Hey readers! Just wanted to say I felt somewhat troubled writing this chapter. I don't know. I know what I wanted to write; I guess I just had trouble portraying it. Anyway, let me know how you feel about this chapter. Thanks!

Chapter 11: The Sins of Our Rulers

Everfree Ruins

"I have to do something."

Nightmare Moon paced back in forth uneasily, thinking about what was going down in Canterlot right now. "I really want to help… but I'm afraid of my sister."

Discord chuckled. "That won't get you anywhere."

"But she'll probably kill me on sight," She sighed. "I've caused too much pain for her."

"You know… You'll have to try sometime. You can't hole up in here forever."

Nightmare Moon sighed. "I know I know…. Maybe Michael can convince her…"

"Hehe… I have a feeling that that won't happen…"

"Why not?"

"You've been found, Nightmare Moon."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

Discord was having his fun with this. "Why didn't I? Hmm… I guess it just hasn't dawned on me."

Nightmare Moon was growing irritated. "How am I suppose to solve this then?"
Discord shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe your precious human can help you out."

"Sometimes, I just don't understand you one bit."
Discord laughed. "Did you misunderstand me? I was saying, maybe Michael can save you."

"But what do I need saving from?"

"Oh," Discord said, "I didn't tell you. Celestia is planning to kill you."

Nightmare Moon took a step back. "T-That's… shocking… To think my very own sister would plot such a thing…"

Discord continued. "Basically, Michael is your only chance in living. Besides he's pretty much the only one who trusts you. I would say Rainbow Dash, but she's quote on quote dead. Heh."

Nightmare Moon frowned. "Right… And why can't you do anything?"

"Because I'm the one and only Discord. I cause… well… discord!"

"Very true. Though this will prove to be quite… difficult."

"You can only hope for the best."

Nightmare Moon scoffed. "With what's happening now, hope is the least of my worries."

Canterlot Castle

"Ow! Hey!"

Michael's body was sent across the room, crashing into the doorframe. The door somehow held his weight and slightly bent outward.

Someone had knocked him awake out of nowhere. He opened his eyes as he slowly stood up, using the wall as support. His vision was blurry at first, only allowing him to make out a bluish blur in front of him. As his eyes focused, he noticed it was Luna, carrying a sword.

"Oh. What's up, Luna?"

She said nothing as she swiftly flashed towards him and bashed him back into the doorframe again. His shields flickered as he stumbled back up. "Luna! What the-"

Before he could finish, he was thrown back across the room towards the window. Luckily, he landed right beneath it. "What're you doing?!"

Luna smirked. "Training started."

Next thing he knew, he was flying through the window. Shards fled by Michael's face as he fell, awestruck at what just happened. 'How can she be so fast?!'

With a mighty crash, Michael fell though the ground, creating a large crater. Shaking his head, he got a good look at his surroundings. He was in the courtyard.

As soon as he crawled out of the crater, he was knocked onto his side again by none other than Luna. "Urg… How did you get here so quickly?!"

Her eyes gazed down at the sword she wielded. Michael's eyes widened in sudden realization. It was Night's Resolve.

He groaned. "I'm soooo dead..."

Once again, in a flash of speed, she was inches from his face. Michael saw the sword out of the corner of his eye thrust towards his stomach. In a lightning quick reflex, he slightly moved, causing the sword to miss.

But that wasn't the only offensive she had. After she missed, the sword sped quickly towards his side. Michael quickly jumped back, avoiding the deadly blade.

As soon as she missed, she rushed quickly at him, once again in a flash of speed. Michael dodged two more swings of the sword before he swatted the sword down with his wrist. The force of his strength successfully forced Luna and the sword back, however, a deep gash was left in place of where he hit it. A twinge of pain was there too, so he knew she drew blood. 'So the sword can cut through titanium alloy. Damn that sword is powerful.'

Luna didn't let the blow slow her down. She quickly sped right back towards Michael, swinging and stabbing with Night's Resolve. Michael slightly dodged each attack, receiving several cuts on various parts of his armor. Finally, he jumped back to give himself breathing room.

