The End Times

Chapter 24: The Revival of Joseph Brooklyn

Pain...incredible amounts of pain, Joseph is slowly crawling but clearly struggling to. His bones are broken all over, some blood is coming out from his mouth an some cuts. The human boy let out painful moans, loud enough for others to hear...but nopony came. Deep inside, Joe thinks he greatly deserves all of this, for what happened in the past...was The Man a real hero? Trying to make the boy pay for past sins?
'O...Of course...it has to be why...what I've done cannot...be redeemed...I'm...a-a liar...m...murderer...they can't look at me the same way again...t-this is good...a-a death that shows no forgiveness...this is what I deserve' Joe thinks strongly.

The rain is still pouring down heavily, showing no signs of stopping. It felt cold, harsh...for the first time in awhile...Joseph remembers the moments 4 years ago. Feeling lost, hurt, anger, sadness and feeling cold inside...dead.
Joe stares into the dark clouds, thinking what could possibly be happening now after M told his friends, the ones he loved truly. Never in a million years could they ever forget this...just imagining the thoughts running inside their minds, being themselves and what they believed in him. All of it now shattered like glass, unable to put the pieces back together. And could Joe blame them? They all loved him as much as he did until that moment 'they must hate me now but for good reasons. But...I-I...'

Joseph Brooklyn felt pain inside his chest when becoming emotional, coughing and now crying 'B-But I love them...I-I really mean it...Oh god...I'm so sorry...a-all I ever wanted in my god forsaken life was to be loved and cared for...a-and I was! Thinking I too could care as much as my friends, look at me now! I'm a cold blooded murderer! A liar! There is no one in life who can hate me more than me myself! It was me who promised to protect my friends! I want everyone to have their lives and peace back! If I die...let me! I hope it fixes the lives I destroyed!'

After a few painful sobbing at himself, the human sniffs and looks back at the dark clouds as rain hits his face and entire body becoming completely soaked. Joe's body is slowly becoming numb, not being able to move the arms or the legs.
The boy closes his eyes and starts to remember everyone he cares for 'I-I remember...when things were scary being in a new world of talking creatures. I thought my mind was lost until the girls decided to accept me without a doubt almost...like they were willing to trust me even though I was a strange new species that. And they all guided me in their world, and there was nothing like it. Twilight and Spike...she took the liberty to keep me safe and have a place to stay and Spike...my friend, my brother...w-who always trusted and believed me. We all acted like a family. Applejack...put my back into things and also gave me a family atmosphere with her family, she would try and hear me out. Rainbow Dash gave me something to fight for, a purpose...without her, I'd been a bookworm...not that its a bad thing. Pinkie Pie is full of life and just made me happy when I saw her...and seeing her limitations only made her more lovable. Fluttershy was like me at the time...still is a bit, but we built confidence together. And she found Shadow Breeze again, who became my friend. Rarity ensured I was clean, smart and always wanted me to have some clothes to try on and delighted to fix rips and holes. And so...h-happy she and Spike are trying to make things work together...'

Suddenly Joseph's eyes are starting to close from exhaustion but tries to stay conscious to listen to his own thoughts 'e-everypony at Ponyville were friendly with me, C-Chardonnay, Luna, Cele...mother...what have I done for you all? Destroyed your trust...'

As Joe is starting to lose conscious, feeling nothing at all and only seeing darkness slowly enveloping his vision. It is the right time...to give up and suffer...however, he sees a rather large pony with a long greasy mane, a black scar across his golden eye is glaring down at the human. Joseph couldn't make out who it is but what did it matter now? It's time to go, with that...he closes his eyes and goes limp.

The pony, General Spirit is glaring down at the unconscious human growls and uses his teeth to grab Joe's shirt and put the human onto his back and dashes off and mutters "idiot..."

---

Canterlot, Celestia's palace

Princess Celestia is standing at her window looking at the outside world with a stern but worried expression. It was a lovely day not so long ago until the dark clouds covered the land of Equestria and rain started to fall. Something wasn't right at all but she couldn't put her hoof on it, but she knew for sure that some dark feeling is lurking around her land. And Celestia is going to get to the bottom of this, she hears to doors open and Luna flies to her sister with the same expression "Sister! Do you know what's going on?"

Celestia shakes her head and turns towards Luna who landed in front of her "I'm afraid I don't know yet Luna, but something dark is lurking around. If it was so obvious we'd know what it is but this is different which scares me."

