//------------------------------//
// The Middle Game 
// Story: Second Chance 
// by Subject 19 
//------------------------------//

Matthew had left the military hospital in Ponyville and was walking around, taking a look at the damage the town had suffered from the battle. The commander had a slight limp in his walk as a result of his injuries. Luckily for him, the pain medicine he was given managed to keep most of the pain at bay. Matthew walked into the ruined Sugarcube Corner, which was still standing even after all the damage the structure had taken.
“I had a feeling you’d be here,” Matthew said as a pink mare sitting in the trashed lobby looked up at the source of voice.
“What do you want?” Pinkie Pie asked weakly.
Matthew could see the pain and depression on Pinkie’s face clear as day. “I’ve seen that look before. It was the same one I had when I lost my parents.” This earned a confused, but curious glance from Pinkie. “You see, my father was the commander of the empire before me and my mother might as well have been second in command. We were at war with another empire, and they made the first strike. They attacked us at our capital. I watched helplessly as my mother and father was killed before my very eyes.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel any better?” the sad mare quietly questioned.
“That’s for you to decide, not me,” he replied. “I was forced to take command of my father’s empire when I was only twenty-five years old. After I buried my parents, I made a terrible mistake. I went down a dark path and did things I’m not proud about. The difference between us is that you have friends who want to help you through this.”
“Does the pain every go away?”
Matthew sighed. “After a while you get used to it. It will never go away entirely, but it does get better. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check how things are going with the rest of the troops.”
Walking out of Sugarube Corner, Matthew was met by General Swift Strike. The general was a forty year old unicorn. He had a white coat and black mane. Strike had a neutral look on his face, meaning that bad news was unlikely.
“Sir, Princess Celestia has ordered that you return to Canterlot immediately,” he informed.
“Of course she has,” Matthew muttered. “Fine, I was going to head back with the Elements anyway.”

"I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Matthew,” Celestia said as the gray pony entered the throne room.
Matthew still had a slight limp in his walk as he approached Celestia. “I’ll be ‘well’ when I can get back into the fight,” he bitterly replied. “For now I’ll have to settle with just commanding our forces and wait until we get closer to their capital.”
“Wait for what?”
“To end what King Forte started,” Matthew replied darkly. “That’s why I brought the Elements back with me. When the time is right, we will slip into their capital and wipe out their chain of command.”
Celestia frowned, knowing that Matthew meant he would kill not only the Prench king, but every other pony that helped run their nation. “I want you to capture them alive,” she firmly stated. “You are not to kill King Forte or any other pony in the primary chain of command.”
“I’ll do my best, but no promises. One way or another, they will pay for the crimes they have committed against us. In the past I’ve always found execution to be the easiest and most effective method. Haven’t you ever executed a pony?”
“I have never killed a pony, and I’m not going to start now,” Celestia stated.
“Well I guess that explains your militaristic incompetence. But I assure you there will come a time when you will be forced to kill a pony to protect those you care about.” Having had enough of the conversation, Matthew turned to leave. “Fucking pacifist,” he muttered, making sure the princess didn’t hear his remark.
“One last thing Matthew,” Celestia called out, causing Matthew to lazily turn his head back. “You need to make a public address to the ponies about what’s been happening. They want to know who it is that’s leading their army.” Matthew simply nodded and left the room.
Captain Spitfire was waiting outside the throne room for her commander. “I take it the meeting didn’t go well.”
“Apparently I need to inform the public of what’s been going on lately,” Matthew said, a deep frown on his face.

