Second Wind

A soft, very gentle feminine voice came over the PA system inside of the plane.

"Now arriving at Dulles International Airport. Please remain seated."

You looked over at Carter, who was fumbling around with his seatbelt. You knew a flight attendant would say something to him.

"Dulles is about 26 miles west of Downtown DC, so, accounting for traffic, I'd say we're about 45 minutes away from Aerox and Terminus headquarters." He said, fumbling with his seatbelt. "And if I'm not mistaken, there are some new players in the game out here."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about them. Isn't their little organization called 'Holiday'?" You ask.

"A very disturbing name for their true line of work, don't you think?" Carter's seatbelt finally clinked off. "Hell yes. I couldn't breathe. That thing is way too tight."

"Hey, safety first."

"Fuck safety."

"Never thought I'd ever hear an incumbent Chairman say that."

"I'm quite the usurper."

You both disembark your flight, and leave Dulles International Airport. You stopped a Taxi, and the both of you climbed inside.

"Drop us off at the Mall." Carter said. The Taxi Driver flicked his meter on.

"Any particular monument you guys want to be dropped off near?" The driver asked.

"We've no preference."

"Gotcha." The Cab Driver replied while removing his parking brake. The taxi itself reeked of the infamous new car smell, but in this case, it was very overwhelming. It almost made your head spin. Carter was reminiscing with you about being younger and coming to Washington DC, how the city seemed infinite to you.

"Man. I remember going to the Washington Monument for the first time, and looking in every direction. Buildings everywhere. Of course, I was a bit of a nationalist in my younger years, so, I also believed I was at the heart of the world. It's amazing, how much your eyes open with a little experience, huh?" Carter said, crossing his leg over his knee. You roll down your window a little, letting the fresh air inside of the Taxi. The new car smell wasn't as bad now that you were used to it.

"I know exactly what you mean." You responded. You both looked off in different directions, both of you obviously in thought regarding the true powers and natures the world hides. You snap out of it before he does. "But, hey. We're here on a pretty happy note, so lets not let this get us down."

The taxi smoothly grinds to a halt in a parking lot near the Potomac. The Jefferson Memorial was literally just across the river. You fish 40 dollars out of your pocket. Your charge was 22.25 dollars. You decide to be generous, and just let him keep the massive tip. As the taxi pulls off, Carter begins adjusting his tie, and looks at you.

"You ready?" He asks.

"I am."

"Good. Let's get rollin'."

First stop was Aerox. The walk was long, but the weather was nice, so you couldn't complain. There were kids playing soccer around the lawn by the Washington Monument. There was a group of Asian Tourists laughing and speaking their native tongues on the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. An old man of feeble stature left roses at the base of the Vietnam War Memorial, and placed his hand on the marble, closing his eyes. Police Officers stopped a man who was carrying two heavy bags of trash from the front door of some restaurant to a dumpster, and helped him lift them. They even struck up small talk afterwards.

It warmed your heart a bit to see all of this.

You arrive at the Aerox building, and climb the staircase. You both go through one of the many revolving doors to the enormous building, and as you enter the lobby, and older man immediately greeted you. He couldn't have been older than 40, but his hair had a touch of gray in it, and his eyes shimmered with experience of an older person.

"Chairman! It's good to see you!" He said in a thick Scottish accent, immediately outstretching his hand and shaking Carters. "Let me just go ahead and say, after you took the position and ended the little feud between our two 'companies', I was very relieved! It's good that we can unite!"

"No sense in killing each other if we're going to keep getting hired on the same jobs." Carter responded without emotion. The man narrowed his eyes at him, but smiled.

"Well, you're brutally honest. I like that. I see a bright future between us. I'm the CEO of Aerox, David Abernathy." He said, holding his hand out. "Welcome, to Aerox Incorporated! I would explain our history to you, but I'm sure you know enough about it. Hell, just a month ago, I'm sure your boys were sitting in rooms studying every detail about us. Gotta know your enemy, right?" He laughed.

"What of Terminus?" Carter asked again, still not showing emotion.

"Patrick Fisher, their respective CEO, is on his way. Never thought I'd see the day that we'd all be at peace. It's quite nice, actually. Seems just like yesterday I was lying in some trench in rural Montana, trading shots with some young lad from the mighty IMO."

"That's because it was." Carter said, finally smiling a little. David laughed, and put a hand on Carter's shoulder.