Luna bites her lower lip, hearing all that from her sister it is serious "that is not what I was hoping but whatever it is we have to contain the situation and deal with this problem."

Celestia smiles down at Luna and nuzzles her "oh Luna, just like old times?"

Luna chuckles and nods "Yes, the fun has been doubled! Let's get to it Tia!"

But all of a sudden, they heard chuckles echo across the hall which got louder and louder, almost of a mad pony. For Luna and Celestia, their eyes widen in horror...it had been a very, very long time but only it felt like yesterday when hearing the chuckle. They looked at each other with disbelief, thinking of who it is "no...Sister...it cannot be!" Luna shouts.

Celestia looks around frantically "show yourself if we believe who you are!"

Out of nowhere, a odd looking figure appears out of thin air with a wicked grin at the two princesses. Princess Luna and Celestia gasps in shock, its really him...Discord in the flesh hovering above them "n...no...It can't be true" Luna whispers.

Discord chuckles and folds his arms at them "oho! I can assure you it's possible! With the snap of my fingers I shall make dummies of you two appear!" he boasts and clicks his fingers.

Two life-size dummies of Celestia and Luna appear in front of them and the dummies look up at the real princesses "what you looking at dummies?" they said in union.

Discord snaps his fingers and smirks "gets me everytime!"

Celestia makes her horn glow alongside Luna and fires a beam of energy at him but Discord easily dodges it and makes a fake hurt look "awww...that's no way to say hello to a friend you banished away for a very long time!"

"That's something to explain, how did you managed to escape your seal in the statue? We never sensed your escape! It's still standing right inside the garden!" Celestia shouts.

Discord grins and drinks some soda with a straw "oh that! Well, I will admit I couldn't of done it without a guy who rightfully thought I should be free! Please present yourself my good friend!"

Princess Celestia and Luna sense something coming behind them and see a dark portal appearing out of nowhere and a figure wearing a silver costume and a strange mask comes out. It adjusted the costume and put its hands in pockets "wait...hands?" Luna speaks out.

Celestia noticed how much human the person is, clothing suitable for a human, stands like a human and manner is of a human but couldn't believe it was Joe, her son. She stares at the masked figure and Discord appears behind it and places his hands on the shoulders "my princesses, please welcome my saviour and advisor, The Man or M!" he shouts and makes crowd noises for cheering.

Luna blinks and shakes her head "you're not Joseph...who are you?"

M chuckles and adjusts his gloves, showing some blood on them "as Lord Discord said, those names. And I hope you don't think of me as the human, because he is experiencing an incredible amount of pain and suffering after I visited him in Ponyville."

Celestia's pupils grew small at the mention of Ponyville and seeing the blood on the gloves "t-the blood...have you...harmed my ponies?"

M laughs and puts his hands back in the pockets "Oh no...Just mentally, it was your beloved son who I hurt the most."

Princess Celestia grits her teeth together when hearing the delight of what he said, hurting Joseph and done something to her ponies "how dare you...I will ensure you remember my wrath..." she growls.

"Ooooh! So scary! I'm shaking in my space boots!" Discord wails playfully which gets a faint chuckle out of M.

Luna glares and makes her horn glow "you two better surrender now or else-"

The Man laughs and stares at her the princess of the moon "or what? Kill us?" he said amused.

The Princess of the night flinches at that but feels Celestia by her side with a reassuring look "or else you'll be back as a statue and for you...you will be locked up for the rest of your life" she said at the end glaring at M.

M looks at Discord, if he could see behind the mask Discord could see a very amused expression "quite the lady isn't she Lord Discord. I can see why you talk of her so much."

Discord laughs "exactly my friend! But we're not here to fight...yet. But we're here to tell you some things for future reference."

Princess Celestia watches them both carefully, trying to find a weakness but if she or Luna makes a false move, it will not end well "what is it?"

Discord flies up and gestures his arms out "my plans for you! I am making an army! An army that seeks to conquer in my name and humiliate your pathetic ponies. If any one of them goes out of line...my soldiers have the right to use whatever means to solve the issues. By the end, I will be gaining more power than anyone in this world by using special devices in certain locations! Which is secret!~"

Celestia gives Luna a questionable glance but soon looks to Discord "why are you telling me all this? Are you trying to lose this?"

Discord stares down "oh no...I want to have some fun; I want you to prepare all of your subjects for battle...ready to truly risk their lives in your name. I want to see you suffer as you done to me...ooh I been waiting for so long for this moment! As long as you two know what's going on...you will always be on guard for when we attack! Starting today when the clock hits 12am in 2 days. Expect war...my dear Princesses!"

