Equestria was almost ready. The plains in the south had been filled with refugee camps and factories constructing all kinds of instruments of war. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash had successfully completed their training. The Pony-Changeling alliance had been formed and Celestia convinced the cities to turn their government power over to her. The Equestrian air-fleet had been established, consisting of Equestria's airships with Guardian's own personal air force. Army bases had been established in all corners of the country. But one problem still remained, the civilian population. Guardian had planned a meeting in Canterlot with all the princesses about where to relocate the people.

Must I attend this? I don't care about all the helpless weaklings, I simply want my revenge!

"This is when I'm going to disclose your involvement, which you've continued despite previous promises."

Do not speak of that. Yes, I said I wouldn't participate in this war anymore, but I was imprisoned by them for seven years! If guiding your every step like a toddler is what it takes to redeem myself, then I will!

"That entire incident was completely your fault, and you couldn't figure out how to escape a paradox so you got stuck until the next link."

Silence! I could easily overpower you any day with one miniscule crack in the barrier. Just remember that's all it takes to beat you.

Guardian made his way to the council chamber in the palace. When he arrived he found Celestia and Luna already seated. Luna looked busy with some sort of colored cube puzzle. She was in deep concentration, seemingly trying to match all the colors on the sides of the cube. Celestia acknowledged his presence with a comforting smile, something Guardian hasn't seen in ages.
When he moved his chair to sit, the sound caused Luna to hurl the cube across the room, bouncing off the wall and landing with a clatter. Her eyes darted around sheepishly, then attempted to appear relaxed as if nothing happened.
Guardian levitated the cube off he ground and into his hand. He turned the cube around, inspecting it and trying to find the purpose of it. When he could find none he tossed it back to Luna saying, "Wherever did you find this little trinket?"

"I found this thing buried in a storage closet, it's a tricky puzzle that I intend to solve!" Luna went back to her puzzle.

Guardian slouched in his chair, everything was gonna be fine. He hadn't felt so confident about this matter ever since the first encounter. Now this planet was ready, and they might just be able to repel the darkness.

Where are the others? My patience grows thin.

"You're not being serious are you? What else could you possibly have to do back there?"

My activities at none of your concern-

"They're my every concern! What have you been doing in there?"

When one is stuck in a place like this, and with a very vivid imagination like me. One must find ways to entertain themselves.

"You know what? You're right, they're none of my concern."

Guardian hoped he made the right choice to involve the Overlord. Guardian didn't have a problem trusting him, he would sense if the evil entity tried to manipulate or trick him. The others however, would not take kindly to this news. The Overlord's actions may have been reversed, but those who remember the horrors that were brought upon them will have difficulty trusting Him.

Half an hour passed, Luna was still absorbed in her cube puzzle, and Guardian was engaged in conversation with Celestia over how to issue command over the troops.

"Spitfire?" Celestia had a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

Guardian nodded his head, "Yes, the Wonderbolts have the skill required to run short, quick missions that can't be accomplished by mere vehicles."

"I have full faith in the Wonderbolts talents, but they're not prepared for combat. All they've done are simple airshows meant for sport."

Guardian knew the true reason behind Celestia's protests. She knows Spitfire personally, and the thought of sending her subjects to die out on the battlefield was hard to accept. Guardian didn't like it anymore than she did, but it had to be done.

"Celestia, nopony was prepared for war. I myself had doubts about Twilight and her friends, but they turned out to be fine soldiers, most of them at least."

Celestia narrowed her eyes, "What is that suppose to mean?"

Guardian sighed heavily, he really wished the others would show up soon, "Fluttershy unfortunately was discharged from training. But I am...persuading her to complete the final assessment and rejoin the military."

They way Guardian said persuade didn't sit right with Celestia. He didn't sound certain that was what he wanted to say, but did in order to not give something away.
Fortunately for him, Celestia didn't press the matter any further, but instead switched to a new topic,

"Where do you think they will strike first?"

Guardian materialized a large map of Equestria onto the table. Luna looked up for a moment, sensing the importance of the information he was about to give, "They will enter from the portal on the eastern border, and search for all key magical defense systems formed naturally, starting with the Tree of Harmony. If the Tree is destroyed...Well, it won't matter. As long as the Elements are in their physical state, separated from the Tree, then that shouldn't be a concern."

He pointed at the Crystal Empire, "The Crystal Heart will be their next target. They will attack Ponyville first, then they will divide and conquer.
"What will happen is they will launch an attack on Canterlot with about a quarter of their full army. This is intend to keep from sending reinforcements to the Empire, which the rest of their troops will proceed to."

Guardian became very sullen, "I wish I didn't know this for sure, but I've fought against them too many times to know that this is their move. It's going to be extremely difficult battle. We cannot allow the Crystal Heart to be destroyed, but our forces will be occupied with defending Canterlot, which we also cannot afford to lose."

Celestia has reviewed this part many times and understood the need for this repetition, but there was something that Guardian went out of his way to avoid saying, the name of their enemy.

"Guardian, there is something that has been troubling me," The deity looked at Celestia, "You haven't named the enemy specifically, only referring to 'them'. Why?"

These questions were getting more difficult to answer. He didn't what to discourage his students in any way, but he was about to do so greatly.

"I named them myself, for any other civilization that has encountered them never survived to name them."

He didn't have to say that, he really wished he didn't. Guardian continued anyways, "They are The Finis Nutricii."

"But what does that mean? It's not of our language." Luna wasn't fooled that easily.

Guardian took a deep breath, his word was law. Any names he bestowed were true in meaning, but this was the worst possible name he could give to anything,

"It means The End Bringers."

-----------------------

Same nightmare over and over. Fluttershy couldn't escape the hellish dream that plagued her every time she closed her eyes. She knew deep down she had to perform some action that would end the dreams, but the fear overtook her, leaving her powerless to do anything. No matter how hard she tried, Fluttershy failed to save the Empire. She was certain it was her fault, the light firing from the ship struck with the fury of a God, killing thousands of innocent ponies. All her fault.
She hardly slept, only when she couldn't fight the fatigue anymore would she succumb to the sleep that only brought her the horrible dream.
Fluttershy shot up in bed, the images of dead ponies and destruction still fresh in her mind. She waited for the panic to subside, then wearily got out of bed and dragged herself to the kitchen.
Yesterday she made the worst mistake of her life. When she realized she wasn't capable of taking care of her animals, and tried to make them leave, they refused. All the stress of being haunted by the nightmares was too much for her to bear, so she took it all out on her critter friends. She blamed them for all her problems, for her anxiety, for her lack of sleep, and even her paranoia. She hadn't released that much anger on anyone before, and the looks on their faces as they walked out the door made Fluttershy want to slap herself.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Her mane was beyond frazzled, it was untamed. She had wrinkles on her forehead and her eyes were of a mare who didn't care anymore. She didn't know how she was going to live through the dreams any longer, how she would live with herself knowing her animals all thought she was a monster. She wept and wept at what a failure she was to her friends. They would get slaughtered in battle, Fluttershy couldn't live through that.
Then it dawned on her, the answer to all her problems was so clear. She looked at the large kitchen knife laying on the cutting board. She often wondered how she was going to survive this war.

Now I know I don't have to.

Author's Notes:

Holy sweet potato this took a long time. Didn't even get all that I wanted in this chapter, so stick around for part two.

So I realize the last chapter wasn't very invigorating and this one took forever to write, but I'll do my best to fix both problems in future updates.

The idea of suicidal Fluttershy just kinda came to me, didn't really plan on it but whateves.

Also feedback is very much appreciated (so long as your not a d*** about it)