Second Wind

Doctor Gauze walks into the room with Aaden, using his teeth to hold a clipboard. He walks it over to a table, and carefully used a hoof to flip through the papers attached to it. He looks up, and sees you sitting up, your feet dangling off of the bed.

"Oh good. I'm assuming you untied him?" He looks at Aaden, looking annoyed. Aaden smiles, and rubs the back of his neck.

"Yeah. He's harmless though. Look at him." He points to you. You decide it would be a good idea to wave to the doctor. Gauze sighs, and goes back to looking at the paper work. He stops on a page, and taps it with his hoof. He puts the clipboard back in his mouth, and walks over to you.

"Shine thish, pleash." He says, the clipboard in his mouth. Aaden clicks a pen, and hands it to you. You take the clipboard out of his mouth, and attempt to read what it says.

What the hell...

You look up from the clipboard out of confusion.

"Aaden, I think you may have hit me so hard, that I'm illiterate. If that's the case, someone get this guy a medal. Holy shit." Doctor Gauze hops up on the bed with him, and points to several blank lines.

"Sign on the lines. Aaden couldn't read this stuff either when he first arrived, either."

"Still have trouble with it, actually." Aaden interjects. Gauze hopped off of the bed, and watched you scribble your signature. When you finish, you place it gently back inside of his mouth. He stops in the doorway on his way out, turning his head towards you.

"Oh, and you can take thosh bandagesh off now." He then continues his walk out. You crack your knuckles, and brings your hands up to your head, trying to find the knot on all of the cotton bandages to untie them. After about 5 minutes, you give up.

"Aaden, can you give me a hand? I'm not Harry god-damned Houdini." Aaden laughs, and walks over to you. He finds the knot, and you feel the bandages slip off of your head, falling to your shoulders. You feel air on your face again. You take your right hand, and run it down the side of your face, where Aaden had punched you. It doesn't hurt to touch it, or even press on it a little, but you decide to not push your luck, "How do I look?"

"Like Alan. Although your cheek is bruised to Hell and back."

"Does it look cool?"

"Not really. Anyways. Go use the bathroom, and get yourself together. Lyra will be ripping through time and space itself to get here in a couple of moments." You drop from the bed, and go to your possessions they had placed on a chair in the corner of the room. You remove the hospital garb, and put on the clothes you came here in. Well, the black pants and a white undershirt you wore under your living armor. While you were getting dressed, you decide to ask Aaden a question.

"How long have you been here, Aaden?"

"Eh, a couple of months. What about you?"

"A little over a year. I first appeared in the Dead Marsh outside of the Badlands. Where did you pop up?"

"Some plains outside of Everfree Forest. Almost got gored by a manticore. Not a fun way to be introduced to a new world."

"Yeah, I heard about that. At least you're still in one piece." You can hear the sound of hooves clopping down the hallway. And fast. You knew it was Lyra. "Sounds like my escort is coming." Aaden laughs.

"Relax bro. She's a nice pony. She may be goofy at times, but she's the only one willing to take you in. So be nice, and get comfy." Lyra gallops into the room.

"Hiya Alan! Are you ready? I'm sure ready!" You look at Aaden, who smiles and jerks his head towards the door.

"Where will you go?" You ask.

"I'm the only other Human here. I won't be hard to miss. You go get settled in and relax for the evening. I'll see you tomorrow." You sigh, and look down at Lyra.

"Alright Lyra. Take me home." You follow her out of the room, and through the labyrinth that was the hospital, back out into Ponyville. You can't believe the Queen had used you so harshly. And you really can't believe you fell for it.

I mean, look at this place! They wouldn't let anyone go hungry!

Ponyville itself was very homely, filled with bright colors and unique buildings which seemed to work together to make the town just that much more appealing. The Nexus, where you spent well over a year, had an extremely boring palette of grays, blacks, and extremely dark blues. Ponyville had colors you didn't know existed. Even though you were riddled with guilt and shame, just being in such a happy atmosphere made you feel a little better. Hell, if Ponyville looked this good in the rain, you were excited to see it in the morning.

The rain was starting to diminish into a simple drizzle, a few drops falling here and there. Other Ponies were out walking around, going about their business. A very light breeze floated across the town, sending the scent of flowers and rain throughout the town.