Two weeks had passed since Matthew delivered his short address to the ponies of Equestria. Equestria had pushed all of Prance’s forces out of the kingdom and were quikcly taking land away from the Prench. Matthew knew that it was only a matter of time before King Forte realized that he and his nation was doomed.
Luna’s moon glowed in the night sky as the ponies staying in Canterlot Castle gathered for dinner. To the relief of everypony, Pinkie had finally returned to her usual spontaneous self after moving on with the death of the Cakes. During the meal, Matthew had a small grin on his face as he ate. For Celestia, it was just big enough for her to take notice.
“What’s got you in such a good mood tonight?” the sun goddess asked the commander.
“Thinking of what I’m going to do that son of a bitch Forte when I get my hooves on him,” Matthew chuckled. Celestia frowned, knowing that Matthew was dead set on killing Forte, whether she approved of it or not.
“What do you intend on doing to him?” Luna questioned.
“Give him what he deserves; a slow and agonizing death. The only problem we’re going to have is what to do with the rest of Prance once we kill Forte.” Just as Matthew finished his sentence, Captain Spitfire came up to him holding a sheet of paper with the day’s reports on it. As he quickly looked over the report, a frown formed on his muzzle.
“As you can see sir, our eastern corps is having trouble keeping up with the rest of the army,” Spitfire told him.
“Who’s in charge of that corps?”
“Lieutenant General Rolling Thunder.”
“Inform him he has three days to get his corps on schedule or I’ll have him thrown in the darkest dungeon I can find,” the gray unicorn calmly instructed. Spitfire silently nodded and left the room. When Matthew saw the shocked looks of the mane six, he spoke up. “Relax; I wouldn’t actually throw him into a dungeon. I’m just encouraging him to do a better job is all.”
“Well he doesn’t know that,” Twilight accused.
“Trust me; he’ll lose his fear of the Prench upon hearing that. I just hope he never loses his fear of me. Anyways, aside from the minor setback with our eastern corps, our army is making excellent progress pushing their way through Prance. I’d say that in a few more weeks, we’ll have Prance’s capital surrounded,” Matthew told her, grinning darkly.
“Well that’s good,” the lavender mare said. “Once this horrible war is over we’ll all be able to go back to our normal lives.”
It was in that moment that Matthew’s grin fell as bitter realization hit him. This war would not last forever. It would be another time of peace and all he would be able to do is just wait for another crisis to occur. In a time of war, the commander could keep a usually calm and rational mind set. But in a time of peace, paranoia tended to get the better of him, and as a result he would often get unpleasant. Matthew knew that Celestia was putting up with his whole ruthless attitude simply because she needed him right now. However, if he were to get out of line in a time of peace, he had no doubt that Celestia would get rid of him in a heartbeat.
“Are you alright Matthew?” Luna asked worriedly.
Quickly snapping out of his thoughts, Matthew turned his attention towards Luna. “I’m… fine. I just need to get some air.” Not even bothering for a response from any of the ponies, he quickly left the room. Unbeknownst to the gray unicorn though, Luna quietly followed him out.
“What’s wrong?” Luna asked as she approached Matthew in his bedroom. After a minute of silence, the night princess tried again. “Come on, you know you can talk to me. What’s wrong?”
The gray pony looking out the window sighed. “All my life I’ve almost always had something to push against, an enemy to fight. But when this war ends, I’m afraid that there won’t be another enemy.” He spoke in a slow quiet tone, trying to figure out how to word this best. “The last time there was an extended period of peace, I nearly went insane. I got paranoid and nearly started a few wars because of it. If I were to do something like that here, your sister wouldn’t hesitate to fire me.”
“I promise I would never let something like that happen to you,” Luna tried to reassure, walking up to him.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Matthew replied. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a way to keep my sanity when this war is over.”
“I’m sure you will. There’s a lot more to life than just fighting you know. Who knows, maybe you could even find a mare.”
Matthew raised his eyebrow at Luna’s last comment. “I suppose that just about anything’s possible. If I was told a year ago that when I died I would wake up in the body of a pony, I would have called that person insane. Yet here I am.”
Suddenly, the door to the bedroom flew open and Captain Spitfire ran in. “Commander, we’ve just received a message from King Forte himself,” she informed as she handed the paper to Matthew.
Matthew quickly read through it as Luna patiently waited for him to tell her what the document said. When he finished reading the document, Matthew did something that shocked both the mares in the room: he started laughing. “Is this a joke?” he asked Spitfire.
“No sir, this is legitimate.”
“What does it say?” Luna demanded.
“It says that Forte wishes to surrender unconditionally to us,” Matthew answered, a wicked grin on his face. “I guess he realizes that there’s no way he can win this war.”
“So how will we accept his surrender?” the night princess asked the stallion.
“We won’t.”
“What?”
“That son of a bitch started this war, invaded Equestria, killed thousands of innocent ponies, and now that he’s losing he wants to surrender? Oh no, there is no way in hell I am letting him get off that easy.”
“You’re going to ignore his surrender just because you think he doesn’t deserve it?”
“Yes,” Matthew bluntly said. “This war will not end until I have killed Forte and his castle lies in ruins.” He quickly turned his attention to Spitfire. “Captain, you are not to breath word of this message to anypony else, not even Celestia. Is that understood?” The yellow pegasus nodded her head and Matthew signaled for her to leave. Once Matthew and Luna were alone, the gray unicorn resumed his conversation. “We must present a very clear picture of force to not just Prance, but to any other nation that considers going to war with us. We make every nation who challenges us think twice before they decide to do what Forte did. But I can’t let Celestia know about this. If she found out, she would stop all military operations and I’d be sitting on my ass doing nothing for who knows how long.” Matthew looked Luna in her eyes, his expression filled with hope. “I need you to trust me to end this my way, I’m begging you.”
Luna sighed as she thought over her current options. Each decision had its own consequence, and neither of them was any better than the other. “I’m sorry Matthew, but I have to tell Tia about something this important. Besides, think of how many ponies would die if this war was to continue any longer than it has to.”
Matthew felt all of his hopes die right in front of him. His expression died into disappointment, seeing his hopes destroyed so easily. “Well then, you should let your sister know about this then,” he said gloomily, handing her Forte’s message.
“Aren’t you going to?”
“I have no desire to speak with her right now, or any other pony for that matter.” The gray commander started walking towards his bed. When he reached the bed, he gave a half hearted chuckle. “And I thought this war would fill that void inside me like it used to. Yet another war will come to an end and with it my usefulness to the kingdom.”
Luna felt sorry for the poor pony. After all, war was the only thing Matthew really knew. But regardless, Luna always put the ponies of Equestria first. She silently left the room to talk to Celestia.