The Two Faces Of A Coin

The pony exhaled loudly and stood up. He moved away white blanket was from the upper part of his body, his chest was rising and falling quickly. The rate of his breathing was rather short. His icy blue eyes looked everywhere in the bedroom, not knowing immediately where he was. But slowly, he recovered from his dream...or lucid moment as he called it.

This time, it was more real and natural than before. The pain, the exhaustion, the dread of dying, crushed by a metallic hand, and the weight of the strange armor on his body…he feel it in his bones. The Unicorn could remember the moment with an extreme precision.

It has been a few month since his first lucid dream. At the beginning, it only was a blur but each time it happened, those dreams were clearer than before. The background, the two legged hairless apes (or humans as they called themselves), the conversations, the fights…he wondered why it was so real, like if it was him who was there. In a way, it was the truth. Eagle was behind the icy blue eyes of this “Ethan Gray” as he called himself, as a simple spectator.

He already asked himself a few times if he was the only pony who had experienced those kinds of things and did some research about it. Unfortunately, after seeking into the Canterlot's library, he found absolutely nothing in relation with the humans or his weird lucid moments.

Why he dreamed like this? He didn’t know.

Eagle Feather was a unicorn, thirty-one years, with white coat, grey mane and light blue eyes, almost like those of “Ethan”, and measured five feet tall (which was very tall for a pony). His cutie mark was a feather with a parchment and a light grey spanner, telling he was good with writing and manual work. In the business world, this pony had a very good reputation, almost as much as the writer of the Daring Do series, but decided to stay anonymous. He never went to the conventions, galas or in the library owned by his publishing house to sign autographs when one of his books was published. Everypony knew his name but few saw who he really was. It was a big advantage to be able to walk in the streets of Canterlot, in the crowd, without somepony to recognize him and ask for an autograph or picture.

Despite his precarious personal situation, he was a very talented unicorn who has worked on a few novels. Actually, he was writing his sixth book called: Past Is Prologue. And the content of the book was…his dreams.

Yeah, he wrote what his saw in his lucid moments on the parchments and it worked very well. For the moment, he had 250 pages written and he could feel he was near the end of the novel. But strangely, his writer’s instincts awoke, telling him that Ethan’s adventure was not over, maybe just halfway.

Eagle Feather always trusted his instincts, they were true almost everytime.

Still half-asleep, the unicorn stepped out of his bed and walked to his old desk, made of wood, oak to be precise. He pulled out the chair and sat on it. It was still a little dark outside so, with his magic, he lit up a single candle, more than enough to help him see what he was going to write. The white coated pony took an eagle feather, plunged it in his pot of ink and began to write:

«The room was simply huge: there were members of the terrorist group everywhere, on several levels. Scientists, soldiers, technicians. There were so many enemies that the radar of his HUD was completely useless. With all those people, it was nearly impossible for him to estimate how much they were. They were moving in all directions in the middle of the assembly lines: the treadmills providing some mechanical parts. Ethan deduced their entire production of their weapons came from there.

The soldier also saw rockets pointing towards the surface. He even sees one or two nuclear warheads. Observing around him, the young man noticed a big container and jumped behind it. From his position, he saw a pretty big door, made of titanium, ahead him and suspected that behind it was the place he had discovered 700 years earlier. After a few seconds of waiting, he sprinted and reached the door, thinking it was sealed... but strangely, it was not.

He walked into another room, filled with inscriptions and drawings on the walls. The place was very dark and empty. Yet a woman's voice rose in the background.

— Who are you to dare to disturb me while I work?

— A simple stranger who came to end your little plans.

An unhealthy and devoid of joy laugh echoed in the room. At this point, spotlights lit up and slightly dazzled the young man who quickly adapted to the bright light. In front of him was a tall woman with black hair and emerald eyes. Behind her was a bright red fighting mecha, almost measuring five meters high.

— So, you are Ethan Gray. I’m only half-surprised to see you here. My name is Amanda, I'm the leader of this group.

— Why are you doing this?

Slowly, a grin appeared on her lips.

— Our politicians have to replaced. Their ideas are like them: they are old. A new order need to be installed and *I'll** be the one to do it!*

The young man smiled. Everything will end now, in the depths of Mars. He knew there was a possibility he could die, but he didn’t care. This woman killed a lot of innocents, she had to pay for that. His black and red exoskeleton appeared around his body, his energy gun on his right hip.

[All systems are online and functional]

- Let’s rock!»

