Second Chance

by Subject 19

Operation: Vengeance

Celestia, Luna, and Matthew were seated in the dining room enjoying their breakfast. The six element bearers had not yet come down, seeing as it was only eight in the morning and last night had taken a lot out of them. Matthew had been unusually quiet the whole morning, and Luna noticed that the dark colored stallion had barely touched his food.

“Is something bothering you, Matthew?” Luna asked with concern.

Matthew turned his head to face the night princess. “I didn’t quite sleep as well as I would have liked,” he said. “To answer your next question, it was a night filled with some unpleasant memories.”

Before Luna had a chance to further question him, the mane six entered the room. Matthew took immediate notice to the tear stains on Pinkie’s, Applejack’s, and Rainbow Dash’s face. He also noted that Pinkie’s usually poofy hair and tail was now straight.

“How are you all doing this morning?” Celestia asked in a motherly tone.

“To be honest with you, we’re not doing so well,” Twilight answered for herself and her friends. “Seeing how few ponies survived, some of them very close to us, has really hit us hard.”

The sun goddess nodded her head in understanding. Matthew closed his eyes, bitter memories beginning to plague his mind once again. Celestia saw this and asked Matthew a question, hoping to get his mind off of whatever was troubling him. “Matthew, when will everypony be ready to leave for the counter-attack on Ponyville?”

The stallion’s dark blue eyes opened and focused on Princess Celestia. “I and my field corps are ready to leave immediately. We’re just waiting on the Elements of Harmony. It’s been a long time since I got to feel the thrill of battle. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to give my army a final briefing.” He then got up and headed for the door. “These soldiers need a good boost in morale anyway,” he said, just loud enough for the ponies to hear him.

“Are you six sure you’re ready for this?” Celestia asked. “You know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“We’re the only ones who are strong enough to help everypony,” Rainbow pointed out loudly. “I’m not going to sit on my flank while there are ponies out there getting hurt.”

The goddess could tell that Rainbow Dash wanted nothing short of vengeance for the death of her dear friend. She turned her attention over to the unnaturally quiet pink mare, seated at the very end of the table. Even Pinkie’s friends weren’t used to seeing her in such a depressed state. “What about you, Pinkie Pie?” she asked, an honest look of concern on her face.

“I’ll be ok,” Pinkie weakly replied.
Matthew Harris was outside the castle, the field corps standing at attention while the commander gave his speech.

“As you all know, we have lost Ponyville and civilian casualties are estimated at around a thousand,” Commander Harris started. “I know that right now it seems like we’re going into a losing battle, but I assure you, we will win. Not only do you have me to help guide you, but we have the Elements of Harmony on our side. It is in times of crisis that the strength of this kingdom is tested. We will show our enemies just how strong we are.” When he was finished giving a speech that he hoped would inspire the soldiers, he returned to the inside of the castle to get the Elements of Harmony. However, Luna stopped Matthew just as he was passing his office.

“Matthew, I’d like to talk to you,” Luna said.

The stallion let out an annoyed sigh. “Make it quick.”

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of everypony else, but I’ve been watching your dreams lately,” she admitted.

“What did you see?” he demanded, not even bothering to ask how she was able to do such a thing.

“Enough.”

Matthew had a deep frown on his face, displaying his obvious annoyance at the fact. “My past is my burden to bear, and mine alone. It would do you good to stay out of my head from now on.” Luna was about to further press the matter, but Matthew continued. “Listen, when this war is over, you can bother me all you want. Right now, I’ve got a war to win and a king to murder.” With that said, the dark colored commander walked away from Luna and continued down the hall.
As you can see, our forces are being attacked just south of the Everfree Forest,” Matthew explained to the mane six. They were in a train car heading for a small town near Ponyville. The rest of the field corps was occupying the remaining cars, on their way to a small town outside of Ponyville. They were to be dropped off by the train and then continue to the Everfree Forest on hoof. “Fluttershy, we’re going to need you to see if you can get some of the creatures in that forest on our side. When we get into battle, I’ll need you to guide them. Think you can handle that?”

“Yes, I think so,” the yellow mare quietly answered, hiding behind her mane.

“Good. Rainbow Dash, you’ll be in the air with the rest of our aerial forces maintaining air supremacy. The rest of you will be with me. We’ll be leading our forces into Ponyville from the Everfree Forest. We’ll then be able to surround the enemy and annihilate them easily. If all goes well, Operation: Vengeance will mark the turning point in this war.” Matthew continued going over the battle plan for the operation as they made their way to their destination.