Luna gasps and shakes her head "what!? NO! You've gone mad Discord! Mad!"

Discord chuckles and covers his mouth "I assure you Luna...I'm sane...seeing you two, knowing your ponies will fall. Must be so heart breaking...nothing I promise you...Nothing...will prevent this. Go ahead, fortify...train...recruit...evacuate. As you all are suffering...I will be gaining power beyond you!"

The Man and Discord standing together and M breaks a small dark crystal to open a portal for them "prepare yourselves...The End Times is coming! Tata for now!" shouts Discord as he and M go through the portal and it closes behind them.

"NO!" Screams Celestia and Luna, trying to use their magic to keep the portal open or prevent them from leaving but a force strong enough prevent that.

Both of them didn't know what to think or how to feel, maybe for the first time in a long time they're feeling powerless. The sisters looks at each other, looking for reassurance and comfort at this situation but it's Celestia who speaks first "my sister...I can't believe this either but...Discord is back because of that man. And if what Discord said was true...we have to prepare ourselves."

Luna gives a sad and worried loom towards Celestia "but Celestia...we have nothing to fight with and our ponies can't fight whatever they're going to throw at us!"

"I understand sister but the odds are against us. We have no choice but to spread the word out as quickly as possible. But first we must put the barrier up in case they try surprise attacks...and once Canterlot is ready within a day, we'll spread out across Equestria and be prepared. I won't allow Discord to do as he pleases...I will put myself forward and not sit back."

Luna feels inspired but at the same time worried at what may happen, all these things are going on so suddenly but she has to trust her sister and most of all, herself "a-alright Tia...I'll do my best to assist you all."

Princess Celestia uses her magic to bring Luna into a loving hug "oh Luna...I'm lost and worried as much as you are...but we have to do what we use to do. Protect and help them..This will a very different event...and we must be ready for this, all of us."

Princess of the Moon hugs back and nuzzles her neck "y-yes sister...I promise to redeem myself and ensure the safety of all!"

Celestia nods "alright...let's prepare the barrier together and round up General Spirit...where is he by the way?" she asks, looking around.

---

Darkness along with the sound of nothing, as if life itself ceased to exist until a voice spoke out in the distance "get up...get up!" it shouts!

Joseph Brooklyn's eyes slowly opens painfully and goes to see who woke him up but light blocks his vision and speaks painfully "w...who are you?...w-why am I alive?"

As the human's vision cleared gradually improved when focusing and tries to sit up but feels a sharp pain spreading throughout his body "AHH!" Joe yells.

"Lay back down you moron! Your body needs to recovering from broken bones, bleeding and major bruises!" a familiar voice shouts down a hallway.

Joe turns his head around slowly and stares "w-wait...you're-"

He is cut off by his supposed saviour who has a stern and angry look "and shut up while you're at it, I heard enough about you dreaming your love interest" he said, revealing himself to be General Spirit.

Joseph blinks to himself 'wait...Spirit...the one from the Gala and who put me and Spike in training at Xenthur.'

The large white unicorn with a scar on his left eye glares down at the boy, thinking of something Joe probably doesn't want to know "you took one hell of a beating boy, all I can say is that I'm sorry it had to be you. And no, you still can't speak."

Spirit turns around and goes to a desk with lots of materials, tools, medicine and books "I'm going to make you a powerful potion that should be able to heal you in a matter of a few hours although you're going to still feel sore. I'm not very good with magic, so I have to resort this option."

Joe listens carefully to what Spirit had to say but he wonders why make an effort helping him? If Spirit truly knew what Joseph had done in the past, it's not worth helping at all "f-forgive me sir, b-but why...why are you trying t-to save me?" Joe asks.

The unicorn sighs at Joseph denying an order but has to appreciate being so bold "because you've become part of something now. The Man has beaten you to a living pulp, broken your soul and body...and you're wondering why he's done that to you and how do I know?"

Joseph Brooklyn grimaces a nod out of curiosity, wanting explanations "y-yes...I don't know him...a-and why is he doing this?"

Spirit glances back for a second before returning to work on the potion for the human boy "you remember hearing a name called Kirk? The human who arrived here before you?" he says, seeing another nod from Joe.

