Chapter 9

Day 3 of the siege of Manehattan

"What exactly do you mean?" Swift asked Death in a hoarse voice. He must have misheard him.
"Destiny would promise you and Electric a long and happy life if you keep your end of the bargain. As an incentive. However, I have to point out that if something unsurvivable happens to you or Electric, I'll do my job." replied death and cracked his bones a little before he got up. With a nod of his head he invited Swift to come with him.
Swift followed without a doubt or hesitation.

Electric brought Swift into his cabin with two other Earth ponies. All he needed was rest and sleep, everything else would then fine. Just as Swift was being brought to his bed, Twilight came over, lifted her head into the room and asked, "Hey Electric, are you coming to the library? The girls and I want to get to know Rarity better." she smiled invitingly.
Electric smiled back narrowly, said: "Yes, please. Give me a minute."
She helped Swift out of his uniform so that he was only lying in bed in an undershirt and his uniform pants, then covered him and put a glass of water on his bed.
Twilight watched and also helped with her magic a few times. then both went to the library.

"... and then I decided to put my sewing skills in the service of the army." Rarity just said, "I would much rather make nice clothes, but good and robust clothes for our soldiers seem more important to me right now."
Rainbow picked up a mug of soft cider, toasted Rarity: "And I'm grateful for that. My uniform fits perfectly and has seen and participated in a lot."
"Oh, it's so good to hear a heroine praise me. It makes work a lot easier and more enjoyable." Rarity said, genuinely pleased. Her joy, however, evaporated when Electric and Twilight entered.
"This mare is unbelievably!" she got up and went to Electric, circled the confused mare a few times and then said: "You have such a good physique. And your mane would certainly look fabulous if you would comb and wash it. And what is this make-up supposed to represent? Machine oil? "
"That ... is actually machine oil." Electric said, blushing a bit, "I was still doing repairs when they brought Swift over."
"Swift? Who is that?" Rarity immediately asked curiously, "Your coltfriend? Tell me everything!"

Death walked a little through the dreamscape, followed by Swift.
Everything was rather barren, and reminded of stone deserts or in places of battlefields.
"You should have much happier dreams." said Death, lifting a skull, not unlike his own, "When you're awake you've already seen enough of that."
"I know." was Swift's answer and he stepped next to Death, "But ... I don't know either. Somehow I don't feel good when the dream is beautiful."
Death nodded, then carefully put the skull back: "I see. A part of you longs for it."
"After what?" Swift was a little afraid of the answer.
"A part of your soul wants to keep fighting. Not for the sake of survival, but because you want to see blood, whether yours or that of your opponents. It feels here as if a desire for revenge and feelings of guilt alternate. A part of you wants to revenge for all who have fallen, and another part of you wants to follow those I have already taken. "
Swift couldn't argue with Death. He knew that he felt these things now and then, these wishes.
He closed his eyes and his head felt a little.

"I see," said Rarity after Electric had said everything, "so you are unsure how to behave in the relationship. You don't want to do anything wrong and therefore feel lost when you are with him. What about Swift and his feelings? "
Electric was flushed with embarrassment, but she replied softly, "I think he feels the same way. It's always awkward when we're together."
"I understand." Rarity said, "but if you really want to try, one of you two has to start."
"the beginning? hmm I could try something." Electric said thoughtfully, "Thank you Rarity, maybe ... I'll tell him what I think in the morning or when he wakes up again."