"Wait!" He shouted.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Your enemy wouldn't wait. Buuuuut… I'll let this one slide. What is it?"

Michael shrugged. "Well I thought it would be convenient if I got the Bane of Darkness to fight with, since that's kinda what I need to train with?"

Luna shook her head. "Sorry. Shoulda grabbed it when you were in your room."

Michael grew annoyed. "Well you see, I would have. If you didn't throw me out the damned window!"

Luna laughed. "Be better prepared next time." Next thing Michael knew, the sword's blade sliced through his torso plate. Luna, now face to face with him, said in a low tone; "And watch the language. This is Equestria." She then pointed the sword at the poor Spartan, and blasted him with its energy. Michael was sent hurtling into one of the courtyard walls, leaving a series of cracks into the thick concrete. He hit the ground hard with a grunt. "I'm… s-sorry?"

He then raised his hard-light shield to deflect another blow from the sword. "I can't even have a chance to get it?"

Luna nodded towards the window he just fell out of. "You can try."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "I will."

After swatting down yet another offensive from Luna, Michael ran for the window. Unfortunately, a determined Luna was ready to stop him. Michael heard her begin to say something that sounded gibberish; leading Michael to assume it was some sort of spell. Next thing he knew, the sword flashed multiple arrays of blue as it seemed to charge power. Michael turned his head to see her swing the sword violently, with multiple blue arcs soaring towards him.

He sidestepped to avoid one and ducked underneath a second. He reactivated his hard-light shield, ready to take two more arcs head on. But when the first of the two impacted his hard-light shield, his shield simply shattered and forced him back. "W-What?!"

The fourth arc hit him full force, dropping his shields to half power. The force wasn't strong enough to send him flying, but he staggered backwards a bit.

He eyed his armor ability at the corner of his eye, which began to slowly recharge. At the same time, Luna swung more death arcs at him.

He dove out of the way to avoid one and rolled behind the courtyard fountain to avoid a second. The ground rumbled as two more arcs crashed into the fountain.

"Come on, Luna!" Michael shouted. "This isn't fun!"

He heard her laugh loudly. It sounded quite… sinister. "Maybe you'll have a chance if you can get the Bane of Darkness from your room."

Michael groaned. He thought this absolutely sucked. "Aright Michael," He said to himself. "On three." More arcs were hitting the fountain. "One, two…" The fountain began to tilt. "…Three!"

He dove forward as the fountain crashed down where he was sitting a second ago. 'How are they gonna fix all this?!"

As he ran for his life, Michael considered his next course of action. His first thought was to scale the wall to the window he had fallen out of. The problem was, he'd be made an easy target. His next option was to get inside and climb the stairs to his room. But he saw no nearby entrance accept two large red doors that seemed pretty sturdy. These equines have been nice to him so far, so he didn't want to bust the doors down. Lastly, he could risk getting hit with an arc. If he raised his hard-light shield at the right time and at the right angle, then the impact of the arc may send him right through. He decided on the last choice, just because he likes crazy.

"Hey, Luna!" He shouted back. "Why haven't you hit me yet?!"

Luna scoffed. "Are you trying to toy with me?"

Michael chuckled as he looked up at her. "Well, duh. Your sister hit me. What, is she a better shot than you?"

Michael's guess was right. Luna was a bit jealous of Celestia. Judging by the look on her face, that was exactly the case.

Her eyes showed nothing but bitter envy as she shouted in anger. "No! Celestia will never be a better shot than me!"

She drew multiple circular motions with her sword, causing blue beams to erupt from each circle. Each was directed at Michael, who's heart sank. He needed the arcs, not these beams. As he ducked and dodged each of the beams, he noticed each one burn a hole into the ground. Just like the ones Celestia injured him with. Celestia was angered back then, and was poised to kill. The same was going for Luna. This wasn't training anymore. This was yet another fight for his life.

"Luna!" Michael shouted. "Those beams aren't working for you! But you did hit me with the arc thingies! So try that!"

