy around you, you would think she wasn't getting enough oxygen or something.

"Sure!" You sit up on the stool as she jumps off of hers, and fetches the monster from the windowpane. She then comes back, and sits directly across from you. She holds this thing in both hooves, that's how big it is. She opens her mouth with that gentle "aaaah..." noise dentists tell you to make.

This is gonna be hilarious.

She sticks her tongue out a little, and slowly, but surely, slides it into her mouth. Her mouth makes this sucking noise when it finally fills her mouth. You hear her make another noise, almost like a whimper, through her nostrils.

This is gonna be arousing? Shit.

She slides it back out, and then goes back in, this time looking directly at you, right in your eyes.

Shiiit.

She giggles, her mouth full of Mr. Tasty. She takes it out again, this time with a pop, one single strand of saliva sticking to it from her tongue.

Boner! Cut it out!

Her eyes half close, and she gives it another push, almost taking the whole thing in her mouth.

GOD DAMN. HAS SHE NO GAG REFLEX? BONER! I SAID CUT IT OUT!

Finally, she takes a bite of it, chewing it slowly. You could feel your heart beating very fast, you could feel the burst of adrenaline fading from you. You let out a shaky exhale. Then a laugh as she starts coughing, waving her hoof at her mouth.

"BLEGH! That's hot!"

"You're telling me..." You mutter. She looks down at the pepper with a bite taken out of it.

"Aaden, I don't think I can finish this."

"That's okay. You certainly entertained, huh?" She smiles under her blush. She hops up, wraps the thing in some kind of plastic wrap, and puts it back on the windowpane. She looks at the clock.

"Hey, Aaden, I'm going to go take a shower, get ready for bed and stuff. You can explore the house a little if you'd like."

"Eeeh. I'll just go on to bed, read a book or something. I'll be there when you get out." She takes your plates and puts them in her sink, and disappears upstairs. You go, as well.

You walk into the room, put on your pajama pants and take your shirt off. You have no idea how the cloud bed is supposed to work. You gently put your hands on it, and let them sink a tiny bit. They stop about half way through.

Alright.

You clumsily climb on, and lay on your back. It was actually extremely comfortable. You slide the blankets up to just under your chest, and take out your phone.  You looked through the Books app on your phone, and saw that you had The Divine Comedy on there. You decide to read it. You just noticed an odd coincidence. Virgil was the name of the Honor Guard Captain. As was it the name of the famous author of the Aeneid. In The Divine Comedy, Virgil serves as Dante's personal guide through Hell and Purgatory. Seems fitting. You flip open the book on the app.

O lady, you in whom my hope gains strength, you who, for my salvation, have allowed your footsteps to be left in Hell, in all the things that I have seen, I recognize the grace and benefit that I, depending upon your power and goodness, have received. you drew me out from slavery to freedom by all those paths, by all those means that were within your power. Do, in me, preserve your generosity, so that my soul, which you have healed, when it is set loose from my body, be a soul that you will welcome.

You rapidly flip through more pages.

O grace abounding, through which I presumed to set my eyes on the Eternal Light so long that I spent all my sight on it! In it's profundity I saw- ingathered and bound by love into one single volume what, in the universe, seems separate, scattered: substances, accidents, and dispositions as if conjoined-in such a way that what I tell is only rudimentary.

You begin to think. Think deeply. You flip through the pages one last time.

But then my mind was struck by light that flashed and, with this light, received what it had asked. Here, force failed my high fantasy; but my desire and will were moved already- like a wheel revolving uniformly- by the Love that moves the sun and other stars.

Wow.

The more and more you thought about it, your mind seemed to piece in Rainbow Dash as a pony that you may have feelings for. Sure, Rarity was there for you, but Rainbow Dash just happened to be there when you broke down. The right place at the right time, you suppose. You still loved Rarity though. But perhaps you were beginning to love Rainbow Dash. You weren't sure. This was so new to you, so foreign. Sure, you had girlfriends back home, but those were just girlfriends. Nothing deathly serious. But these relationships, and their passions, they were so great, so strong. This was different.

As you ponder these thoughts, you hear her voice calling to you from the doorway.

"Hi Aaden. All done. Hey, could I ask you something?" You look up at her. Her blush was still present, but no as bad.

"Anything." She walks over to your clothes.

"May I wear one of your shirts? I-I, my pajamas are d-dirty..." You smile.