"I enjoy this one already. Tell me, are you boys hungry? I believe there is a McDonalds over in the Aerospace Museum, I can send my assistant out. Lord knows I could use a cola and a burger. Oh!" The CEO sighed loudly, gently bopping himself on the head. "How rude of me!" He outstretched his hand to you. "My name is David Abernathy, I'm the CEO of Aerox. Welcome, welcome! May I ask your name?" He shook your hand excitedly, waiting for an answer.

"His name is Isaac. He's a member of my personal retinue." Carter answered for you. David released your hand, and stepped back, smiling.

"Tell me, Isaac. Are you a religious man?" He asked.

"Not quite." You responded. David opened his hands, and gestured. His thick Irish accent made his presence somewhat entertaining.

"The Son spoke up to his father.

'Father?'

'Yes, my Son?'

'The fire and wood are here,' The Son said. 'But where is the lamb for the offering?' After a moment of uneasy silence, the Father answered.

'God will provide our sacrifice.' That's Genesis 22:7. Are you familiar with it?" He asked.

"I'm afraid not." You responded.

"The Binding of Isaac, is what it's called." Carter answered.

_________________________________________________________________________________

You always had an odd way of sleeping. You would first lie down, and cover yourself in blanket from head to toe. Then, you would lift your feet up, and trap the blanket that fell beneath them by setting your feet back down. Then, you would pull the blanket up over your head, and trap it with your head. You essentially made a little cocoon out of blankets. Also, should you hear a bump in the night, or get hot and need to let cool air in, you would never remove the blankets. You'd merely lift up an edge, and form a small cave-like opening.

Sleeping like this comforted you. When you were all bundled up inside of your pod of warmth and protection, you felt as if you were at home once again. That you would peel back your blankets, and be in your room.

You always slept with your TV on in your room, and you would often fall asleep watching Adult Swim, so you normally would be forcefully brought from your slumber by a loud theme song to some annoying kids show.

You kind of missed those theme songs.

You were currently in a state of being half asleep and half awake. You had to get up and piss, but the blankets were holding you hostage. You collect will power, and push yourself up off of your blankets, and out of your cocoon, emerging not as a butterfly, but a very sleepy human being. Trixie was sitting near you, hovering a mirror and brushing her hair using magic.

"Good morning, Adam." She said sleepily. She must have saw the blankets give birth to you in her mirror.

"Morning." You responded. You sat up, and kicked the remaining blankets off of you, and sat against the wall of the wagon, letting your head rest on the wall. You watched Trixie brush her unkempt hair, her eyes half open from having woken up recently. "Any plans for the day?" You ask. Trixie stops brushing her hair for a brief moment, and looks at you through the mirror, then resumes brushing.

"Well, Trixie would like to reconcile with the ponies of this town today." She began to explain, still brushing her hair. "Trixie doesn't exactly have what you would call a great track record here. She's made some mistakes, and it's time for her to face them, fix them."

You lift yourself up slightly.

"Trixie, I think it's great what you're doing and all, but wouldn't you like to just take it slow today? I mean, after all of the excitement yesterday, I kinda wanna just..." You looked around the wagon. "Lay here. Maybe explore the town."

"If Trixie were to accompany you, others ponies would see her. Ridicule her. She may as well fix things as soon as possible."

"Well, what about that Pony we can study with. Twilight Sparkle? Was that her name? What if we start with her, maybe get her to spread the word?"

"That still requires Trixie going out in public."

"Well, look, what if I go out for you? I'd hate to keep you cramped up in this wagon, I mean, you're free to leave anytime you want. But, if you'd like me to, I'll go to talk to Twilight Sparkle myself."

Trixie stopped brushing her hair again, and turned around to face you.

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course."

Trixie smiled, and kissed your cheek.

"Trixie offers you her gratitude. She'll stay here, and catch up on reading."

You untie the curtains to the wagon, sunlight pouring through. With one eye closed tight, you hold a hand up to shield the other from the light. You stumble out of the wagon, and on to your feet.

It looked as if you had stumbled into a 7-year old girls dream. Everything was so bright, so colorful. You breathe in deep, smelling whatever was baking in the building next to you, and decide to look for the Library. You had been told that it was inside of a giant oak tree, so, there was that.

_________________________________________________________________________________

As your party stood in the lobby, another man stepped inside. One of the Aerox security guards stopped him, and was going to begin searching him, when David noticed, and raised his hand, calling to the guard.