As he predicted, Luna fell for it. The death beam assault halted and Luna began slashing arcs towards him once again. He activated his shield, readying himself for the perfect shot. Two arcs crashed into the ground to his left and right before he saw it. Straight in his direction, but higher up. He had to jump for it. Michael bent his knees, ready to jump. As soon as it was right on top of him, he flicked on his hard-light shield and launched himself into the air, right in front of the blue arc. He braced for impact.

Michael felt the arc hit his hard-light shield immediately, causing the shield to break automatically. His morale soared as he felt his plan succeed. He was sure he was heading straight for the window.

But unexpectedly, he face planted into the dirt. It took a minute to dawn on him that he went absolutely nowhere with his plan. "God. Damnit."

As he sat up, he noticed a yellow dot on his motion sensor speeding towards him. He looked up to see Luna, coming in for the final blow. Michael simply stood up and put a hand up to stop her. "Just stop."

Surprisingly, she halted mere inches away from his hand in mid air. "What?"

Michael turned and began to walk away. "I don't want to train anymore for now."

"Why not?"
"I'm mad now. My plan didn't work."

Luna snapped out of her whole jealousy phase and covered her mouth with a hoof, trying not to burst into laughter. "What were you trying to do?"

Michael bowed his head slightly. "I tried to uh… use the impact of the arc to uh… get into the window."

Luna snickered. "That's what you were up to? That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!" Luna was laughing loudly now. She seemed to be having a good time over it.

Michael shrugged. "Well what else could I do? And… I think you're kinda over doing it…"

He was right. Luna was weak with laughter. She just found the whole thing funny. Michael sighed. "Well I'm gonna head back now and take a break. See ya."

He turned to walk away, chuckling as he still heard the laughter of the Princess behind him. He just wanted to get his hands on the Bane of Darkness. Unlocking its secrets was definitely going to take some time.

Back in his guest room, he examined the weapon. The head still glowed brighter and dimmer, as if it was breathing. Celestia was right. This weapon does seem alive. Yet he doesn't know how to use it…

He stood up, cradling the weapon in his hands. He decided to just do a few practice swings with it to get a feel for the weight.

The structure of the halberd was similar to the ones he knew in history. It was basically a staff with a sort of axe and spearhead on one end, and a smaller spearhead on the bottom end. The axe head served for swinging motions while the spear head served for jabbing motions. And if you see an enemy approaching you from behind, the spearhead on the bottom was quick for a stab backwards.

Michael was right-handed. He placed his right hand at the center of the staff, holding it to where the head was pointing towards the ground next to him, and the bottom of the staff ran up his arm and pointed towards the ceiling. I don't know if that's a good description or not, but… what the heck.

Michael brought the head forward and twirled the staff on his fingers, swinging it vertically. Next he swung the head to the right. Lastly, he brought the head down in a strong overhand swing. He noticed that a faint golden trail of light followed the head wherever he swung. "Heh. This is amazingly badass!"

Now he decided to use his spearhead more. Bringing the whole weapon back, he forcefully jabbed forward multiple times. Piece of cake.

Next he decided to have some fun. He twirled the weapon towards the sky, shouting: "Light blast!"

Of course, he thought that it was nothing. But as soon as he pointed the spearhead towards the wall, a beam shot out and blasted the wall in. "What the-!" The force of the explosion threw him back a bit, especially since he wasn't prepared for it.

Debris scattered everywhere throughout the room. He actually blasted the wall open. "D-Did I just…"

He heard a familiar voice reply. "Yes. You blasted a hole in the wall."

Michael's heart sunk as he slowly turned around. "Hi, Princess…" But instead of a frown, he saw a smile on her face. "You're not mad?"
"No, of course not." She replied. "I'm glad you unlocked one of the weapon's secrets."

Michael looked down in shame. "I didn't intentionally do it though. I was just messin' around."

Celestia chuckled. "If that's what it takes, then go for it."

Michael looked back at her. He noticed for the first time that they were about the same height. "Ok then…"

Celestia frowned a bit for a moment. Michael could tell she was about to ask a question. "Michael. I've been meaning to ask you this for a while."