When all of the ponies finally reached the Everfree Forest, Matthew wasted no time getting everypony into position. Fluttershy flew off to try and get the help of the inhabitants of the forest, as directed by Matthew.

“Keep your eyes open, the Prench are sure to have scouts patrolling the area,” Matthew warned his team.

When they finally were at the border between the Everfree and Ponyville, they were met by a large group of Prench soldiers. The Equestrian field corps burst into action, charging the enemy, clearly caught off guard. Matthew was in the front of the battle, fighting off the Prench using his magical and physical strength. Rainbow Dash took to the air along with the other pegasus ponies, where the Equestrians and Prench battled for the airspace. In less than a minute, it had turned into a complete warzone. Most of the Elements of Harmony stayed a respectable distance from most of the fighting, fear getting the better of them. Matthew continued his relentless attacks on the Prench soldiers, firing powerful bolts of raw magic at them and fighting hoof to hoof. The Equestrian army quickly pushed the Prench further and further into Ponyville, much to Matthew’s relief.

The Prench had set up multiple barracks, trenches, and other fixed fortifications throughout the entire town. Knowing that Eqeustria would launch a counter-attack, the Prench army had the fortifications set up as quickly as possible. In Matthew’s opinion, fixed fortifications were a testament to the stupidity of armies. The commander’s opinion was clearly proven as the Equestrian Armed Forces were currently charging through the defenses as if they weren’t even there. As Matthew and his army continued pushing forward, the lifeless bodies of countless soldiers littered the ground. Nothing made the dark commander feel more alive than the thrill of battle.

Matthew had made his way to the center of Ponyville, still fighting off the seemingly endless waves of Prench with his own soldiers by his side. “Keep pushing forward, don’t let any of these bastards out alive!” he roared. He had a few large cuts on his body due to all the fighting, but nothing too severe. Moments later, the gray commander saw a bright light heading straight towards him before everything went black.
Commander Harris slowly opened his eyes, a sharp pain running through his body. Once he had his eyes opened all the way, Matthew took in his surroundings. He was on a bed in a small room filled with various types of medical equipment. Turning his head, he saw a nurse walking in through the doorway.

“Thank Celestia you’re finally awake,” the nurse said.

“What happened?” Matthew demanded, his voice clearly revealing his weakened state.

“From what I’ve heard the doctor say, I believe you were hit by a very powerful burst of magic,” she replied. “By the way, my name’s Nurse Redheart.”

“What sort of injuries do I have?”

“Most of them were just some deep cuts that we had to stitch up. However that blast of magic really did some damage. You’re probably going to find it difficult to walk for at least a week.”

“To hell with that, I have a war to fight,” Matthew argued. Ignoring all of the pain, he managed to get himself out of the bed. He tried to take a step towards the door, but ended up collapsing from the overwhelming amount of pain. It felt like every muscle was on fire. Redheart was close enough to catch Matthew from landing on his face, and laid him back down on the bed.

“Relax, you’ll be out of here before you know it,” Redheart reassured.

Ten minutes passed as Matthew continued to wonder what had happened to the operation. The gray stallion was quickly brought out of his thoughts when he saw a pony enter the room.

“Luna, I was wondering how long it would be until you got here,” Matthew said to the princess. “What was the outcome of the operation?”

“It’s alright Matthew, we’ve taken back Ponyville and the Prench are losing ground,” Luna replied in a soft tone. “Captain Spitfire has been leading our army since you’ve been in the hospital.”

“Spitfire’s as clumsy as she is stupid. And I’m stuck in this fucking bed while every other pony gets to fight this war,” the stallion grumbled. “How are the Elements of Harmony doing?”

“Pinkie still seems to be depressed,” the night goddess informed. “I’m worried about her.”

Matthew’s expression clearly showed that he wasn’t the least bit concerned. “She’ll get over it eventually.”

“I want you to talk to her. You know what it feels like to loose somepony you care about better than any other pony.”

Matthew frowned, not liking the idea one bit. “If you’re so concerned about her, then send her to a psychiatrist, don’t make her my problem.”

“Matthew, Pinkie agreed to help fight for Ponyville even in her current emotional state. You are going to help her,” Luna said, glaring intensely at the gray stallion.

“Fine,” Matthew sighed, not wanting to argue with the mare any longer. “Have the nurse bring me some damn pain killers so I can actually walk out of this prison.”

Author's Note:

Hope you liked this chapter. I'll get the next chapter up on the site as soon as I can.