"Long ago before you were born, when I was just a young colt that lived with a rich family with very close ties to Celestia. I use to have a crush on her when I was young and she always loved seeing me. But one day, dark clouds formed around and I was outside reading a book and thought it would have been best to go inside until I saw something floating in the sky. A woman of some sorts wearing a dark robe and bluish skin, something surrounded me...anger of some sorts and when she noticed me...out of rage she summoned a bolt of lighting and set my home mansion on fire. I tried to run and see where my parents were when the servant and maids made it out but the woman stood in front of me and gave me this scar using dark magic. I yelled in pain but she chuckled and disappeared, while I try to recover by crawling towards the mansion. Yelling for my mother and father, but thankfully rain started to pour and stopped the fire spreading around. But when I went to find my parents...you can imagine" Spirit explains but stops dead quiet and rubs his eye.

Joseph sat quietly, saddened something like this happened and it also helps ignore the pain 'my god...how can something like of happened?'

Spirit continues and looking like he is nearly finished with the potion "I heard a voice in the distance, I looked out of a window and saw a figure running towards my home looking shocked. I thought he was with the woman and went down to fight him but...he convinced me by pulling a few punches and restraints that he was on my side and the woman brought him to my world. He helped refurbished the mansion since the servants and maids left. And when Celestia came, demanding what happened and if I was alright. I had to lie about the figure and say everything is fine...it was a horrible accident. She offered me to live with her but I refused...home is where I needed to be...for revenge. The human was called Kirk and came from Earth like you, he was 15 or 16...I can't remember all that much. But Kirk helped me recover from things while I guided him to Equestria...however we both wanted to bring down the Witch as we called her and make things right. But I needed help since we couldn't beat her in the state of mortals. Somepony at Canterlot who worked closely with Celestia was a pony I got along with and she decided to visit me. But when she met Kirk and my plans on making a gem that makes us faster, stronger, smarter she of course refused at first. So...under threat that she'll tell Celestia all of this, I begged her...even Kirk did that the secret must be kept with us. Slowly but surely she accepted, her name was Chariot Rosebud and she helped make a gem like Spike eaten...to be like what you and Spike are today. And it happened" Spirit says and he walks over to Joe using his horn to levitate the bottle with yellow liquid.

The tall unicorn sees a worried look on the human's face "yes...you will drink ALL of it, it'll taste like the worst thing you can imagine. But it WILL heal you in a few hours so stop acting like a child or else I'm going to shove hoof so FAR up somewhere...you'll wish you've died! Drink it!" he yells.

Joe nods quickly and holds the bottle, with a nervous swallow he slowly drinks it whole and coughs, the pain pounding like mad when coughing. General Spirit looks at him and nods, feeling it'll work correctly and sits down "once we got our power, we decided to head to a legendary island called Xenthur and learned the ways of Chaj...however we took longer than you did. Even master Chardonnay could sense the Witch was unleashing her anger across the world. Once we finished, we returned to my mansion and brought Chariot back to an underground base me and Kirk built to plan out how to expose her out and defeat her, also for other situations. Oh...Kirk and Chariot had a thing going if you're interested in romance still."

Joseph blushes at Spirit obviously knowing the romantic feelings he has for the Mares but waves for Spirit to continue.
"Chariot thought she could use some of the dark essence of magic in my scar to make something that would bring the Witch out. It was a crystal that sent out a signal...when Kirk and I decided to go and find an open space so we could fight the Witch fair and square. In a matter of minutes the witch appeared and saw what we done to summon her, this impressed but obviously angered her...I was so ready to beat her to death but Kirk asks why was she doing all of this. And the only response she gave us was that she was going to prove she was serious to...someone or something about...ugh...I forgot what it was. But we both fought her and thanks to our training, we were able to come on top. While we were ready to bring her to justice, out of nowhere Chariot wanted to tell Kirk something important when she shouted out. I wondered why the hell she was here. She must have been observing us and thought it was safe to come down...it wasn't...because the Witch shot a beam of energy at Chariot and...and...she fell to the ground, Kirk went to her side and talked to her...Chariot whispered something to him but spoke out loud that she loves Kirk...kissing his lips before...passing away. This brought Kirk into a massive rage, nothing like I seen before and charged at the Witch."

Joe leans up painfully and looks at Spirit with eagerness "w-what happened then?"

Spirit seeming more than happy to tell the story of the past due to Joe's willingness to learn more "Well that's a hard one, because when Kirk charged her, she flew him away to a tiny island and they fought each other...I...don't know what happened after because Kirk...never really told me the details, only that she wanted revenge on something that forced her to do this for something. We...took Chariot's body and put her in the Tomb of the Fallen, in my mansion underground. Other than that...Kirk found what she was going to tell Kirk, a crystal to return to Earth by breaking it, I asked if he really wanted to go and he was certain. We hugged and said our goodbyes, promising to be friends even after death and to never forget the road we all took."