"What is it?"

"I need you to be honest, okay?"

Michael nodded. "No prob."

Celestia nodded in return. "Have you ever seen another alicorn besides Luna and I?"

Michael was confused a moment. "Well I've heard that Princess Cadance is an alicorn, but I haven't actually seen her."

Celestia seemed unconvinced about something. "Are you sure you haven't seen any other alicorn?"

Michael's eyes widened in realization. She knew. She knew about Nightmare Moon. She's the only other alicorn she could be talking about. If it weren't for Michael's helmet, she would've seen the answer in his eyes. He answered quickly. "No, nothing I can remember at least."

He could see it in her eyes. She didn't believe him for a second. Yet she acted as if she believed him. But Michael saw the truth. "Alright, Michael. Just asking. Now let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Michael nodded. "I'll be sure to. Thanks, Princess."

Celestia turned and shut the door behind her, leaving Michael in a deathly silence. The kind of silence that takes affect after someone says something shocking to you. It makes you think about what they meant.

'She knows about Nightmare Moon and my involvement with her. Celestia's got something up her sleeve. I better keep my guard up.'

Suddenly, Michael heard a sort of horn sound just outside the palace. If he could take a guess, it sounded like a war horn. Something was up.

Michael dashed out the door and into the large palace hallway, carrying the Bane of Darkness in his right hand. Multiple guards rushed down one side of the hallway, most likely reacting to the horn. He managed to stop one. "Hey! What's going on?"
The guard seemed fearful. "T-That was the warning horn! Some are saying the dark force has already made its way into the city!"

His heart fell. "What?! Already?!"

"I guess so-" The guard quickly replied. "Look, I need to get back with my squad. Catch ya later!"

The guard then dashed down the hallway after his peers.

Michael stared down at the weapon in his hand. What could he even do? Luna didn't exactly 'train' him at all. She just kicked him around, probably just for fun. He knows nothing about his weapon either than that light blast he learned by accident. But… he couldn't just bail out on these ponies. He made a vow to protect the innocent. And now they're in danger. "Ugh. I'd rather die protecting people… or ponies… than anything else… God that sounds so girly…"

It was decided. Until he could find a way back home, he'd protect them to the end.

Twilight's Room

Pinkie Pie's hair inflated itself as she jumped up. "That's the war horn! I've heard about it a bunch in Ponyville but I didn't think it would actually be used since Equestria doesn't have war but now there's that scary dark army so now there IS war and that's why the horn-!"

Applejack cut her off. "They're here already…"

Twilight jumped off one of the six beds in the room. "We have to find the Princess. We can't do nothing when there are dark ponies in the city already!"

Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy all sat where they were staring at her like she was crazy. They were still too saddened by Rainbow's death. Applejack seemed to be saddest of all. She was probably the closest one to Rainbow too. After a couple minutes of silence, Applejack spoke up. "Twi, why don't you seem… ya know… down?"

The question sort of shocked Twilight. "What do you mean, Applejack?"

Applejack stood up from her own bed. "The three of us are noticeably down… and you seem like you're fine."

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Applejack, we can't give up. Sitting here and moping around won't save Equestria! You've got to understand!"

"But what about Rainbow?"
"Applejack, I-"

"Do ya even care, Twi?"

Twilight's eyes widened. Did she… really just ask that question? "W-What?"

Applejack lowered her gaze towards the ground in shame.

Twilight felt her eyes water. "I… I can't believe… you said that. You… of all ponies." The purple unicorn exited the room and slammed the door behind her.

Twilight breathed in deeply, trying to maintain her composure without breaking down in tears. 'Come on, Twilight. You can't end up like them. Yes, they're your friends, but if they don't want to help, don't put them in unnecessary danger.'

She felt a bit easier after she mentally scolded herself. She then tasked herself with finding Michael. He was the only one of her friends that could keep a leveled head after losing someone. And he's probably the only one that could save Equestria from this evil threat.