Swift woke up sometime that night. his throat was dry and rough. but he noticed that something was pressing against his side. When he looked he could see Electric, who had snuggled up against him under his wing and was sleeping soundly, but also looking a little worried.
then ... to his surprise ...
on the other side, something pressed against him as well.
Carefully he raised the wing and looked underneath. Among them were two foals and a filly, but in the dark he couldn't make out any further details. His eyes widened when he felt that he was becoming downright disoriented.
Where was he actually? He still remembered the race out of the enemys territory and that he had managed to hold out to his own front ...
but after that everything was first blurry, then black.
He could still remember the dream and ...
"You're awake?" he heard Electric ask softly.
"Mhm," replied Swift, looking at her. only now did he notice that she also had a foal with her.
She noticed his questioning look and said, blushing slightly, "It's not ours, don't worry. Rarity and the others just asked me to take care of the little ones ... And your next question is why I'm here and not in my cabin. .. that was hit during the battle. Isn't exactly pleasant to open the door and then only see a hole. "
"Ah ..." said Swift with a scratchy throat. "How long did I sleep?"
"just over nine hours." Electric said, then handed him the glass.
Swift nodded gratefully and drank.
"What about those who stayed behind?" he then asked, whereupon Electric looked away.
Swift knew what that meant, but he needed to hear it too, so he put his forehead against the back of her head and whispered, "please. Tell me."
Electric just nodded, let out a quiet breath and said: "Your squadron has flown without you and wanted to help, but when they arrived they discovered that they were all dead. They pulled themselves back on the roof and were killed before they gave a signal. Night collected the dog tags and everything personal and brought that back. "
Swift wanted to swear loudly, but the sleeping foals and Filly prevented it. instead, he pressed his face into the pillow and damned his failure.

The next morning was tough. Swift had sore muscles in all four legs and he was moving very slowly across the canteen. In addition, the children pestered him with questions about his wings, they wanted to know everything about him, and they wanted to look at the airship. Swift drank two cups of coffee before joining his squadron with a third cup.
"Good to have you back, sergeant." says Sharp with a mall smile.
"You don't look well sir, you should rest a while." was Artic's comment
"It's okay." Swift said, "The advantage of being a Pegasus is that you only need your legs to hold spears. How is Amethyst? And where is Night?"
"Amethyst is still in the infirmary. Her wing is broken, but it's nothing dramatic. A month or two of r&r and she's back. Night went to bed five minutes before you got in here. He's been on patrol all night. "
Swift nodded and went to breakfast when a hoof settled on his shoulder. With a look over his shoulder he saw that it was Captain Shining armor, just not in his armor, this time in his uniform.
"Good to see you back on your Hooves, Sergeant." he said. Swift noticed that Twilight was quite close and beaming wide.
Swift saluted, but jumping up wasn't an option. His legs were too sore.
"I wish my hooves were mechanical too ... at least for now." Swift said with a small smile.
"That was very good work. Your squadron has proven to be very competent." said Shining Armor.
"Thank you sir. I'll have my report ready tonight." said Swift.

After breakfast Swift wanted to relax in the library and organize his thoughts, but the foals and Fillys on board didn't make it easy. Twilight was so happy when Swift came in.
"Oh, Celestia, thank you, please take care of the little ones, I want to have breakfast too, and then I have to go for little mares!" Before Swift could say anything, Twilight was gone.
"Okaaaaaay ..." said Swift and looked at the little ones who looked back at him, "Shall I read you a story?"
"Why did you paint Celestia on the inside of your wings?" asked the Filly, a little unicorn mare.
"Ah ... I did that so that you can see it while flying. And when I hold my wings in front of me," he held the wings like a shield in front of him, "Nothing can happen to the drawing, and the ponies behind me can see them too. " When he lowered the wings again there were more children. Confused, he pulled his head back and looked at the door in surprise. Rarity was there and said with a sheepish look: "The little ones wanted to go to the library. Can you take care of them for a moment?"
"Not alone." he confessed, "I only have two eyes, four hooves and if the alarm goes off I would have to leave the little ones alone."
"Ah yes. I'll be back in a minute. Should I bring something from the kiosk?" said Rarity.
"If there is a soda, one please. If not then not." Swift said then looked at the Fillys and foals. they talked wildly, but Rarity managed to make a list of all ther wishes and then left.