"Dinnae worry about that one, lad!" He called. The guard shook his head, and stepped away from the man. The man smirked, and approached us. He was young, and was dressed like you were, minus the neckerchief. He wore a pair of light blue jeans, with a leather belt, a white dress shirt, and a jet black blazer. His dirty blonde hair was short, but neatly groomed and styled, and his eyes were also a very interesting hue of gray. "Gentleman, I give you, Mr. Patrick Fisher, CEO of Terminus Security Solutions."

Carter reached a hand out, and the two men shook hands, smiling and exchanging greetings. Patrick Fisher had a deep voice. One that sounded like it belonged to a grizzled American World War 2 Sergeant, who was taking a break, smoking a cigarette and rubbing his 5 o'clock shadow in the rubble of some building in Europe.

"You must be Carter. It's nice to finally meet the face behind all of the peace negotiations and movements." He said. Carter laughed.

"The feeling is mutual. I'm not by any means a revolutionist. That was Max."

Fisher looked at you.

"Who's this?" He asked.

"Och, that's Isaac. A member of what Carter here calls his 'personal retinue'. A mighty fine young lad, from what I can tell." David spoke for you this time. It would be nice if you could talk.

"No shame in that! Good to meet you, Isaac. You in active service?"

"I am."

"Got a family?"

"A wife and children."

"A fucked up world we live in, eh?"

David laughed at Patrick's cursing, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's only when you fall in love that you begin to realize how awful this place is, huh?" David asked, his accent nearly hidden this time. "But enough of this depressing banter. We're all gathered here for a reason." He said, his accent returned to him. "Gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to follow me."

You all followed David to one of the elevators, and you all stepped inside. The elevator had buttons labeled 1 through 59, and B-1 through B-5. David took out a key, and hit a combination of buttons on the panel. The elevator dinged, and then a small slit of metal slipped away beneath the panel, revealing a keyhole. David inserted his key, and turned it, which revealed a new set of buttons above the panel. They were labeled "60", "B-6", "B-7", and "B-8". David pressed the "60" button.

"Clever contraption you have here, David." Patrick said.

"I quite enjoy it. Floor 60 is my personal office. I think you'll like it. B-6 is an Aerox Command Center, B-7 is our barracks for the greater metropolis, and B-8 is our armories and laboratories. Floors 1-59 are for the people innocent in all of this. I feel bad, knowing they all work for ideas and movements that they have no idea exist. I've never been one to use people. So, I pay them a base salary of $60,000 with plenty of raises, I give them decent hours, I give them all I can, from break rooms where they can nap and enjoy buffets, to 3 days off a week." David explained.

"You're a kind man, Abernathy." Carter replied.

"As I said, I've never been one to use others. While the IMO has just recently started 'fighting the good fight', so to speak, we've been doing so for awhile. Perhaps that's why the previous IMO Chairman despised us so." David continued.

The elevator dinged.

"Here we are." David smirked.

The doors slid open, and with it, your jaw dropped.

The room itself was enormous, and dome shaped. It was about half a football field long, from one end of the dome to the other. The dome itself was made out of what looked like thick glass with thick silver supports running through it. There was a large circle of white marble in the center of the room, surrounded by water as blue as the kind the pacific ocean contains. On that marble island, sat a desk with two marble pillars in front of it, covered in dark green ivy. The pillars seemingly bled a waterfall into the moat. Across the little moat, was a single palm tree in each cardinal direction, save for south, because that's where the elevator was.

David exited the elevator, and crossed the small marble bridge over to his desk, promptly taking a seat in his chair and leaning back. Everyone else exited the elevator mystified.

"God damn..." Patrick said, looking around the room, his voice slightly echoing. He looked up. The sky was completely visible. Clouds lazily floated by, and the sun's light poured in the room evenly.

"It's a pleasant retreat, don't you think? The glass is some kind of odd technology, prevents the sun from baking me up here, while giving me all of it's light. I'll have the eggheads down in the laboratories explain to you later, if you're interested." David said, digging through his file cabinet connected to his desk. "Now, lets get down to business. Carter?"

"Yep?" He responded.

"I am 100% on board." David said, smiling. He kicked back in his office chair, and propped his feet up on the desk. "We can do a lot of good, laddie. A lot of good. I know Patrick will want in as well, isn't that right, Patty?" David asked, smiling broadly and wagging his eyebrows at Patrick.