She decided to start at the throne room. If he were to fight, he'd let Celestia know first, so she'd probably know where he'd be.

Twilight galloped down the large hallways towards the throne room.

Throne Room

"Princess?"

"Oh. Hello Michael. What brings you here?"

Michael raised an eyebrow. Luna was here, but not Celestia. "Princess Luna? Where's your sister?"

Luna shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I came here just a few minutes ago to discuss something with her, but she wasn't here. She didn't let me or anypony else know where she went. Which is a bit odd, even for her."

Michael was almost positive Celestia was up to something. "That is odd. But anyway, since she isn't here, I'll just tell you instead."

"Tell me what?"

"Oh, I was just gonna let you know that I'm headed out to fight. You know, slow down our foes a bit. Or kill them all. Either way works."

He saw a hint of worry in Luna's eyes. "But you haven't even learned much about the Bane of Darkness." She then smiled sheepishly. "Which I will admit was kinda my fault."

"Kinda?" Michael asked.

Luna sighed. "It was completely my fault."

Michael chuckled. "Don't worry. If I can get close enough, a good slash or stab will take care of them. This weapon is magic."

"Don't you see a downside to all of this?" Luna asked.

"Downside?" Michael pretended to be in deep thought. "Downside…. Nope, got nothing."

Luna rolled her eyes at Michael's humor. "Well the downside would be the fact that you have to get close to your enemies to take them out. If you knew the powers of the weapon, you could take them out from afar."

Michael shrugged. "Well I do know one teensy little power."

Luna looked surprised. "Wow. I didn't expect a mere human like you to figure something so complex."

"Luna." Michael said in an annoyed tone.

She laughed. "I'm just joking!"

Michael went on. "Complex you say? All you have to do is say light blast, and point it like this…"

What followed was a bright flash and the sound of glass breaking. Michael watched as shards of glass rained down on him from the window he just accidentally blasted open. Lucky for Luna, she was too high up to get hit by any glass. Michael shrugged. "Whoopsies."

Luna stared at the now shattered window for a moment, then shrugged as well. "Oh, at least it wasn't my window."

Michael was confused. "Wait. You guys own a window?"

"Well…. Yes. The ones to your right are Celestia's and mine. The one you blew up was Shining Armor and Cadance's."

Michael was worried that Celestia would kill him over it. "Aren't they like, pieces of history?"

Luna nodded.

"Then am I in trouble then?" Michael asked.

Luna smiled slyly. "We can just say that a couple dark ponies arrived here and destroyed the window."

Michael grinned at her response, but felt somewhat disappointed in a way. He couldn't figure out why, but it didn't feel right. "Very funny, Princess. But I'll leave you alone and go kill stuff." He turned to leave.

Luna reached out with a hoof. "Michael, wait."

Michael turned around. "Yeah?"

Luna sighed. "Aren't you going to say... any last words?"

He snorted. "Last… words?"

"Yes… Aren't you afraid you'll die out there?" She asked. "You seem… fearless."

"Well… yeah." He replied, a smile on his face. "Spartans aren't scared of getting into a fight." He turned back towards the exit. "But… it's not like I'll be missed or anything. I'm not like you guys."

He left.

Luna was left alone in the throne room. What exactly did he mean by that? "Perhaps Michael actually feels lonely in this world… And he sure can hide it well…"

Minutes later, Twilight Sparkle burst into the room from the same door Michael left in. Her eyes darted around, searching for something. "Princess Luna? Never mind, where's Michael?"

Princess Luna looked up. "Why hello, Twilight. Michael left just a few minutes ago. Do you need him?"

"Yes, where was he off to?" Twilight asked.

Luna shrugged. "He only said he was going to fight. But I don't recommend following-"

"Thanks, Princess!" Twilight sped back out the door.

The lonely Princess sighed. "I think you can come out now, sister."

Princess Celestia appeared out of thin air, soon becoming visible to her sister. "I love this spell."

Luna looked at her sister. "Poor Michael. You heard that, right?"

