(For those who saw that weird upload, I greatly apologize. I don't know how the hell that happened, and I'd like to thank Gundam-Knight-Chris for letting me know.)

Chapter 12: Duplicity

Forerunner Structure

"Spence, move up and take the right flank. Outlaw, take the left."

The two marines obeyed and swiftly moved to their positions. Michael walked casually down the middle, his weapon secured to the magnet on his back. Spence and Outlaw cautiously moved up, covering the area ahead.

They were in a large forerunner hallway, with the walls wide and the ceiling tall. Various metal cubes of different sizes littered the hallway. The three would occasionally use them as sources of cover if anything turned up.

The hallway ahead went only in one direction. The left. Michael motioned for Spence to survey the turn, since he had the best angle to get a good view of what would be awaiting them. Spence nodded and slowly edged along the wall until he could get a visual. He leaned outward a bit, only so that his head was visible from around the corner. After a few seconds, he gave Michael and Outlaw a thumbs up. Michael walked around the corner with Outlaw on his left and Spence joining them on his right.

Michael expected it to be another hallway. Instead, it was a narrower set of steps that lead deeper into the structure. The orange glow that usually illuminated the inside of the structure didn't seem to appear at the bottom of the steps, since it was pitch black. "We're gonna need light."

In response, Spence and Outlaw each switched on the tactical lights on their weapons. Michael on the other hand tapped a button on the side of his helmet, powering on a light next to his visor. "Alright, we don't know what's down there, so we need to be ready to react quickly, got it?"

The two nodded, obviously fearful of what may happen next. It didn't seem they wanted to go first, so Michael took point and began making his way down the steps. Both marines moved in behind him.

At the bottom, Michael noticed the walls enclose into an even narrower hallway, with a Knight moving right towards them. The two marines noticed as well. Spence pressed up against the left corner of the hallway entrance while Outlaw took the right corner. All three switched off their lights. Michael moved next to Spence and whispered via radio to avoid being found. "Alright. I'll run out into the open to draw its attention. I'll lead it out this hallway. As soon as it steps out here, one of you take out the legs while the other jams a knife in the mouth. Ready?"

Outlaw chuckled. "This'll be fun."

Spence shook his head. "Looks like you want the kill, so I'll take out the legs."

Assuming that meant they were ready, Michael jumped out in the open and stomped his boot against the metal ground. "Hey! Over here! Come on! You know you want this!"

He swore he heard the marines laughing. Just as planned, the Knight let out some metallic noise and began marching towards Michael. In return, the Spartan backed up, motioning the Knight towards him as if he was directing a cargo truck. The Knight drew its blade, itching for a fight.

Unfortunately for it, Spence decided to cut his blade clean through its right leg, causing it to collapse on one knee. Outlaw leaped from his corner and drove his blade right into its mouth, ripping out its core. The Knight collapsed and slowly dissolved into a thousand orange flurries, becoming a small ball of light.

Outlaw didn't know what it was. "What's that ball for?"
Michael approached him and shrugged. "I was told it was some sort of data manifest. When you 'kill them,' the little flurries are actually their life force gathering into that ball. If a watcher was around, it could reanimate it."

Spence spoke up. "So its not actually dead?"

Michael nodded. "Pretty much. Good work you two, by the way."

The two marines shared a fist bump and followed Michael down the narrow hallway.

Michael turned his head every which way, observing the walls for any doorways. He assumed the hallway lead only in the direction they were going, since there weren't any doors or break-off points.

Outlaw broke the silence. "I've got my hopes up pretty high right now. We might just make it out, y'know?"

Spence shook his head. "I don't know, man. A mile underground, an unknown structure, not knowing what's next…"

Michael chuckled at their little conversation. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find the key to some kind of Promethean repellant."

"Heh," Outlaw said. "Or maybe the queen."

"A queen Promethean?" Spence asked.

"They've got to come from somewhere," Outlaw retorted.

