A two sided coin...

A two sided coin.

By Hawker Spitfire

The sun was just beginning to set below the Equestrian horizon and fall beneath the hills, shards of light making one last defiant push into the sky before being replaced by Luna's night. While the rest of Ponyville began to shut up shop for the night, the Castle of Friendship still very much alive with activity. As Equestria's only human lay back in the chair he'd been given, the Princess of Friendship finished scribbling down her report on human history.

"Your history is certainly quite...dramatic...you could say." Twilight remarked as she finished the sentence she was on.

"Yes, just a bit." the human laughed as he stared up at the ceiling, focussing on nothing in particular.  As he freely admitted, he was nothing big back on earth, not that he'd said that much about himself to anypony, but Twilight knew a few things; his full name was Michael Connor Maye, he used to do something in the military back on earth and...well...that was about it. Twilight had always thought he appeared rather enigmatic, the way a lop of brown hair would fall across one of his steel blue eyes had always been fascinating while his thin face always held of a look of grim determination, why was yet to be known.

"There's still one thing I can't help but wonder though." Twilight paused and looked at Michael, her eyes fixated on him in a look of curiosity. "What is your species actually capable of? I mean, ponies are capable of acts of extreme violence just like any other species, yet are also capable of extreme kindness and bravery. I...ugh...it's a stupid question-"

Michael sat up, "You want to know how far we'll go when pushed don't you?" he replied calmly, almost nonchalantly, his thick Belfast accent shining through.

"Well...I suppose I do..." Twilight replied, levitating the scroll on the table into a box on the far side of the room, snapping it shut. "You're right. I just didn't know how to ask without it seeming offensive thats all."

"Oh please..." Michael responded. "It's all like water off a ducks back. I get it and to be fair, it's a good question. But..." he trailed off and sighed, staring into space and picturing what had happened before.  He stayed there for about five minutes, death to the world,

"MICHAEL!" came an irritated and angry bark from the princess snapping him out of his stupor. He pulled himself out of the chair,

"I've been here about 4 months right?" he said, his voice had become more mellow, more quiet.

"Give or take." Twilight responded.

"I guess it's time I gave you an explanation then..." he sighed as he paced around the room.

"What do you mean? You've told me everything." she replied, a degree of worrying slipping into her voice.

"No. I haven't. You know I told about that big war in a place called Europe?" he continued

"Well...hows that relevant? It happened, things like that always happen."

"I never told you there was a second one..." he sighed. "Let's just say it made the first one look like a day out in the park."

"Do you mind if I...well...look into your head?" Twilight somehow managed to get out of her now dry mouth.

"In terms of what?" he replied

"Well, look into your memories. See what you're on about?" Twilight explained

"Go ahead, knock yourself out." he replied, still lacking any real emotion. It took some time to extract the memory but eventually, Twilight had extracted one, and began to play it out in her mind.