You felt pretty good, up until you noticed all of the eyes staring at you. You weren't exactly exalted in Ponyville. Lyra looks up at you, and notices how uncomfortable you look.

"Hey Alan, you okay?" You don't look down at her. You try to look away from all of the Ponies, to avoid making eye contact with any of them and scaring them.

"I uh...I see I'm pretty popular here." Lyra giggles.

"Alan, I have an idea! You want them to stop staring, right?"

"That would be nice." You look down at her.

"Watch this!" Lyra cocks herself up on her hind legs, like a human would, and she begins to walk beside you, wobbling. "I kn-" She stumbles slightly, but picks herself back up. "I know the staring isn't fun, so what if they stare at the BOTH of us? Huh? Genius, right? Cause now you aren't alone!" Lyra begins to flail her forelegs around while walking.

"LOOK AT ME EVERYONE! I'M WALKING LIKE A HUMAN! AHAHAHAHA!" You watch as everyone looks at Lyra. You lean close to her.

"Uhhh...Lyra...whatcha doing?" You whisper. She quickly jolts over to you, her hoof over her mouth.

"I got this!" She whispers. She then pulls her head away from you, and shouts again.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO!" You can't help but smile. This Pony really was nice to you. You start to think that your time with her might not be so bad.

"WOOOOOOOO-" She starts to scream again, but breaks off in coughing. Poor pony was going to hurt her throat if she kept doing that. You walk closer to her.

"That'll do it, Lyra. I think everyone's more concerned with you now." She smiles, and coughs again, looking up at you.

"Did I do good? Do you feel better?" Her voice was raspy. You smile at her.

"Yeah Lyra. Thanks. Lets get you home, get you a drink of water or something." She nods her head, and hops back down on all four of her legs.

"Alan?" Lyra asks. You look up at the sky. You can see stars starting to come out.

"Yeah Lyra?" You reply.

"We're friends now, right?" You look down at her, her amber eyes seemingly pleading with you.

"Absolutely, Lyra."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"DAMN IT BAKIR, I CALLED TIMEOUT!" You shouted, rubbing your eyes. Bakir laughs, stands up on his hind legs, and pounds his chest.

"What's wrong Adam? Can't keep up?"

"NO. I HAVE ABOUT 2 POUNDS OF SAND IN MY EYES." Bakir laughs again.

"We're in a desert, Adam. That argument won't work here." You sigh, and continue rubbing your eyes. You stand up, and with your eyes closed shut, you stumble over to the pond in the oasis you had stopped at, and dunk your head under the water. You open your eyes, and look around very quickly. You yank your head back out, and open your eyes.

Alright. I can see again.

"Bakir, you cheating son of a bitch." You said. Bakir laughs even harder.

"Adam, we will have to have another game when we get closer to Dodge City."

"You bet your ass we will." Mala pops up over the nearby dune.

"GUYS! BREAK'S OVER! LETS GO!" She calls to you. You pick up your backpack and all of the gear you put down to better play Bakir's game, and he does the same.

"BE SURE TO FILL YOUR CANTEENS! THIS WALK IS GOING TO BE LONG!" She calls again. You both do as she suggested, and head off over the dune, meeting with Mala. She opens up a map, and points straight ahead, without looking up from the map. "We have about 3 more stops, then we have a straight shot to Dodge City. This walk is going to be one of the longest, so make sure you're ready." You look over at Bakir, who nods his head.

"I think we're all ready. How about you? You need anything?" Mala looks at you, annoyed.

"While you two grown stallions were playing like colts, I got all of the things I needed." You smile.

"Alright, then lets get a move on!" The Desert was still annoying to you. Still hot, still unforgiving, and still unpleasant to every single one of your senses. You start thinking of ways to pass the time.

"Bakir. Tell me another story." You said while popping off the cap to your canteen and taking a swig of it.

"Alright. Uhh...I found a mummy once."

"Like on of the ones that walk and groan and stuff?"

"No, like one of the ones that are dead and dried and ancient."

"That doesn't sound nearly as fun. Got anything else?"