Celestia nooded. "I did. But it doesn't change the fact that he's trying to hide Nightmare Moon from us."
"He's heading out." Luna said, "I guess you're going to use that spell you've been perfecting."

Celestia smiled sinisterly. "Yes, and Michael will finally be able to see Nightmare Moon the way we see her…"

Luna nodded. "I guess he will…"

Everfree Ruins

Discord had left long ago. Who knows where he went?

Nightmare Moon on the other hand, dressed herself in her blue Nightmare Armor. She didn't know if Michael was dead or not. She had to know. If he were gone… then her only chance at appealing to her sister would be gone. Not to mention her first true friend. Who would've thought that her of all ponies would care for a mere human?

Sitting on the arm of the old, ruined throne was her helmet. Her horn glowed a deep purple as she lifted the beautiful helmet, raising it to where she could see her own reflection staring back at her.

She stared into those teal eyes. She was confused. Should she go back to her old ways? Everything seemed so much easier that way. Or, she could muster the courage to try and speak with her sister, which would leave her vulnerable. "What should I do…"

Canterlot

"Ha!"

Michael slashed through a single dark pony, causing its body to dissolve and dissipate. Taking a glance at his motion sensor, he noticed a pair of red dots slowly moving towards him from the right. As he turned his head right, he noticed two dark ponies charging up their black lightning, aiming directly at him.

As the two shot their lightning, Michael raised his weapon in a defensive matter. Grasping his weapon firmly with both hands, he deflected the first strike with the bottom spearhead, and swung the top end forward to swat down the second in a flash of speed.

The two dark ponies were recharging after their offensive. Michael saw his chance. Raising the Bane of Darkness to the sky, he shouted. "Light blast!"

As soon as he felt the weapon charge power, he pointed the spearhead at his two foes. A short beam shot out from the spearhead and exploded between the two ponies in the blink of an eye. When the dust settled, they were nowhere to be seen.

His objective was to get to the center of town all along. The closer he was, the more enemies he ran into. But finally, it came into sight. It was just up ahead.

But instead of there being more enemies to face, there didn't seem to be any around. How odd. "Whatever. Just makes it a lot easier for me…"

He slowly moved down the road to the center of the city, constantly eyeing his radar for any movement whatsoever. Up ahead, the center was getting closer. Eventually he got a good look at the area.

The center was pretty wide open; the way Michael preferred it. He got more evading space if anything happened. Anyway, the street winded around a grassy area in a circle and exited in four different directions. The grassy area seemed to be a small park of sorts, with park benches placed in different spots for someone who'd enjoy watching the city go on about its business. On the side facing Michael was a stage. Wooden beams held up the platform while the curtains hung open. But still, there wasn't anyone to be seen.

It was mysteriously quiet. Something wasn't right. Cautiously, he approached the stage. The only sound was his metal footsteps on the cobblestone path. Eventually he stopped just a few steps away. It was completely silent. He hated this atmosphere.

Facing the stage, he took a glance at his radar. Still nothing. "Am I really alone?"

He wished. After he said that, his radar it up with red signatures all around him. Michael's mindset snapped to combat mode as he looked up. Dark ponies were everywhere. They blocked his path in every direction. Hundreds of them. Where were they hiding?

But… they weren't attacking him. Why? From his experience with them for the past hour, they seemed to wander mindlessly everywhere they went. However, here they seemed more organized. Instead of spamming lightning strikes at him, they were keeping it charged for when he does attack.

Michael slowly turned his head, scanning every available option he had. His decisions were very limited. Limited to one. Fight.

First, he needed to create an opening. "Light blast!"

A group of enemies in front of him dissolved on impact, making space for what Michael needed. He jumped into the space, striking down another dark pony with the axe head of his weapon. All around, dark ponies opened fire on him.

Any normal person would have been killed instantly. But Spartans are trained to have quick reflexes and senses. Michael twirled his blade in fast circles all around him, deflecting lightning in a directional pattern.

As he defended himself towards the lightning, he edged towards the closest dark pony, getting ready to strike. When he was close, he attacked.