Joseph Brooklyn looks down in silence, he hasn't been through anything yet and what happened to him thanks to M...how could that compare to all that long ago and had to endure to this day? But hearing all this cleared a few things up but only more questions sprung up "Spirit...why do I feel you're still not telling me everything?" said Joe.

The unicorn laughs "if I were to explain everything, this would be more boring and too long, I think some people will agree. That plus there are things you're not ready to hear just yet."

Joe grunts in pain but to his surprise, it hurt slightly less thanks to the potion "what can you tell me of the situation now thanks to M?"

"M a few weeks ago somehow managed to free Discord while replacing with a fake statue. I was the only who noticed and before you DARE to accuse me, I had to be sure, really sure or otherwise it's unwise of me to spread false rumours. But when I did find out Discord-wait...you know who Discord is right?" Spirit asks, realising the human may not get the subject.

The boy nods "y-yeah...read about him in books."

Spirit sighs with relief "thank Celestia, anyway! When I found out it wasn't right to tell Celestia or any others...he would of done something then but didn't. So figuring Discord lost some power was waiting to recover it so I tried to figure out what is going on by digging. From mouths to ears, I heard Discord made alliances with the Diamond Dogs and Griffins to control Equestria but other than that...no idea. And with this M character, clearly wants to see this all through...unpredictable at this stage. But there must be a connection between you and Kirk...there would be no reason unless it's just because you're human and he has a hatred for them."

Joseph slowly lies down and stares at the ceiling "what now? There's nothing that I can do for this world..."

"Oh no, as I said, you're part of this and you're going to help end it! Soon as you get better, I am going to re-train you in the way of Chaj but make you fight like you never fought before. So rest, because we only have 2 days" Spirits says, walking away upstairs somewhere.

Joe closes his eyes slowly and starts dreaming of his friends with the old life "I'm so sorry."

---

Ponyville

The Mane Six and Shadow Breeze are all together in Twilight Sparkle's library, sitting in a circle without any glances to one another or a word. They are still trying to recover from The Man's incident in Ponyville and learning more about Joseph's past life thanks to M. Still in utter shock...first of all, nothing could prepare anypony with a mysterious stranger just appearing out of nowhere in Ponyville with such an intermediating presence. Everything he done and said filled them and other ponies with fear if he ever returned and destroy anything in his path. Worst of all, the figure in the mask revealing dark and personal information of their friend/love interest...Joseph Brooklyn, can anything prepare them for that? Short answer, of course not!
After all the months the mane six had spent with Joseph was like a dream for most, loving his personality and caring attitude towards them and others, trying his best to do what's right. However this can make him clumsy and make mistakes...but that's what they also loved about this human boy, someone with perks but has flaws even if he denies it.

Rainbow Dash looks up slowly at everypony "girls...can you believe all this? Joe...k...killed another being?" she said with hesitation.

The rainbow coloured mare bites her lower lips, she respects Joe for trying to overcome obstacles by putting up with her training and becoming a stronger person phonically and mentally. Maybe even believe this could work for her as well for mustering up courage to tell him how much she felt which worked. Even when being herself...Joe would attempt to listen the best anypony could. And hearing that her love interest killed another being...she didn't know what to think!

Fluttershy gasps and covers her head to ignore the subject, she never wanted to see that a close friend being hurt by The Man told a past Joseph never wanted out...she and the girls knew something was going on but this was not what they thought of. Fluttershy is torn as to why he held this back and why it had to happen? Shadow Breeze comforted her most of the time, he too is trying to figure out what to make of all this.

Applejack rubs her head "no...ah can't sugercube...ah really can't. What's worse, that M guy...wasn't lyin' girls. Believe me, ah'm shocked and don't know what to say or think! Always worked hard and always polite plus honest...sometimes and never seen a pony like mah Apple Pies than him! Granny, Applebloom and Big Mac sees him as our own! Nopony ain't perfect and he is definitely in that zone! But am ah bad for bein' in love with him? " she said, tipping her hat lower.

Pinkie Pie now with a flat and droop mane and darker pink coat, from being the life of the entire world is now the saddest light in her world. In her mind it just could not be happening, the Joseph she knows helped her. Joe looked after Pumpkin and Poundcake and even though they got the best of him, was like a father figure...learning from this only made Pinkie Pie loved the human even more...but what can she think now?