"You gonna tell him the story?" He responded.

"Aye. May as well. Pull up a chair, friend."

_________________________________________________________________________________

It was a very cold day in the state of Kentucky. Snow fell in white globs of natures grace, entirely blanketing the grass and forests. Footsteps crunched and words echoed. The eerie silence of winter always made me feel spooked. Not a birds song was to be heard, nor any wildlife wishing to be seen. We had set up camp on the outside of the very large Jefferson Memorial Forest, on the outskirts of the metropolis that was Louisville.

The silence was soon broken.

"SIR! TERMINUS UNIT, COMING UP! HE LOOKS HURT!" One of my Aerox sentries called. He was wearing the standard combat attire, except it was as white as the snow. It had the signature hexagon cells all over it, outlined in a bright cyan.

The soldier was holding his left shoulder, and was limping quickly towards the camp. His weapon dangled from his good arm, and he was blotched with blood. His left eye was closed tightly, while his right eye was half open. You could tell he was straining to maintain consciousness.

I immediately ran forward, and put my arm around his shoulder, to help him limp. He was sputtering, blood coming from his teeth.

"Mo...More are coming...Pathfinders...Oh God..." He looked terrified. Determined to get away from where he was. He wasn't making sense at the time, but he was scaring me.

My orders were the usual:

Arrive at the area of interest, secure the area of interest, and hold the area of interest until it can be locked down. This time, you were ordered to hold an area suspected of holding an undiscovered entrance to Mammoth Cave, the longest known cave system known to man. It's so large, scientists are STILL traversing the damn thing.

The previously undiscovered entrance and it's respective system could be valuable, brimming with minerals. Aerox and Terminus worked a joint operation, as was also usual.

What was not usual, however, was the suspected presence of the IMO. No offense to you, but the IMO was well known by other organizations to be dirtier in securing their assets. Drug trafficking, puppet politicians, and good ol' bank robberies. When this man came through, injured, that secured our fears.

You were here.

"I want the area CLEAR! Our client needs this funding for cancer research, we CANNOT let them down!" I shouted. Men scuttled through the snow, and took up positions, watching. Waiting.

We sat in the snow, in that forest, for 2 days. Finally, out of aggravation, I went to the tent that the injured Terminus soldier was in, and when I unzipped the tent...

He was gone.

In his place, was a note.

"We were ordered to locate this mine, and kill you all. The Chairman didn't even want the mines, he just wanted to be a dick. Unfortunately for him, something spooked you guys, keeping you from coming out and stumbling upon us. IMO forces left the area after a day of searching. The IMO just had some bad luck, I guess.

PS. The research these mines will be used for are worth more than the hate of an old man"

At the bottom of the note, were two letters. AL. It wasn't until much later, that I discovered those stood for Aaden Locke. The legendary watchdog of the IMO.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Good morning, my muse." Octavia called to you as you walked down the staircase to the kitchen. You hadn't gotten dressed yet. You were too tired to do so.

"Huh?" You asked. Vocabulary wasn't exactly your thing after you had just woken up.

"Nothing, Aaden. Coffee, black." She said, handing you a mug the moment you got downstairs.

"Thanks." You responded, taking the mug.

"May I ask again, why do you take your coffee black? It's quite unpleasant that way, don't you think?"

"I don't drink it for pleasure. The strong taste wakes me up, kinda like a cold shower." You sip at the mug, and cringe. "God damn. That's certainly black, huh?" You sip again, and immediately follow it up with yet another cringe. "Bleck." You muttered, licking your lips, and rubbing the right side of your jaw with your palm.

Octavia giggled, her hoof over her mouth. Was she blushing?

"You're cute, you know that?" She said.

"Mmm." You hum in response, sipping at the cup. You had adjusted to the intense strength of the brew, and were waking up quickly. You noticed Octavia was somewhat spruced up for it being so early. Her hair had been combed and styled, and a large purple bow was in it. "You look pretty good. What's going on?" You ask.

"Vinyl wants me to pick her up from the hotel soon. When I dress up and pick her up, she loves it. So does the press. Makes her look like she has high and mighty friends, I suppose."

"Well. You look fantastic." You said. Octavia came closer to you, her eyes half closing themselves. You could see something odd in her. It wasn't JUST lust this time. By the time she climbed in your lap, you had realized what it was. She sat on your lap, except facing towards you. Her legs went over either side of your body. Before you could even exhale, her lips were against yours. You knew she could taste the black coffee, but she just didn't care.