When his blade came around, he sliced the axe head clean through the dark pony. He then turned and pierced a second and brung the bottom spearhead back to pierce a third. A group challenged him as they began to charge lightning. But Michael was already upon them. He brought up the bottom and sliced through two at once before slamming the axe head down onto another. All three simultaneously dissolved and dispersed.

Now he was going to continue fighting, but something wasn't right. Michael turned to blast another group behind him, but stopped himself. He's been fighting dark unicorns the whole time, but the group standing before him wasn't a group of unicorns. They lacked a horn. They were dark earth ponies. So if they couldn't use lightning, what could they do?

He soon found his answer. The largest of the group stepped forward. Seeming to snort, he rose up on his hind legs, and slammed his hooves back into the ground.

…

For a few seconds nothing happened. Michael was tempted to let out a laugh. Too bad he let his guard down. As soon as he lowered his weapon, black tentacles erupted from the ground and grabbed his weapon arm. Michael, unable to move his arm, tossed the Bane of Darkness to his other hand and sliced through the tentacle, causing it to dissolve just like the rest of the darkness he encountered.

Soon the rest of the dark earth ponies started shaking the ground. Michael knew that he had to stay sharp. As soon as he sees a tentacle rise out of the ground, he'd need to cut it down immediately.

Four tentacles, two on each side, rose out of the ground. Michael sliced the two on the right first, and as the other two grabbed his left arm, he cut them off as well. Shortly after, eight rose around him. Two grabbed his right leg, getting him to cut through those two first. With his back turned to three, they took the chance to grab his left arm, which prompted Michael to turn and chop all three of them off. The remaining three split up and went for three different parts of his body as another five rose up out of the ground. Michael took out the first two, but the third got his left arm again. In response, he raised his right arm to swing at them. But before he could, two more grabbed his arm, preventing him from doing so. Grunting, he struggled to break free of the tentacles, but they began to curl up his arm, tightening the grip. More and more rose out of the ground and wrapped around his legs, forcing him onto his knees. Finally, the grip on his right arm squeezed tight, forcing him to drop the Bane of Darkness. Its blade hit the cobblestone with a clang.

Michael watched as the dark ponies surrounded and converged on him. He actually felt a sense of… guilt in his gut. The guilt of not accomplishing what he had tasked himself to do. With him gone no one but Luna stood in this massive army's way. She was pretty damn badass herself with that sword, but he didn't think it would be enough.

There he sat, restrained. A Spartan. Restrained. How was that even possible? It didn't matter though. He watched as the surrounding unicorns charged up their lightning attacks and point their deadly black horns at him. Craning his head back, he closed his eyes. Hopefully it wasn't too painful.

'Well, sorry everyone. I hope the sisters figure something out… but if they don't… then Equestria will fall because I failed.'

"Power down!"

Michael snapped back to reality. That voice. He knew who that was. His eyes focused on the stage.

Standing upon it was none other than Nightmare Moon. Michael gasped. "Nightmare! Come on, get me outta this!"

His smile faded as he looked around. The dark unicorns weren't charging power anymore. Did they just obey Nightmare Moon's command? "What's… What's going on?" He turned his head towards his dear friend for an answer.

Surprisingly, she smiled. "Well. I didn't expect to see you here, Michael."

Michael was confused. "Huh?"

"Don't you see, Michael?" Nightmare Moon asked.

Michael was utterly oblivious. "No, I don't."

Nightmare Moon frowned. "Whatever. What matters is that Equestria will fall in a matter of hours."

Michael's expression grew dark. "No…"

She continued. "And I will finally succeed in bringing ETERNAL NIGHT!"

The Spartan stopped struggling against his restraints. This has happened to him before. "You lied to me."

Nightmare Moon laughed sinisterly. "Why of course. Did you really think I, the Mare of the Night, would show pitiful remorse? You're a fool, Michael. I thought a human as well trained as you would be able to tell a lie…"

Michael looked up at her through his visor, silent anger around him. There was one thing he hated more than anything. Betrayal. "You shouldn't have lied to me."