Twilight Sparkle hides her face in her forelegs, hoping this was all a bad dream...but it wasn't, everything happened and she tried to piece this situation together "no...Joseph would never do such thing! He...he...helped me and Spike so much around here, always polite and respectful and did chores when I never asked!...I really care for him...why had this all happened?" she stomps her hoof.

Rarity meanwhile is thinking about M thrashing Ponyville and all the threats and comments he made, it wasn't right. But the thought of her close friend...killing someone else...it scares her just thinking of it 'Learning to make all different kinds of fashion and designs because of Joseph really inspired me and gained lots of attention! But I moved away from that and saw after saving me...he cared about his friends more than he cared about himself...and Spike...oh my Spikey Wikey...you always believed in Joseph and looking at us all now...w...we're shattered like a mirror! I...for you Spikey Wikey, if you did...I will believe in Joe too!' she thought.

Rarity slowly stands up and looks at everyone, this causes them to look at her curiously "everypony...please...this is a very hard situation to overcome a-and knowing this M is on the loose and Joe kept a very dark secret. But...if he truly did, kill, then he would had no choice!"

Applejack looked at her "sugercube...There's always another way."

Rarity shakes her head "listen! I won't pretend like I understand how it must've felt and what he had to go through...b-but if M was right about the bully tried to kill Joseph then...if he didn't defend himself then Joseph would be...d-dead. Is that...want we want instead? Because we can't change the past and things could not be the way we would like..."

Everypony in the room looks at her with total surprise from Rarity's speech, not just from trying to make sense of their friend's situation but she is the one saying all this. But when they think deep down it'd have Spike, the one that she loves and wants to try and make their relationship work and the trust they've built ever since his growth incident. But when he saw everypony thinking backwards, it hurt his feelings but for his princess...it killed him inside...and she wanted to fix that mistake not only her but for everypony too.
"G...Gosh...Rarity...Spike must really mean a lot to ya, no offense, but to make me realise what he went through. You...did well."

Twilight Sparkle slowly stands up "I have to agree..."

Rarity looks down sadly "Spike believed in us all and loved us, but he always believed in Joseph and truly cares for him, t-they're best friends...and brothers. Why couldn't we be like him?"

The purple unicorn looks in her eyes "we...were in shock and couldn't understand why the Joe we love would do such a thing and thought it went against everything we stood for him. But after you said all that...and realising what Spike believed in...I-I-I..." she sniffs.

Fluttershy rubs her eyes and sniffs as well, Shadow helps rubs the tears away "w-w-we're so sorry...all of us! We have to f-find him and...Talk...a-a-and see a-and hear what he feels now..."

Shadow has a sad but determined voice "s-she's right, we have to find him and see for ourselves, but you all and I know...deep down he regrets what he done. But I'd rather hear that from Joe."

Rainbow Dash stands up as well "once we find Joe, I'm making sure I give him one...one...what was the word he said to himself and covered his mouth when we were behind him?" the pegasi asks.

Pinkie Pie suddenly puffs her mane and up and bounces around, feeling her belief and love for Joseph return but they think she somehow knows the outcome "OH! OH! He said "that's one helluva guy" hmmm~ what doe's helluva mean?"

Rainbow Dash blinks at her but stands proud "as I was saying, I'm going to give him one helluva exercise! Did I say that right?" says Rainbow Dash

Everypony chuckles softly at her and Twilight stands in the middle of their circle "alright girls...and stallion. Let's go find Joseph and Spike, although I need to send a letter to princess Celestia and tell her about M-"

Suddenlt a grey pegasi crashes through the window and lands into Twilight, it adjusts the eyes and slowly sits up "mail!"

"Derpy!?" everypony shouts.

Derpy Hooves smiles and holds out a letter for the purple unicorn "from Princess Celestia! Urgent! She told me and others to get ready for something!" she says whilst flapping her wings.

Applejack glances towards Twilight "reckon she found out?"

The other mares gather around Twilight so they can read the letter as well while Shadow looks at the window and the mares "uh...we're not gonna talk about the window?"

Twilight thanks Derpy and wishes her well and sees her fly out of the window and opens the letter "Dear Twilight Sparkle, I noticed something went wrong when trying to send with Spike but Derpy appeared and told me she could send it faster than anypony else! Don't pout Rainbow Dash-"

Everypony looks at her while she gives them a questionable look "what?" she blurted out.