At this moment, Eagle stopped writing and sighed. Tonight’s dream ended here, he had to wait the next night or in a few days to write what would happen after. He turned his head to the left, looking through the window and at the rising sun. A small smile grew on his face. He always loved the twilight, whatsoever it was at the beginning or the end of the day.

With this though in mind, he left his room and walked to another wooden door before knocking three times.

“It’s time to get up, you have school today, young lady!”

Then, the Unicorn made his way to his kitchen. His house was pretty simple: One floor, one bathroom, two bedrooms, one kitchen and one living room. The walls were colored in a light brown and orange color, except for the shower, which was green as an apple and his chamber, half dark blue and half white. The sound of his hooves echoed in the kitchen, thanks to the white, cold tiles on the ground.

Eagle Feather began to make breakfast, composed of chocolate muffins, honey and apples. Ten minutes later, his left ear moved as he heard another pair of hoofsteps coming toward him.

“Hello dad.” said a sleepy voice.

He moved his head to the side, looking at the newcomer. He grinned. In front of him was a beautiful beige Pegasus with blonde mane and light blue eyes, just like her father. A few days ago, she just turned fifteen and it was her last year in school before she could begin to live her own life as a Royal Guard. Precisely, her last morning as a student. In Equestria, the ponies were considered as adults the day of their fifteenth year.

“Morning sweetie. Sleep well?”

“Yeah, and you?”

He continued to cook for a few seconds and answered.

“More or less, I had one of my dreams. I just finished writing it a few minutes before waking you.”

She looked at him, confused.

“Again? You know you should go see a specialist and explain your situation.”

“I'm not sure it’s a good idea Sunny, he could think I’m completely crazy and the moment after, I finish the rest of my life into the hospital.”

“It’s up to you but you really had to think about it.”

He smiled. “I’ll do it but before that, here’s come the breakfast!” Eagle took the plate with the muffins and honey in one hoof and the apples in the other. Standing awkwardly on two legs, he put it on the table before walking to his seat and sat on it.

“The horn on your head is not here for nothing, even not as a disguise.”

The Unicorn gave her a death glare.

“I don’t like using it, that’s all.”

“But it’s not a problem to light up the candle on the desk of your room.”

“It’s different, it’s for writing. I can control it if something went wrong. Anyway, I should be happy, it’s the last day I have you on my back.”

Sunny almost choked.

“You’re not going to kick me out of the house, are you?”

At this, Eagle laughed.

“Nah, I joke.” He replied, before continuing. “I have to go to the library today, Jade want a report about my progress on my last work.”

Sunny nodded. Jade Singer was one of the most famous author in Equestria. She created her own publishing house, in Canterlot, which helped the beginners who had some experience to none to be good writers. Eagle Feather was in this case. His first book was not bad but with one or two advices from the pale green Unicorn, he was able to improve and sell it. It was a long time ago, when Sunny was only a foal.

“Okay…and still not a special somepony? I didn’t have the time to ask because of my exams but now…”

The Unicorn looked at her, looking like ‘Are you bucking kidding me?’ before using a hoof to take an apple. The beige mare raised her hooves in the air.

“Come on dad, I didn’t say anything bad like ‘oh, you’re going to die in a few months, in terrible agony!'”

“You already know the answer…I will not be in a relationship again.”

“You have to forget h…—”

The sound of a hoof hitting the table convinced the young Pegasus to stop talking. She immediately regretted her words.

“You know the rules, young lady! Never talk about your mother…about this…”The stallion’s voice was firm but the more he talked the more he couldn’t find the courage to finish his phrase. Eagle turned his head away from his daughter and began to cry in silence.

Everytime they began to talk about ‘her’, the situation end like this. Sunny knew it was a delicate topic and tried to avoid it as much as possible but sometimes, she couldn't help herself. Finally, he shook his head and regained his stance. Eagle Feather kissed her forehead and walked away, to the door which leaded to the outside world.

“I’m sorry dad.”

He turned his head to her and met her eyes, a small and sad smile on his lips. “It’s nothing sweetie.” replied the older pony. “I have to go. I suppose you’ll stay with your Master after school?”

She nodded.

Her master was an old Earth Pony who was the owner of a dojo and taught her the way of fighting with a sword. She learned a lot of things, useful in every situation. Eagle tred to give him some money or gifts to thank him for taking his daughter under his wing but he refused, saying he only did it because he admired her strong mind and her kind heart.

Then, the Unicorn opened the door, stepped outside, closed it and began to walk away, in the direction of his publisher house.