Spence snorted, obviously rejecting such a silly idea.

After a few minutes of small talk had passed, the three had finally reached the end of the hallway. Soon they noticed that they were now in a large, wide-open area surrounded by a metalized dome. Multiple structures erupted from the unique floor throughout the area as a result of their presence. At the very center, a pedestal slowly rose out of an opening, cradling some sort of blue sphere. The sphere itself was the only efficient source of light, emanating a bluish aura throughout the area. Small white flurries seemed to revolve around the sphere constantly. Michael pointed. "Bingo."

The three surveyed the area, making sure there weren't any threats lurking about. Oddly, there were none. Michael expected that something like this would be guarded. After shaking any doubts about the sphere, Michael approached it.

"Outlaw," Michael commanded. "Search the place for any sort of exit. Spence, with me."

Outlaw nodded and began exploring the area. Spence walked alongside Michael towards the sphere, cautiously looking behind him, watching Outlaw disappear behind a corner.

The two stopped in front of the sphere. As if sensing their approach, a holographic set of buttons with illegible symbols on them materialized in front of Michael. The Spartan debated on whether or not to push any of these buttons.

Along with the buttons, an entire solar system materialized around the two, ranging from small exotic planets to large desert ones. A single planet caught his eye particularly. It was turquoise in color, yet you could still tell the difference from the land and the oceans. It stuck out compared to the others, like it could support life. "What do you think?"

Spence examined the buttons before pointing at a center one that flashed red. "I'm wondering what that does."

Michael noticed it too, curiosity growing in him. "Commander Palmer, this is Omega Two. We've come across some sort of blue ball of energy deep inside of the structure. I need permission to see what it can do. Copy?"

Some static played through the radio before he heard the commander's voice. "I hear you, Omega Two. Unfortunately, that's a negative. It seems you may have uncovered something we've been searching for since our arrival. I've dispatched Majestic to escort you to extraction. Hold your position and DO NOT make contact with anything connected to the sphere. Palmer out."

Michael looked at Spence as if he heard her too. "This whole thing sounds weird."

Spence raised an eyebrow. "What did she say?"

"She immediately dispatched Majestic and told me not to touch anything. She sounded hysterical."

Spence attached his rifle to his back. "What do you mean by that?"

Michael shrugged. "I know this sounds weird, but let's just say we might've found something that we weren't supposed to find."

Spence felt his heart sink. "That really puts me on edge."

Michael nodded in agreement and looked back at the assortment of buttons. "The way she told us not to touch anything makes me want to touch them anyway."

His eyes once again fell upon the one planet out of all of them, the one that stuck out the most. He touched it, causing the entire solar system to disappear and zoom in on it. The two watched as the planet revolved in front if them, now revealing a bit more detail thanks to the closer view. One continent of the world, however, appeared different from the rest, since some of the land was covered in what appeared to be structures. Michael placed his palm on the continent and watched as the planet transformed into a screen and zoom in some more. Now, without a doubt, the two could tell that they weren't just structures, but small towns and cities scattered all over the place.

Spence gasped in astonishment. "Dude, I think you just discovered sentient life on a distant planet, maybe even a whole new race."

Michael was about to reply, but paused due to the sound of footsteps behind him. Spence heard it too, turning around at the same time Michael did. Their eyes met those of five Spartans, each casually walking in like they owned the place. Their armor was blue, widely known throughout the Infinity. Majestic Team.

Michael nodded his head. "How's it going, DeMarco?"

DeMarco stepped forward. "Nothing much, Griffin. We were just on break when we were called to extract you. Come on, let's go."

Outlaw returned from his search and reported right to Michael. "Looks like the only exit is out the way we came… Oh, it's Majestic. What're they doing here?"

Michael shrugged. "They're our other ticket out of here."

One of Majestic Team's members, known as Hoya, pointed out the map of the planet Michael had opened up. "Hey, Griffin, how'd that get there?"