When she came back a little later, Rarity also had Twilight with her and the two kept talking. Swift wasn't sure what it was about, but he heard Electrics name a time or two.
"well finally." he said when the two mares came in, "Twilight, why do you have so few foalbooks? It was really hard to find something that the fillys like."
"I know, I know ... If I had known that we were opening a daycare, I would certainly have taken more books with me." Twilight said with a groan, but then smiled, "Swift, you should go to your cabin. We'll take over the Fillys now. And don't worry, Applejack and Fluttershy will help us soon."
Swift raised an eyebrow, but then left. He was happy to be out before the real work began.

On the way to his cabin he met Amethyst and asked briefly how she was doing.
"Being grounded is annoying." she said, then blushed with shame, "oh, sorry sergeant. I didn't mean to appear disrespectful."
Swift sighed softly, then said: "It's okay, Private. I've got used to it. And hey, at least I can fly again. With you it only takes a few weeks and you can keep your real wings."
The young private nodded: "and I am very grateful for that."
"You should. Carry on, soldier." Swift saluted her, but as he left he stopped her again: "Oh, before I forget: I was thinking of proposing you for training as a gunner. The precision with which you threw the spears was really impressive."
"Thanks sir!" she saluted again with a big smile and trotted off, clearly happier.

Electric nervously waited for Swift in his cabin. She had let Rarity persuade her to change her outfit and was slowly not sure anymore. Instead of the normal overalls for her, she wore a simple dress, the hair was combed and she was generally dressed up, and she didn't want to think about what Rarity had suggested to wear underneath.
And she was nervous.
very very nervous.
Just as she decided to call it off, the door opened and Swift stood in it.
His eyes widened when he saw her and his jaw dropped open.
"Hi." Electric came shyly and she tried to appear a little more composed, but she failed.
"Hey ..." was Swift's reply when he finally could answer, "What ... what kind of clothes are you wearing? That's not you at all, Electric."
That hurt Electric a bit, but she didn't show it when she replied: "Well, I wanted to make myself pretty for you. Rarity meant that ..."
Swift laughed softly, came up to her and stood in front of her, closed his eyes briefly and leaned his forehead against hers, then breathed softly: "Are you dissatisfied with me?"
"No!" she said directly and stepped back, "How do you get that?"
"Well, it feels like you want to tell me something. I don't know, I've never been in a relationship. But usually when a mare dresses up that much, it's because something is wrong. At least that's always been the case in books I've read. " Swift said and laughed softly: "You look so surprised. Don't you believe me that you are my first marefriend?"
"I ... didn't expect it." Electric said honestly, "You're also my first coltfriend. I wasn't sure what to do and was afraid that it wouldn't work out between us. But I really love you!"
Swift closed the distance between himself and Electric again, looked into her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but I was just as insecure as you are as it seems. Maybe I should have seen this before, but now that I was it knows how about that: we both look where it all takes us. Personally, I just didn't want to be too pushy. "
"You're not." Electric said a little more confidently and cuddled up to him.
Swift closed his eyes for a moment, then began to grin mischievously as he pulled back and simply kissed her.
That was very surprising to Electric and her eyes widened before she closed them and enjoyed the kiss.
Except for small kisses on the cheek, that was the first real kiss.
And electrics in general.
She melted and leaned against him.

Swift couldn't believe it. All the time he was scared of doing something wrong and that was exactly that.
He had done it wrong.
and now he kissed Electric.
And as her name suggested, a gentle shiver went through his body like electricity.
It took a while until he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. She looked at him dreamily. There was no longer any doubt for either of them.
"I'll end this war," he breathed softly, "For you. So that we can both have a nice, quiet life. You are the wind under my wings and the compass that guides me."
Electric sighed softly, then just as softly said, "And I'll always be with you, Swift. For you I'll give everything and more."
Both wanted to kiss again when there was a little knock on the door and you could hear a whisper.
both looked at the door.
"not so loud, you can still hear us!" said a voice that sounded a lot like Rainbow Dash.
"So-Sorry." Another voice said, clearly Applejack, "but I also want to hear whether Rarity's plan worked."
"of course he did." Rarity said convinced, "You just heard them both."
"We shouldn't do that." said Fluttershy.
Swift sighed softly and looked questioningly at Electric, but Electric turned deep red with shame.
That was the disadvantage of living on an airship. The walls were thin and there was no privacy.