"Well, there were rumors of a magical oasis, completely isolated, not on any map in existence. It apparently was at the center of a long-gone kingdom. Naturally, I became immediately interested. I mean, magical water? Relics and what-not? So, I went looking about town for an explorer. I found Mala." Mala laughed.

"You're a little less insane now." Mala chuckled. Bakir flashes her a dirty look, and keeps talking.

"Mala and I seek out this Oasis, and after about 4 months of searching, we found it."

"Oh shit, it was real?" You ask.

"Oh, it was real. But completely barren. The water had since dried up completely, and all of the treasure in the area had been looted. All we found were several golden scarabs, which were NOT alive like the spider was, thank Celestia."

"So you were too late, huh?"

"Yeah. It wasn't very fun. Do you have any interesting stories?" Bakir asks.

"If I could remember any, I would tell you. I mean, I probably went to go get some fast food or something I found a dollar on the road or something. That would have been pretty sweet."

"Exciting." Bakir mused. You looked ahead. There was still no sign of this next Oasis.

This is gonna take awhile.

Damned desert.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Doctor Gauze had asked you to walk with him through the hospital to view Alan's medical reports. This is probably the first time you had ever seen Gauze act so serious.

"Now, Aaden. I have no problem with you. You are an excellent Human." He said. "And I know Alan is your friend. But he tried to kill you. If he would have succeeded, you know what he would have done. He would have moved on to us." He opens the door to his office, and you both walk in.

"I know your concern, Gauze. I'm sure Celestia will have something to say to him, as well. But what I can promise you, is that the Alan from my past has returned. He kept mentioning some "Queen" tricking him, using him, getting him to do these awful things." Gauze raises one eyebrow.

"Queen?" He asks.

"Yeah. You know her?"

"It sounds like the damn Changelings. But that's a story for another day. Aaden, I trust your judgement on this new human. I'm just a little nervous, is all." He finds Alan's report, and slides it out from a folder.

"I understand completely, Gauze. I'll keep a very close eye on him." Gauze smiles.

"Thanks. And now, to the more important stuff..." He reads the report over once. "So, it looks like when you hit him, you cracked his skull. Then, when he hit the pavement, his skull was cracked even further. We treated him with magic, setting the bones back in place and sealing them together. As long as he doesn't do anything to get hit like that again, he'll be okay." Gauze jumps back down, and leads you out to the receptionist, before disappearing back inside of the hospital again. You sign yourself out, wishing the receptionist a good evening.

The rain had let up outside, and it was now warming outside. It was an odd sensation, things becoming slightly warmer when the sun was setting. That's not to say it was a bad sensation, however. You begin your walk back to Rainbow Dash's house, hoping that she wasn't home. You loved the pony, but you were absolutely exhausted, and just wanted to go straight to bed. It's amazing how tired running around town can make you.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Lyra opens the door to a large house, and holds it for you. She takes a hoof, and waves it inside.

"Welcome home, Alan!" She smiles.

"Yaaaaay."

She closes the door behind you, and dashes beside you.

"Lemme show you to your room!" She stands up on her hind legs again, and uses one of her hooves to grab your hand. She pulls you down a hallway, and to a room at the very end of it. She opens the door, and pulls you inside.

The room itself was pretty big for a guest room. A large bed sat against the wall, and the room was filled with bookshelves with books stocked. Too bad you couldn't read Equestrian. You put your stuff down, sit on the edge of the bed, and take your shoes off.

"Now, the bathroom is literally right across from the hall, and Bon Bon and myself will be upstairs. My room is the one with the blue door, hers is purple. I'm gonna go cook dinner, you take a shower, get comfy!" She then wobbled out of the room on two legs.

It was adorable watching her walk on two legs. Adorable in a childish way. Like watching an infant eat spaghetti for the first time. They weren't exactly doing it right, but by God, they were trying. Amazingly, the hospital had washed your clothes for you while you were unconscious, so you decide it would be best to go ahead and get a shower in. Being stuck in a bed for a week doesn't exactly make you any cleaner.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Bon Bon was in the kitchen when you walked in.

"Hiya Bon Bon! Alan is here! I told him to get comfy while we make some dinner! Wanna help?"

"He's here?" You shake your head. "Like I said, I trust you. Just a little nervous, is all."

"Relax, silly! He's really nice, you'll see! Now, do you wanna help with dinner?" Bon Bon smiles weakly.