Before Michael could answer, Grant, the female of the team, spoke first. "We were told that you weren't supposed to touch anything under any circumstance."

DeMarco sighed and walked back toward his squad. "Commander palmer made it pretty clear to let her know if you lot tampered with anything."

Moments later, he was speaking with her. "Commander Palmer? Yeahhh… This is DeMarco. I'm afraid it is what you were worried would happen. Uh huh. Wait, you can't be serious… What's so important about this thing that… *sigh* ... Alright."

Michael was in a hot situation. What could Palmer be saying right now? She sounded deathly, as if she was protecting a secret… But what secret? His eyes fell upon the planet he had just examined. Could it be? Do they know about this place?

"Griffin."

Michael turned back around to face his past 'friends.' Right away his fighting spirit kicked in, focusing on the guns being pointed at him. DeMarco mumbled something into his radio.

Spence had his gun aiming back at the five Spartans, preparing to return fire.

Hoya swiftly turned his DMR to point at Spence and pulled the trigger.

Michael watched as the 51mm bullet soared towards its target. Did they really just do that? Did Majestic Team really just fire on another marine? These questions repeatedly ran through Michael's mind, as the bullet connected with its target, and Spence dropped to the ground.

Outlaw's eyes widened as he glared at Majestic in anger. "Oh HELL NO!"

Michael turned his head to Outlaw, who unpinned a grenade and threw it with all of his anger straight at Majestic.

Time seemed to slow here as Michael still tried to process what happened. Nonetheless, it didn't matter now. They killed Spence.

Back to the grenade slowly soaring through the air. He knew that trained Spartans, especially Majestic Team, would easily evade the grenade somehow. Time for the unexpected.

Michael drew his DMR with ease and sent a single shot for the grenade. He predicted the location of the grenade successfully, allowing the bullet to connect and detonate the grenade early. Majestic Team on the other hand, didn't expect it to explode so soon, and took severe damage to their shields from it.

Hoya, who was closest to the grenade, took so much damage that his shields completely dropped. This gave Michael the opportunity to take him down easily.

He put his finger on the trigger, but hesitated a second. He was about to shoot another Spartan. Whatever. They started it.

"This is for those who died today." Michael sent a bullet right through Hoya's visor, shattering it. Hoya fell back, motionless. Grant called out. "Hoya! No!"

She caught him before he hit the ground. Looking back up at Michael, her cold eyes focused on him behind the visor. The rest of Majestic targeted who they wanted to and opened fire. Michael knew that without shields and armor, Outlaw was as easy a kill as a simple grunt. He dashed in front of him and activated his hard-light shield, effectively blocking the shower of bullets that would've torn Outlaw apart.

Outlaw took the time to dive behind one of the risen forerunner columns and drew his shotgun. Michael backed up and took cover behind a column parallel to Outlaw's. The marine took the SMG from his holster and tossed it to Michael. "It might work better than the DMR in here."

He was right. Thanks to the columns, the room went from an open free fire area to close quarters. Michael stuck his DMR to his back and checked the magazine of the smaller, more flexible weapon. "Good idea."

Yet the tactics of a marine were nothing compared to a Spartan. Spartan Thorne appeared behind him like a ghost in a horror movie. Before he knew it, Outlaw was blasted from behind with a shotgun, the force sending him flying a few meters towards Michael.

Michael knew that when there was a team of Spartans, they always pulled off some sort of team maneuver. So he assumed there was another behind him too.