She pulled back for a moment, and looked in your eyes. She was definitely blushing.

"I love you." She said, before pouncing on you. She nearly sent the chair over on it's back. Her tongue entered your mouth like a bat out of Hell, and, whether you liked it or not, you were getting hard. Octavia could feel this, obviously. She giggled, her tongue vibrating in your mouth. She started slowly rocking her hips back and forth, obviously teasing you. It was only making you grow harder.

She stopped the rubbing, and starting lifting herself up and down. You weren't in the mood for sex, but, you were going to let it happen. Octavia pulled her mouth back from yours, and looked you in your eyes.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I want you. I have little time for any games." She said, almost demanding. "So we're going to get straight to the point." She said. She didn't break eye contact with you, even though you could tell she was pulling you out of your underwear. "Your point, to be exact." She lifted herself up a bit, and positioned herself to where, all she had to do was come back down, and you would have entered her. You could feel something warm and sticky dripping on your crotch, which only made the anticipation greater.

While she stared into your eyes, you grit your teeth from anxiety and excitement. You could tell you were blushing, which elicited yet another giggle from her.

"Il est temps." Octavia said, in the most seductive French you had ever heard. She immediately threw her forelegs around your neck, and sat down. You were no longer teased with the sticky warmth of whatever was dripping from her.

You could feel every inch of her. She was pulling and squeezing. It was like nothing that you had ever felt before. Truth be told, you really liked it. You put your arms on her waist, and encouraged her to move up and down. She responded accordingly.

Octavia seemingly knew what she was doing, for her first time with a Human. Her tongue moved on par with her body.

You slid in and out of her rapidly, the consistent motion driving you to your edge. You could tell Octavia was getting there, so, you decided to help her. You picked her up, stopping the motion, and dropped her on the nearby coffee table, knocking your mug off and spilling the coffee. You'd clean that up later.

You spread her legs, and, on a beat, entered again, this time, you forced your tongue in her mouth. You could feel her legs twitching against yours. After a few minutes of thrusts, you could tell it was time to send her over the edge. You removed your tongue from her mouth, and began kissing her neck. Octavia's face was frozen in a blushed, open-mouthed smile of pure ecstasy.

You begin thrusting harder. Her hooves start to dig into your back. It actually hurt quite a bit, it was nothing like a human female's nails, but, you were too close to stop now.

You were there.

So was she.

With a few more pounds, you start to feel yourself releasing inside of her, and with each pump, her hips bucked against yours. With each pump/buck, Octavia let out a small moan. When you were both finished, you slid out of her, and pulled your underwear back up. It felt like a bottle of Aunt Jemima's syrup had exploded all over you.

You fall onto the big coffee table, next to her. You knock off her mug of coffee, too. You put your hands around her, and pull her close to you, looking into her eyes. She smiled, still blushing, and looked back at you.

"You've made quite the mess." She said. You ran your hand through her mane, fixing the spots you had ruffled.

"Indeed. I'll clean it all up before you get back."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"So, Patrick, tell us, are you in?" David asked, smiling and taking large bites out of his burger. David had actually sent an assistant to retrieve food, but you weren't going to complain. You did get a free burger, after all.

Patrick sipped at a foam cup filled with soda. He lowered it, and shared David's smile.

"David, this is Terminus and Aerox we're talking about here. Of course I'm in." Patrick said, going back to sipping at his soda.

David stood up from his chair, and held his arms wide. He held a burger in is right hand, making the gesture seem even sillier than it already was.

"This is excellent! This is absolutely excellent! All we need is a name! A name, and we're all set!"

After a moment of silence, you stood up from your chair.

"I have an idea for a name, guys." You started. "Locke Security Solutions. After the man that helped the IMO realize what was right from what was wrong."

Patrick shook his head in agreement, not wanting to stop sucking at his soda. David laughed.

"Laddie, I think that's a brilliant name! After all, if it wasn't for ol' Aaden, we wouldn't be discussing this right now, would we?"

Carter smiled as well, leaning against the wall near the mote inside of David's office.

"Locke Security Solutions it is. Consider the merger of the three of complete." He said.

"We're gonna have to go to a bar tonight. Make it really official." David said, interrupting his soda.

You smiled with content. You couldn't help but wonder what, if anything, all of your friends were up to. Maybe they could see what was happening.

Maybe.