//------------------------------//
// Casualties 
// Story: Second Chance: Darkest Hour 
// by Subject 19 
//------------------------------//

Matthew was having breakfast with the mane six and the three princesses. Chrysalis had already left the castle to start finding potential food sources. Unknown to the queen, Harris had two of his soldiers following her everywhere she went.
“So, Matthew,” Twilight began. “You never told us how bad the attack was.”
The gray and black stallion shrugged. “I thought the severity was implied by simply being here. Luckily, I have a plan to get it all back.”
“Which is?”
“Blitzkrieg and deception,” Matthew vaguely answered. “However, I am going to need the help of you six if the plan is going to work.”
“Do you need help throwing a huge victory party?” Pinkie Pie joyfully asked.
“No. You six are going to help me and the princesses kill Star Swirl.”
“Not trying to question your judgment, darling, but if you have the princesses with you, why would you need us?” Rarity hesitantly said.
“The power of the Elements of Harmony is second to none. If the princesses are not strong enough to kill this son of a bitch, you six will have to be the ones that kill Star Swirl.”
Just as Matthew finished speaking, Captain Spitfire burst into the room holding a sealed document.
“Sir, we just received the latest report from our scouts,” the yellow pegasus informed as she handed him the document.
Matthew took and opened the report with his magic. As he read it, his neutral expression changed to one of horror and disbelief.
“What does it say, Matthew?” Celestia demanded, knowing that she was about to hear terrible news.
“He’s killing all of them,” Matthew weakly said, his eyes never meeting those of the princess.
“Who, the soldiers?”
“Civilians. He’s publicly executing everypony he deems inferior for his new empire.”
Celestia put a hoof to her mouth in shock. “How many?”
Matthew finally lifted his head up and looked Celestia in the eyes, the pain clear in his own. “The death toll is estimated at over half a million and rising.”
For minutes nopony said a word as the severity of the situation sunk in. All of the mane six were silently sobbing while the princesses tried their best to hold back their own tears. Unable to contain his rage anymore, Matthew slammed his hoof on the plate in front of him as hard as he could, shattering it instantly. Matthew could always handle military casualties, it was the price of war after all. However, he believed that there was never a reason for innocent ponies to be killed.
“I… I’m so sorry,” Matthew softly said as he got up from his seat. “I’ll be in my quarters if anypony needs me.”




It was midnight and Matthew Harris was in his room looking over the blueprints to the CHECKMATE weapons. He was close to finishing the new designs, he just needed to make a few more minor modifications and he would be ready to start building the guns. He hadn’t left his room all day, not even for meals. Noticing the time, Harris decided that he might as well try to get some sleep. Getting into bed, it took the tired stallion only a matter of minutes before he fell asleep.

Matthew was sitting beside a large lake. The full moon shone brightly and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. He then noticed the night princess appear beside him.
“Leave me alone,” the black maned stallion ordered.
Luna ignored him and sat down next to him. “It’s not your fault, you know. There was nothing any of us could have done.”
Matthew sighed. “I am responsible for protecting our ponies during war and I failed. Those ponies are dead because of my inability to do my job.”
Luna placed her wing on Matthew. “Nopony could have predicted the magnitude of Star Swirl’s attack, let alone know how to prepare for it.”
“We should have already been prepared for anything. That was the whole fucking point of dispersing the army across the kingdom.”
“None of us are perfect, Matthew. We all make mistakes eventually.”
These words, as true as they were, served as little comfort to the dark colored stallion. “I will have vengeance. I will make Star Swirl pay for what he’s done.”
“Do you really think your plan will work?” Luna asked him, her voice sounding worried.
“I honestly don’t know,” Matthew admitted. “But I do know that it’s the only plan that has a good chance of succeeding.” He looked up at the moon overhead, thinking about something. “You know, I find it rather funny that even if I do save our kingdom, everypony will still hate me.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because they want to hate me. The aftermath of the war against Forte is proof of that.”
“Well then maybe you should start being friendlier towards them,” Luna suggested.
Matthew grunted in response. “I’ll deal with public opinion once we have a public to give an opinion again. For now, we just need to pray that the Changelings will be strong enough to carry out the operation.” He noticed how Luna immediately frowned at the mention of their former enemies.
“I just wish we weren’t putting the fate of our kingdom in the hooves of her. I still don’t believe she’s not up to anything.”
“Chrysalis is a very intelligent pony when her ego isn’t a factor. She has more to gain working with us than she does going against us. Besides, it’ll be nice to finally have a pony working with me that actually knows how to fight a war.”
“As much as I enjoyed our time together here, I’m afraid you have to wake up now,” Luna said, giving Matthew a sincere smile.