His guess was right as he turned and brought the barrel of DeMarco's rifle upward, causing it to fire towards the ceiling. DeMarco went for a left hand punch directed at Michael's helmet, but missed as Michael turned his head away from the punch. Michael grabbed his now outstretched arm and threw DeMarco over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground. DeMarco's shield flickered from the impact, protecting him from bodily harm. DeMarco jumped up and fired his rifle at Michael, who took a step behind cover before he could be hurt. But still, there was one of him and four of Majestic. Grant happened to be waiting for him exactly where he decided to take cover. Michael realized too late, taking a kick to the chest. His shields busted on impact, leaving him completely vulnerable to any weapons. DeMarco took his chance and let out a few bursts in Michael's direction. Michael barely reacted in time and activated his hard-light shield to block them, and turned in Grant's direction to block a few life-threatening magnum shots from her as well. He took his momentum towards her and bashed her to the side with his shield and took cover behind another column as DeMarco neared, this time even closer to the blue sphere.

Madsen and Thorne stepped forward, two more of Majestic Team's members. Madsen, a marksman, carried his sniper rifle on his shoulder while Thorne held a simple assault rifle.

DeMarco made his way to Grant's side and helped her up. "You good? Looks like you took a hard hit."

Grant nodded, rolling her arm to stretch it. "Yeah, he's tough. But we have numbers. We'll get em."

Madsen called out to Michael, trying to toy with him. "Come on, Griffin! There's four of us, and one of you. Your fellow marines are out of the picture, so I suggest you just accept death so we can get the hell outta here!"

Thorne also spoke, with a singe of anger in his voice. "And before you die, I'll personally make sure you suffer for what you did to Hoya."

Michael, on the other end, saw no other option than surrender. What could he do, especially against Majestic? Yes, he killed Hoya, but that was with the help of a team member, not himself. Looks like it was over… unless….

Michael tossed his DMR and SMG out into the open, signaling that he was done for. He cautiously walked out into the open as well, causing Thorne and Madsen to lower their weapons, knowing he was no longer dangerous. Thorne seemed surprised. "Knowing you, I thought you'd never give up."

They didn't know, but Michael was taking the smallest steps backwards, moving closer and closer to the blue sphere. Out of the corner of his eye, he acknowledged the fact that the holographic image of the 'special' planet was still where he had left it before the… incident, along with the floating array of buttons beneath it. The red button. It was still flashing, and he was determined to figure out what that button would do.

He was only a few steps away before Grant noticed he was in a complete different spot than before. It annoyed him too. She always seemed to despise him. "He's headed for the objective! Take him down!"

A volley of bullets was launched Michael's way as he switched on his hard-light shield. The small amount of energy he had left gave him enough time to leap at the red button and slam his palm down on top of it.

The first thing he noticed was the sphere change color: from blue to red. The phenomenon was spectacular enough to distract his opponents, who lowered their weapons and gazed in awe. Next, the sphere expanded to its original size, engulfing Michael in a circle of red. He initially panicked, due to red usually meaning bad.

"We can't let him use it!" He heard DeMarco shout. Use it? So they know what this thing is already?

Michael himself was trapped inside the red force field, trying to push his way out of it. But he couldn't go anywhere. He was isolated.

A contraption formed beneath Michael, beginning to spin rapidly at an increasing rate. The force field itself began to shrink in on Michael, leading him to believe that it would eventually crush him. He also began to feel slightly hill, noticing his vision beginning to become dazed.

On the other side of the circle was DeMarco, his helmet off, constantly slamming his fist against the force field. Michael was feeling weaker and weaker to where he was struggling just to stand. DeMarco was shouting something, but the force field blocked out his voice.

The field was now literally hugging Michael, as the exhaustion and tiredness finally got to him. He collapsed, trying to keep himself up by dragging his hands down the force field. Unfortunately he couldn't keep himself awake, and lost consciousness, the darkness edging inward until all he saw, was black.

Unknown Location

Patt Patt Patt

"Ugh… What the…"

The gentle pattering of the rain on his visor awakened Michael. He sat up, turning his head to look around him. It took a minute to dawn on him what had unfolded earlier. "Majestic! Wait… where are they?"