"Sure, Lyra. And get down, walking on two legs can't be comfortable." You smile, and plop down onto four legs. Bon Bon walked over to the cabinets, and opened several of them, peeking past cans and other stored foods. She digs around for a few minutes, before stopping in her tracks.

"Hey, Lyra?" She starts.

"Yep?"

"I just realized something. What do humans eat?" Your eyes go wide, and facehoof.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe I didn't ask! I'll be right back, I'm gonna go ask!" You dart out of the kitchen, and down the hallway, into his room. It's empty.

He's probably in the shower.

You walk across the hall, and see the door closed. You don't hear water running, so you assume that he must be done. You open the door, and find him. Alan was looking in a mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair all askew from being dried with a towel. Drops of water slowly worked their way down the path his muscles had created. It was actually extremely attractive. You always had liked humans before, and you would be lying if you said the thought of them wasn't attractive, but seeing Alan like this reaffirmed your fascination. Alan looks down at you, and smiles.

"Need something?" He asks.

"What do Humans eat?" He smiles even bigger.

"Lyra, I thought you had a certificate in human studies." You kick your hoof at the ground bashfully. "I'm only teasing. We're omnivores. We can eat anything except for stuff like leaves, grass, hay, that sort of stuff. Please don't try to feed me hay."

"I wont, promise! Thanks Alan!" You then dart right back out of the bathroom, and back into the kitchens. Bon Bon looks at you expectantly.

"Well?" She asks.

"No hay, no grass, no leaves!" You said, smiling.

_________________________________________________________________________________

This was it. You were organizing a coup. It actually came this far. The Chairman was at his resort home in Colorado. If ever there was a good time to strike, it was now. The strategy was simple. The 120 Pathfinders would be split in the following ways: 60 Pathfinders would take the cable cars directly to the house, while another 30 would rappel down from Helicopters directly on top of the house, while the final 30 would emerge from Helicopters that would land in the forest surrounding the house. You look at the frost-covered cable cars that dangled over an enormous chasm. There were 10 of them, each had 6 men inside.

You climbed inside of your car. None of the Pathfinders looked up at you, Each sat on the floor of the cable car, preparing their ammunition, the lifeless eyes of the gas masks creating an even more eerie environment. You slide your radio off of your waist.

"Carter, so what're we dealing with here?" After a few moments, your radio buzzes again.

"From what we've gathered, the entire IMO Administration is here. There are about 75 guards total. Should be easy, especially if we time this right." You press down the button on the side of the radio, and speak again.

"Whats the ETA on our choppers?" After another few moments, you hear another buzz.

"About 20 minutes. Carter out." You slide your radio back on your waist, and you also sit down on the floor of the cable car.

"Anyone got anymore brass?" One of the Pathfinders speaks up. The one across from him pulls a box out of his backpack, and hands it to him.

These men may not know it yet, but they were going to literally change the IMO. They were going to crumble it.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Sister, I am assuming you have received word of the the events that have occurred in Ponyville. Will you take any action?" You ask. Celestia unfurls, and climbs down from her throne.

"Violence, especially attempted murder, and attempted murder of an Honor Guard at that, is a very serious crime in Equestria. However, I have also received word that this new human was come to his senses. I've also heard that he is one of the humans Aaden was good friends with back in his reality." You frown.

"This is most troubling..." You look over your shoulder, and make sure no one is there before you continue. "What do we do, sister?" Celestia smiles.

"Call Spyra back from his infiltration of the Diamond Dog mines. We're going to make this new human an offer he cannot refuse. I'll word to Twilight Sparkle, that we request to see both Aaden and Alan in approximately one week." You nod your head. While Celestia scribbles a letter to Twilight Sparkle, you begin scribbling one to Spyra. When you finish, you send it off in a poof of magic.

Several moments later, a new letter poofs back to you in a burst of white smoke. You use your magic to unfold it, and read it.

I AM COMING.

It even had the claw mark at the bottom that Spyra used to sign his reports and papers to you. You look over to Celestia, who had just finished her own letter.

"Sister, what if he can't be trusted?" You ask. Celestia smiled.

"If he is someone that Aaden associates with, then he can be trusted."