"Read carefully my little ponies for this is a serious situation, I need you all to make sure Ponyville is ready and well defended. Tomorrow please come see me, I will provide you all a carriage. We are preparing for a battle...Discord has returned with potential allies. As of this moment, I'm trusting you all will keep Ponyville safe but I feel Discord isn't strong enough, he has yet to recover all his power. When everything is secured, I will tell you everything tomorrow. He plans his invasion at 12am in 2 days but I want to be ready.
Thank you my little ponies,
-Princess Celestia."

Twilight becomes speechless; she shivers a bit from feeling her mentor and mother figure how serious everything is right now. She read about Discord but now if this M is aiding him and what he done to Joseph Brooklyn, Equestria will suffer unless they do something to help like they always did.
Rainbow Dash smiles "heh, don't look so down Twilight, we're the elements of harmony! And we're going to save the day!"

Applejack nods "sure are!"

Fluttershy smiles happily "yes, we will."

Rarity strokes her hair and winks "nothing we can't handle Darling."

"YAY! WHEN WE WIN! I'M GOING TO THROW THE BIG AND BEST PARTY EVER!" Pinkie Pie screams joyfully.

Twilight Sparkle looks at her friends and hugs them all close as they return the gesture "thank you all so much..."

Shadow Breeze smiles at them hugging, for a moment everything bad went away "we better tell everypony here and get ready.

Fluttershy floats over and nuzzles his face "don't worry Shadow, we'll all be fine."

"Alright everypony, let's get out and prepare...I just hope no one has to...to...get hurt badly" said Twilight Sparkle nervously, she and the others gallop out the library.

---

Equestia, Unknown

Spirit is pacing around while watching Joseph Brooklyn trying to remember how to do his Chaj moves again but is still feeling slightly sore from his beating and something is wrong. The large unicorn notices all this and glares "what do you think you're doing!? You know very well that's not how you do a punch! Stand firm and attack with swift but powerful hits! THINK!" he shouts.

Joseph tries to do as instructed but moans loudly and sits on the ground, feeling angry and frustrated with himself "please! Stop yelling at me! I'm trying my best here!"

Spirit laughs mockingly "trying? No you're not! If you really wear you'd be making some progress by now!"

A moment of silence passes by and the unicorn sees Joseph is struggling and sighs loudly "look...I'm being hard because I need you...you have to remember how to fight so we can stop M and Discord. What is so wrong that's holding you back?"

Joe ruffles his hair "I...I don't want to hurt anyone...not anymore after what I done! I murdered someone in cold in my past! What if I do that again?"

Spirit's eye sparkles and looks like he has something in mind "tell me...have you ever made promises to someone? Like the girls?"

"I...promised I'd protect them...why?" said Joe.

"Protect them? HA! You can't protect them, you can't even protect yourself! I will tell you the truth boy! The Man will find them..."

Joseph's eyes widen in shock "no...Stop it."

"And when he does, he's going to make them suffer!"

The boy grits his teeth and snarls "NO!"

Spirit presses on, knowing his idea is working "And there is nothing you can do to save them! You never loved them!"

"NO!" Joseph screams out and gets up, sending not a flurry of punches but fighting like he did in Xenthur but with devastation behind them.

Spirit dodges and blocks the punches but a few actually hit him and hurt him, he manages to overpower Joe by swiftly turning around and hind kicking the human in the chest. Sending Joe skidding across the floor, Spirit laughs loudly "there! That's what I wanted to see, you are finally determined! When you go to fight on the field, remember why you are fighting, for the ones you love and if you keep that and never hold back...you can win. Well, it's still sloppy but we will work on that."

Joseph Brooklyn's bewildered expression shows, knowing what Spirit done and brought out of him, he was holding back because of the killing. He still doesn't want to even after what Spirit had done but doesn't mean he has to hold back after what The Man had done to him and may do the his friend...Joe will ensure M will pay "sir...I believe I'm ready to properly start training."

The large unicorn smiles approvingly "good, get off your flank and I'll-"

Spike suddenly appears and starts to attack Spirit using his extended staff with battle cries, but the unicorn easily dodges and pushes him away to Joe. The gem dragon growls and points his staff towards the General "I see you're part of all this! I'm here to save my brother!"

Joe quickly hugs the little dragon from behind and pats his head "Spike! It's okay! General Spirit saved me and is training me!"

Spike look at Joseph then back at Spirit "you are?"