They were nowhere to be seen. Not to mention it was pitch black outside. He noticed that he was surrounded by eerie looking trees, with water constantly running down their leaves, wetting the ground. It was definitely nighttime due to the extreme darkness. "At least I'm on some sort of path…"

Through the forest of trees was a winding path, somewhat old looking since it was partially weathered away to mere bricks and dirt.

The next thing he noticed was his shield bar. It was empty. And even worse, they weren't recharging. Maybe what happened in that force field affected his shields. Or maybe it was the rain… the rain? What was he thinking? "Whatever…"

He also felt somewhat… different…

After checking his other utilities, Michael proceeded down the path, in hopes of finding something that could indicate where he had ended up. Perhaps… just perhaps, he had ended up on that planet he examined earlier. Well, only one way to find out.

Present Time

"I thought a human as well trained as you would be able to tell a lie…"

He snapped. The magical barrier preventing his full rage had broken. He thought of Nightmare Moon, how he first met her, how kind she was. And to think he was going to help her prove herself to Celestia.

He felt something inside him. Something he had never felt before. He could feel the Bane of Darkness's power. It was calling to him, fueling his anger. Its blade glowed, even brighter than before. He felt it giving him strength, the strength to overpower any darkness. And unfortunately for the dark ponies, they were made of darkness.

Michael's arms emitted a white aura as the tentacles restraining them literally dissolved at the touch of the aura. His arms now free, he grabbed the tentacles gripping his legs and ripped them to shreds. Then he turned to the earth ponies sending the tentacles and swung in their direction, launching an arc of light from his arm that sliced through them, causing them to dissolve. He then turned to Nightmare Moon, who had a look of complete terror plastered on her face, and launched an arc at her with the swing of his arm. Her horn lit up as she sent a counter spell at the arc, dissipating it. She then flew up into the sky, trying to distance herself from Michael as much as possible. The rage in the Spartan's eyes wouldn't accept her escape. He snatched up the Bane of Darkness, infusing the aura in his arms with the blade. In uncontrollable anger, he pointed the top of the blade at the airborne alicorn. He felt it charging, storing power, before an enormous golden beam erupted from the spearhead, soaring at an incredible speed towards its target. Nightmare Moon turned her head to see the anger in Michael's eyes, but instead her own eyes widened in a burst of fear as she noticed the beam nearing her. At the last second, she seemed to teleport a small distance below the beam's trajectory, effectively dodging it. She flapped her wings a few more times to recover from the midair shift, and flew on her way towards the Everfree.

Michael on the other hand accepted the fact that she escaped; yet he was still frustrated with himself. To be fooled like that. He digressed as he noticed the approach of the hundreds of dark minions enclosing around him. Like they'd do anything.

He tightened his grip around the shaft of his weapon, forcing the blade to glow even brighter. Immediately, multiple arcs of lightning erupted from the group around him, leading him to deflect them once more with the blade. This time, as the lightning touched the blade, it came right back yellow, striking the unicorns that launched them and simplifying them to nothing more than a useless gas. This continued before the earth ponies began shaking the ground with their tentacles. Michael was ready for them this time, cutting them to shreds whilst repelling lightning attacks. Eventually he grew tired of the constant onslaught, tightening his grip even more on the shaft. He didn't know what made him do such a thing, but he instinctively brought the blade up and jammed it into the ground with all of his strength. Perhaps the Bane of Darkness manipulated his movements. Nevertheless, upon impact with the ground, he sent waves of golden light in every direction, washing over the minions and reducing them to gases instantly.

What resulted surprised him slightly. The few remaining dark ponies began to stumble backwards purposely. They were showing signs of fear, which was completely unusual. They always seemed to just slowly stumble towards you, like the flood. But now they were cowering away.

Michael felt some sympathy towards them, but the sympathy was replaced by more anger. "It doesn't change what they've done here…"

He charged up the staff once again and launched projectile after projectile at the poor foes. Each projectile connected with a target and sent it into a puff of smoke. Michael put a ton of power and energy into his vengeful rage that he began to feel light-headed, his own energy at a low level. He soon found himself on his knees, staring towards the ground, and breathing heavily. How quiet it was now.