"Of course, Dash." She smiles, and digs out a white T-shirt. She slides it on, and climbs up onto the bed next to you, turning the lamp out. You lay in bed next to her. She turned away from you, and was seemingly already asleep. You continued to mess around on your phone, looking at old pictures. You hear her voice, this time slightly more quiet.

"Aaden? Aaden, are you awake?" You feel the cloud blanket rustle.

"Yep Dash. I'm awake."

"Wanna talk?"

"Sure. Anything on your mind?"

"Not really." She turns towards you, her eyes focusing on yours. She smelled wonderful. Like lavender and vanilla. "Anything on your mind?"

"Nah. Just looking at some old pictures."

"Really? Can I see?" You smile, and put an arm around her, bringing her close.

"Sure."

_________________________________________________________________________________

H-he just put his arm around you.

You take advantage of this, and snuggle as close to him as you can get. The picture he was looking at was one of him with the dog he had talked about. Aaden was sitting in a boat in what looked like the middle of the ocean, holding up a large fish proudly, while his dog was leaning against the side of the boat on his hind legs, watching the ocean go by.

"That was a fishing trip I had taken with a few friends. I had never been fishing a day in my life before this photo. Pepper also seemingly LOVED the ocean, so it was pretty fun. Ever been fishing?" You shake your head. "You and I will have to go this week." He slides his finger across the screen, bringing a new photo. This one was of Aaden and another man, who both had one arm around each other, smiling at the camera.

"That was my stepfather. This was about one month before he passed away. We were celebrating labor day, a holiday where people are generally off of work in my country. Beer, barbecue, that kind of stuff." You looked at the photo, and back at Aaden. You could see the hurt in Aaden's eyes. He composed himself with a deep breath, and, with what seemed like a reluctant swipe, brought up a new photo. This one was interesting.

Aaden was surrounded by a bunch of other humans. He was holding an orange ball, and was in mid-air, like a jump. "This was a sport I liked to play back home. They called it Basketball. I really enjoyed sports back home. You name it, I've played it at least once." You smiled. It was fun to watch Aaden look at these pictures. In fact, it was more fun to watch his facial expressions when recalling the history of these stories.

With every photo he pulled up, you could see his eyes light up with joy or well up with sadness. Through his eyes, you can almost see the pictures as if they were videos. He pulls up one photo, and you immediately see his eyes well up, glistening with tears. It was of him with two other humans, one with gray and black hair and green eyes, the other with brown hair and brown eyes.

"These..." he clears his throat. "These two were very close friends. Adam and Alan. We went to a restaurant after work that evening. I...uh..." He clears his throat again.

Now, Rainbow Dash, now! Stop being shy, and do it! Do it now!

You feel your blood run cold with anxiety. You take both of your hooves, and put them on his face, and pull his to yours. As your tongue enters his mouth, you feel zero resistance. In fact, you feel his hands on the back of your neck. He was doing it to. You couldn't describe how you felt. You doubt a poet could express your emotion right then and there. You were melting in his arms. You couldn't stifle a moan if you tried. As far as you were concerned, you were now in Paradise. You hoped he felt the same way.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Youtube Video

The song you had listened to earlier was blasting. At least, inside of your head it was. You now understood why Aaden hated these bastards so much. After finding a dead 4-year old girl, you were pissed beyond comprehension. How anyone could treat such an innocent human that way, was beyond you. You and the Pathfinders stormed the complex with a renewed hatred, a fury that proved most fatal.

You broke off, and were now by yourself. As you walked down a darkened hallway, the lights suddenly flashed on, and a single Trafficker came running at you with a knife drawn. When he got close, you kicked his knee, making him kneel. You pulled your shotgun back, gritted your teeth, and with the hardest swing of your arms, you swung your bayonet at him. It sliced into his neck, halfway severing his head. Before his body falls back, you impale it to the ground for him, then pull the trigger of the shotgun, completely obliterating his torso. He was certainly dead now. You were covered in his blood. You were disgusted, as well. Not because of what you just did, but because of the fact that you were covered in the blood of this filthy excuse for a human being.

Aaden would be proud.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"A-Aa...Aaden!" You were now kissing her neck. This was really happening. You were really about to do this. With Rainbow Dash. You didn't care anymore. Maybe you did love her, maybe you didn't. But she was all yours tonight.

"Oooooh duuuuude..." Rainbow trailed off. You made sure to keep at the spot on her neck where she as most sensitive.

Maybe tonight wasn't going to be so bad.