Instead of announcing that the two of them heard the other, Swift simply decided to open the door. Five mares stumbled in and looked up apologetically.
"really?" Swift said, "You guys want to help us get together and then RUIN the moment? And who's taking care of the little ones?"
Twilight was the first to get back on track and said: "The little ones are in the library and Sharp and Artic take care of them. And we just wanted to know if it really worked!"
"Great. You were so loud that you ruined my whole beautiful plan." Rarity said when she got up again, "otherwise you would have seen that nobody can compete with me when it comes to romance."
It was Applejack's turn: "oh yeah? You were the loudest of us all! Your horn hit the door!"
Fluttershy didn't say anything, just got up.
Swift just deadpanned the five.
"Sergeant, one word." said Rainbow and pushed the other four out, then closed the door, "Firstly, I'm sorry that I listened, and secondly." She put her hoof on his shoulder, "Don't hesitate too long. Electric is a beautiful mare and you two really love each other. Who knows how long we have left." with these words she went and closed the door behind her, shooing the others away.

"She is right." Swift said then, turning around, but before he could continue speaking he saw Electric lay down on the bed and hid under the pillow.
"That was so embarrassing." she said muffled.
"Yes it was, but there is also its good." replied Swift, then kissed her neck gently, "I now know how your lips taste. And that encourages me more to come back to you after every mission."
Electric sighed softly at the kiss, then turned and came out from under the pillow. her cheeks were flushed when she noticed he was sitting over her.
Part of her wanted it so much.
another thought it was too quick.
Her hoof passed over his chest, then to the back of his neck. She pulled him down for another, deeper kiss.
Swift loved to let this happen.

But Swift stopped suddenly and said in a low tone, "We don't have to do this now."
"I know." Electric said and opened his top, "But I want to sew. Shall we cuddle a little?"
Swift checked his watch, then smiled, "Okay, I'll have a few more hours until my late shift."
He helped her take off his uniform top and was amazed when Electric turned her back to him and asked softly: "Will you help me please?"
With a trembling hoof, he opened a zipper and helped her out of her dress. At that moment his heart almost stopped, and he looked away, said very softly: "Oh Celestia ..."
Electric wrapped himself in the blanket and lay down, and Swift lay down with her. he put his hooves around her and she pressed her back to his chest.
Swift was in heaven. he was pretty sure about it.

Much to the regret of both, Swift had to take off again a few hours later and leave the front. It had actually moved a few blocks towards the train station and more of the city was under enemy control.
Fortunately for the Stormbreaker Squadron, it was relatively quiet that evening.
"Specialist Night." Swift said during the flight, "By the way, I suggested you for a promotion. I think corporal would be an appropriate rank. Your performance during the retreat was impressive and the squadron trusts you."
"Thanks, sergeant, I won't let you down." said Night, and tried to look neutral, but the joy was written in his eyes.

End of the third day of the siege of Manehatten

Author's Note

Battle of manehatten:

While there are always minor battles in the streets, the Equestrian Marine airships try to prevent enemy reinforcements by sea, with moderate success. At the same time, several thousand ponies are being brought out of the city by train every day to be on the safe side, but there are increasing reports of saboteurs trying to destroy the railway line, which means that the few defensive forces are further weakened.
The reinforcements from the south, however, take longer than expected to get to Manehattan.
New calculations say that the siege ring around the enemy armed forces can no longer be held at the end of the week and that there will be worse fighting if reinforcements do not arrive soon or the enemy runs out of reinforcements.