For a few minutes, he sat there, lamenting over the earlier encounter with Nightmare Moon. The sound of hooves broke the silence. It came from behind him. He brought his blade around to take whatever it was out.

"Michael! Wait!"

His eyes widened as he stopped himself immediately. That was Twilight's voice.

He turned around. His eyes ran along the shaft of his weapon up to the tip of the blade. They then fell upon the familiar purple unicorn, her own eyes frozen with fear, focused on the point of the blade that had just cut the tips of her bangs off. Michael dropped the weapon, a clang echoing throughout the area as metal collided with cobblestone. "Twilight… I'm…"

The horrified expression surprisingly dissolved into a neutral one. "Don't worry, Michael." Her voice was shaky, but it didn't seem it was because of her near death experience.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" He asked her.

Twilight took a while to answer. She seemed to have mixed emotions as of that moment. Finally she replied. "I never thought you were this… violent."

Michael wasn't surprised. He had just realized what he went through just a few minutes ago, yet it didn't affect him. His true side had come out, just like that. "It's something you'd expect from someone like me."

The moment continued for a couple more minutes in silence as Twilight took those words in. "When you slaughtered those dark ponies, I didn't see the Michael I met just a week ago. All of that anger, all of that rage, it was like it had been pent up inside you, waiting to be released. I saw a monster, Michael."

Again, he wasn't surprised. Another silent moment followed. Michael finally looked at her. "I don't belong here, Twilight. You and I both know that." He paused a moment before continuing. "Humans were banished for a reason."

"And now I understand why," Twilight said bluntly.

Michael stood up. "Good."

Twilight looked puzzled, in a frustrated way. "Good? What do you mean good?"

"It's good you don't know any more than that," Michael replied bluntly. "It can be much worse."

Twilight was wordless. Worse? She thought that what she had saw was the height of his rage. But worse? "Oh Celestia…"

"Anyway," Michael said, turning his head back in Twilight's direction. "Tell the princess I'm off to take down the one who's killed innocent ponies for her own selfish reasons."
Twilight muttered. "Nightmare Moon…"

Michael nodded. "Yes, the one who I thought was going to mend her past mistakes…"

"Alright…" Twilight said as she turned to leave. But something stopped her. She looked back at him. "Michael."

He stopped. "Hm?"

She paused a moment. "Don't do something you'll regret."

Michael stood their, taking in those words, while Twilight galloped away. Don't do something you'll regret. Without longer dwelling on those words, he broke off into a jog towards the Everfree.

One hour later…

Canterlot Royal Palace

Celestia sat upon her throne, worried about the many lives lost in the siege. The throne room was for the most part empty, the only ponies present were her and two royal guards. It was also very quiet, the small movements they made echoed lightly throughout the large room.

The doors to the side of the throne slid open as her sister, Luna, walked through them, her expression impossible to tell. Celestia jumped up from her throne and quickly trotted down the steps right up to her. "Ah, Luna. Any word on Michael?"

Luna shrugged. "Actually, that was exactly what I wanted to ask you."

Celestia sighed. "I'm worried, sister. The brave human who stepped out to fight an army of darkness may have outspoken himself…"

"I fear the same…" Luna replied, her facial expression growing weary.

Just then, the main doors burst open as Twilight Sparkle appeared. Once she saw the sisters, she immediately trotted right up to them, her actions seeming to be quite frantic. "P-Princess... Mi…Michael…" Her words were slurred by heavy breathing. She must've been running all this way.

Princess Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder. "My student. Please, take your time. Catch your breath."

Luna nodded. "Yes, we can barely understand you."

After a moment of breath-recovery, Twilight cleared her throat to speak. "I found him."

Celestia jumped. "Is he alright?"