The next morning during breakfast, the princesses suggested to Matthew that he make a public address. Although Matthew wasn’t fond of speeches, he understood that a speech would more than likely boost the morale of the soldiers. If he was lucky, it might even be enough to convince other nations to help their cause.
Harris was standing on a tall podium with a single microphone in front of him. He was giving his speech just outside of the Crystal Castle where hundreds of ponies were gathered to hear the commander’s speech, a good portion of the press in the front of the crowd.
“As you all know,” Matthew began, speaking into the microphone. “We were attacked by an army under the direct command of Star Swirl the Bearded. I want to assure the ponies of Equestria that the princesses and I are doing everything in our power to put a stop to this tyrant, but it will take time.”
“Commander Harris,” one of the ponies associated with the press interrupted. “Ponies are dying every day, they need help now, not later.”
“I am well aware of the situation, but we cannot rush an attack against Star Swirl,” Harris quickly retorted.
“And what do you plan to do with Star Swirl once you’ve captured him?” the same reporter asked.
“Star Swirl will be killed on sight when we attack. That pony is far too dangerous to be kept alive.”
“Do the princesses support this plan to kill him?”
“They understand just as well as I do that as long as Star Swirl is alive, imprisoned or not, will always be a threat to Equestria. His death is the only way we can ensure the ponies of Equestria that we will never have to deal with him again.”
“Are you afraid of what lies ahead for you and the Kingdom of Equestria?”
“I know why I am here. Why should I be afraid?”
Once Matthew was finished with his address, he met up with General Swift Strike to check up on the army. The CHECKMATE weapons were delivered by Strike’s soldiers as promised and now the soldiers were being trained on how to use the guns. The fact that the ponies didn’t have fingers meant that holding the gun alone was going to be a challenge, let alone aiming and firing it.
Outside in the training grounds for the Crystal Empire’s guard the 1st Army was set up performing various exercises, including gun training. Matthew approached Strike, who noticed the commander immediately and was quick to greet him.
“Commander, good to see you,” Swift Strike said as the two of them shook hooves briefly.
“How are the soldiers doing with our new weapons?” Matthew asked.
“Well, they’ve been making progress, but they still have a way to go.”
“I need these ponies ready to fight the moment the Changelings are fit for combat,” the gray commander reminded. “How would you feel about training the Elements of Harmony in basic combat training?”
Swift Strike let out a sigh. “Does it even matter how I feel about it?”
“Nope,” Matthew grinned.
“I’ll start giving them training in a few days; I’m busy enough right now managing the training for these new weapons.” Strike was grateful when he got an approving nod from his commander. Just before Matthew turned to leave the general spoke up. “I almost forgot, Chrysalis wants to talk with you. She said she’d be waiting in her room for you.”
“Why did she tell you and not somepony else?”
Strike simply shrugged. “Don’t know, but I’d guess it’s important.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you when I see you,” Matthew said as he turned around to leave.




Matthew entered Chrysalis’ room silently and saw that the Changeling was laying on the king size bed. The curtains were all closed, making the room very dark.
“You wanted to see me?” Matthew asked as he shut the door behind him.
“Yes, I did,” Chrysalis replied as she slowly got up off the bed and walked over towards him. “I want to know what exactly happens after we kill Star Swirl. I mean you don’t really expect all of his soldiers to roll over and die do you?”
“Once Star Swirl is dead and we have control of Canterlot, we will hunt down all remaining enemies with the forces we have.”
“Do you see the problem with that strategy?” Chrysalis questioned. “You’re going to risk thousands of lives when you don’t have to.”
“What would you suggest we do?”
“The same thing you were going to do to me,” the queen said, a wicked grin forming on her face. “Promise them whatever they want if they surrender, get them all in one place. Then we kill them.”
As much as Matthew loved the idea, there was still one nagging problem he couldn’t ignore. “But we’d still be outnumbered, and they’d be even harder to kill as one big army.”
“Then use those bombs you say you have on the Challenger.”
Matthew’s face remained neutral. “The bombs on the Challenger are deactivated. I would have to find a way to hack the ship’s mainframe, if it even works, in order to get those bombs activated.”
“Could you do it?”
“If the mainframe still works, I’d be able to activate the bombs. However, I can’t use them unless I am given permission from the princesses.” Matthew saw Chrysalis’ expression fall right at that statement. The queen knew just as well as Matthew that it would take an immense amount of convincing to get Princess Celestia to approve such a destructive attack. “For now, we’ll keep this plan to ourselves. I’ll suggest this option once we’re closer to beginning our attack on Star Swirl.”
“You do know that you’re asking your soldiers to do the near impossible with this operation,” Chrysalis told him. “You want them to attack the enemy nonstop until they reach Canterlot. Do you really expect them to fight that far and that long without stopping to rest?”
Matthew chuckled softly. “It’s not impossible for them and I’ve seen what General Strike is capable of when he puts his mind to something. Trust me, when they start attacking, they won’t want to stop.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“Because we’re fighting for our home. That son of a bitch took everything we had and we want it back. Not just that, but we want the blood of the ponies who took our kingdom from us.” Matthew’s grim expression mirrored his serious tone. Chrysalis could see the raw drive in the stallion’s eyes. She saw his willingness to sacrifice anything to get back everything. The Changeling Queen was glad that she would not be on the receiving end of Matthew’s vengeance.