Spirit scoffs "you asked later than before? Hm...Idiot."

"Spike...why did you come for me? You heard what I done" asks Joe.

The white unicorn rolls his eyes and leans on his hooves "and not breaking into my place?"

The gem dragon ignores him and looks into his friend's eyes "Joe, listen to me because what I say is true. I don't understand how you must of felt but I understand why you had to kill. Yes...you were enraged and happy that that you got your revenge but now you regret what you done and wish you could've done it differently but you can't. It's all in the past now but please tell me that from your words...how you think now?"

Joseph sighs and kneels down to Spike's level "I regret it all Spike, after realising that I killed him out of anger, hate and fear for my life. Everything what happened just boiled up and I had enough of bad treatment that happened to me...I wanted it all to go away which I had done. But in the end, I killed someone who had parents, girlfriend and siblings. It should of been me who died, not him...and if able...I would find another way but I can't. All I can say is that...I'm sorry...so, so sorry for lying and for what I done."

Spike sniffs with some tears down his eyes and hugs Joseph's neck "Joe! You're only trying to redeem yourself by being good and helping others! You're not a bad person; you risked your life a few times! Saved my Rarity...how can you be evil? Because you're my friend and big brother"

Joe picks him up and hugs him "Spike, thank you so much, I promise to make up for everything."

Spirit finishes a bottle of what looks like wine and smiles "are you two done flirting or am I going to have to unleash the hounds?"

Spike gives a puzzled look "you have blood hounds?"

"It's a reference to-...you know? Forget it!" shouts the General.

The little dragon hops out of Joe's arms and walks up to Spirit with his arms folded "train me too!"

Spirit looks surprised at this suddenly "what?"

Spike keeps staring up and smiles "if Joe is part of all this weird stuff, I'm part of it too and you won't get rid of me!"

"Hngh...Alright fine, but no jokes, no singing, no showing off! This is a serious training that will get you two back in action!" says Spirit.

Joseph Brookly and Spike Sparkle stand straight and bows "yes sir!"

Spirit smiles widely, feeling a sensation he forgot many years ago with Kirk and Chariot "from now on, we're the Soon to be not Secret Guardians of Equestria, that's who we once was. Let's start with warm ups again!"

---

Ponyville, Equestria

The Mane Six went around Ponyville and told the message from Princess Celestia to all, normally they would discard this is a joke but after The Man, they'd rather be safe than sorry. They started to gather the supplies into secure locations and start building some barricades while planning how to defend themselves.
The Mane Six and Shadow Breeze are walking together, over viewing everything before they go off to start helping out "I can't believe we're actually doing this..." says Twilight.

"Ah never dreamed of a massive battle that could happen here...or even the whole of Equestria!" Applejack replies.

Shadow Breeze looks around and sees some ponies trying out make shift armour "we're not ready..."

Rainbow Dash gently pats his shoulder "we got to try! We can't sit here and cower in fear!"

Fluttershy nods sadly, the thought of others getting hurt and things destroyed "w-we have to to protect e-everything we care for."

Pinkie Pie unusually quiet in this subject, she's thinking about the sadness of everything happening and the seriousness. Rarity gives her a comforting hug "it's alright darling, please don't be depressed...after all, who else is going to make us smile?"

The hyperactive pony grins slowly and hugs her back "Yeah! You're right! I'm gonna make everypony happy with doughnuts!"

Everypony smiles and look out to a slowly setting sun, whatever is coming and no matter how big or small...they will counter it and protect all those is need. They're ready for The End Times.

To Be Continued

Hello everyone! Long time no update! Sorry about that again, I guess doing 2 chapters in a short period must've made you all wait? I really wanted to try and get to chapter done before Christmas and my birthday (btw I'm 22 now, yay) but work and Christmas shopping taken the time from me and me being lazy again (and seeing Star Wars filled a spot in my life!) But as I promised on twitter if you follow me, I said I would hopefully finish this before the end of January. Which may be the case for some of you but here, I done it!
To be honest, I was thinking of spending 6 hours from 1am to 7am to work on this but knew it wouldn't help me especially when I just came back from Scotland.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter because honestly, I was always having trouble with this, I have everything planned out but it was trying to figure out how to make it work and actually feel like I done something. Which I think I have but I'll let you the readers and fans decide my fate!

Thank you all again for the long support and hopefully I will make the latest chapter very soon! Hope you had a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Please read and review, it really helps!

and remember...FOR THE BRONIES!