Twilight nodded, but the nod was slow. "Yes…"

Luna raised an eyebrow in Celestia's direction for her random excitedness, which is really unusual for her. However, Twilight's disappointed nod caught her attention more. "What happened?"

"He was restrained by some new form of darkness," Twilight began. "The dark ponies that resemble earth ponies."

"And?" Celestia asked, curiosity growing within her.

"I saw Nightmare Moon appear before him," Twilight said, going on. "And… it was like… he snapped. Like a bomb waiting to go off."

Luna's expression grew worried. "He became angry?"

"Yes," Twilight replied. "I can see why you banished humans back in the day…"

Celestia's expression remained unchanged, as if she knew what he would do. "Twilight, please explain in detail what you observed."

Twilight nodded as she inhaled. "She appeared on stage in the town square, like some sort of cruel play. She cackled as I heard her speak down to Michael, saying something like Michael has known her before. And then, as everything was silent, I heard him say that she shouldn't have lied to him."

Luna seemed disappointed. "So our suspicions were correct, after all dear sister. Michael had spoken to Nightmare Moon in the past."

"Wait," Twilight said before Celestia could reply. "You knew Michael had something to do with Nightmare Moon?"
"Yes," Celestia said, looking much more serious. "One of the scout parties claimed to have noticed him conversing with her deep in the Everfree forest, where the old palace was. The place where you and your friends vanquished the sinister mare when she returned."

"So she isn't gone…" Twilight murmured, still shocked that Nightmare Moon was still living all this time.

"Nevertheless, she needs to be eliminated," Celestia retorted, obviously deeming her dangerous. "She must've sent the dark ponies to invade as well."

Luna nodded in slight agreement. "You mentioned that you understood why humans were banished. Care to elaborate."

"Gladly," Twilight replied, "Once he saw that Nightmare Moon was behind all of this, he went into a rage. He immediately broke free of the restraints and obliterated the dark ponies around him."

"Once he was free," Celestia asked. "Did he direct his anger at Nightmare Moon?"

"Precisely," the unicorn said. "It seems the angrier he gets, the more power his attacks contain."

"And the more energy he uses up," Luna added in.

Twilight nodded. "As a result, a large beam of light energy erupted from his weapon, heading straight for Nightmare."

"Oh my," Celestia commented. "He seems to have unlocked another spell the Bane of Darkness can use. And it took anger, which is negative at most…"

"Did the beam make contact with Nightmare Moon?" Luna asked, taking a glance at her sister.

"No," Twilight said. "Michael's accuracy was very well, but Nightmare Moon dodged the beam seconds before impact."

"I see…" Celestia muttered before asking, "And where is Michael now?"

"He said he was going to find Nightmare Moon right away."

Twilight noticed Luna's worried expression worsen. "What's the matter, Princess?"
"N-Nothing…" Luna stuttered, retreating towards the door next to the throne. "I will be in my quarters. Take care, Twilight." With that, she quickly made her way through the door and disappeared.

Twilight looked puzzled as she glanced in the door's direction. "I wonder where that came from…"

Celestia shrugged. "I wonder the same thing. Nonetheless, go find your friends. Get some rest. You deserve it."

"Yes… Princess…" She had some doubt in her mind since Princess Luna had acted so… scared. Nonetheless, she trotted to the main doors and slid through them, leaving the princess alone in the throne room.

En route to Ponyville…

The sound of metal boots slamming onto the ground could be heard. Michael was taking full strides as he ran down the mountain, his metal boots sending a clang throughout the range every time they hit the metal rails. His face, hidden behind his visor, was expressionless, his eyes just staring ahead as his legs carried him along the tracks. There was one though on his mind, and it was for revenge. She had lied. She had killed hundreds of innocent ponies. And with that, she was going to pay.

Don't do something you'll regret.

Twilight's words echoed in his head. Not that it mattered.

"I'm coming for you, Nightmare Moon."