Chapter 13

Swift was the first to wake up. He felt his back leg hanging from the cloud, the sun was rising and it seemed to be a beautiful day.
Until he remembered WHAT day was today.
He almost jumped up, but Electric was lying next to him and that prevented it, yet he said in a tone that was not too loud: "We have to go!"
Electric woke up, stretched and asked sleepily. "What's the matter?" she yawned heartily and snuggled up against Swift again.
"We have an appointment ... in about 3 hours!" Swift said and looked at her regretfully. He really wanted to lie there, even if she had more of the cloud than he was and would soon fall off.
"It can't be as important as this ..." was Electrics' weary reply.
"Only the display of honor that PRINCESS Celestia ordered and which we have to attend." was Swift's answer, and it worked.
Electric jumped up and almost fell from the cloud when she said: "Oh my Celestia! We have to hurry! I still have to wash and change! Do I have to wear make-up? What do I even wear?"
Swift gave a chuckle, then got up: "First back. Then shower. I already have my clothes, I can help you with yours." He jumped into the air, "Come on, Canterlot is a ten minute flight from here."
Electric hadn't noticed that their cloud had drifted across the land.

After about fifteen minutes they were back in the Electric apartment and she was scurrying back and forth, into the bathroom, out of the bathroom, generally getting way too crazy with the appointment.
"How can you stay so calm?" she asked astonished and in a hurry, "we will stand in front of Celestia in front of a large audience! and we will receive a commendation for our work!"
Swift shrugged his shoulders, rubbed his chest when it hurt again and said, "Well, I probably won't panick until later. Maybe it's just that I'm more used to stressful situations than you are."
Electric stopped in front of him, looked at him questioningly: "What's more stressful than what we're doing here? We're going to a ceremony on the princess's summons!"
"I think getting shot at is much worse." Swift said with a shrug.
"Yes, that's right ..." Electric recalled, "Still, I'm nervous."
Swift raised his wing over Electric: "Don't be afraid, I'm always there for you."
She smiled narrowly, then galloped on over to dress up further.

On the way to the palace, the two ran into the next problem. literally.
Thousands of ponies were on the way in front of the palace, the roads were blocked with carriages.
"We'll never get in on time!" Electric said and began to panic again.
However, Swift had an idea. "But we'll arrive on time. Follow me." he led them into a side street, and spread his wings: "Jump up!"
Electric's eyes widened and she asked, "You want me to fly piggyback?"
Swift nodded, then thought, "Wait a minute, I've got a better idea." He took off, turned and flew towards her, then grabbed her in his front legs and hit her with it.
Electric looked at him in shock, asked: "What are you doing there?"
"We're taking the Pegasus Military Access." said Swift. His uniform made it clear that he was one of them, but why he wore a mare he had to explain when asked. good that you had your invitations with you.
When she looked up she could see that Swift had tears in his eyes.
With shock she stated: "Oh no, your ribs! That must be so painful!"
Swift just nodded and said softly, teeth clenched in pain, "Oh yes. More than I expected."

"Where is the sergeant? He should be here about 30 minutes ago!" Commander Dash said nervously, and looked at the lineup. The wonderbolts were at the front, followed by the ship's crew, behind them soldiers who also served on the ship, and at the end the stormbreakers as rearguards. Even the airship was already there, manned by a skeleton crew, ready to take off at a sign and fly over the square. In addition to those just mentioned, there were also the crew of three other ships, their pegasus squadrons. There were two of them in front of them and one behind them. That meant Swift didn't have much time to ...
And then Commander Dash heard the flapping of metal wings.
"It's about time, Sergea ..." Dash began, but stopped turning around in a sentence when she saw Swift carrying Electric in his arms.
She smiled, then said: "So ... how was your evening?"
"Quite good. Electric and I spent a night on the clouds." Swift said with a smile.
Dash giggled, then laughed.
Only then did Swift realize what he was saying, looked to electric which turned bright red with shame.
Swift just rolled his eyes.

When the ceremony started, Swift marched in front of his squadron. I set the airships in motion with their crews, but it was evident that one of the crews was incomplete. The crew before them wasn't nearly big enough, and their squadrons were incomplete. Obviously this crew was less lucky than the others. The ship also looked like it had only been poorly repaired. Swift silently thanked them that it was different with them. For the ceremony itself, he zoomed out. Only when it was their turn did he pay attention to what was said again.

"Next I want to ask the Wonderbolts and the Stormbreakers here." said Celestia in a solemn tone.
The two squadrons stepped out of line and marched forward, then saluted Celestia.
"You answered the call and immediately rushed to defend Manehattan. You are credited with shooting down several enemy airships, as well as direct combat with opposing squadrons. And you have rescued trapped civilians and freed prisoners. I hand over for these acts two squadrons the 'Golden Wings of the Dragon'. "
Swift's chest swelled with pride. This award was coveted and would do well in the Stormbreaker's home barracks. And they got them from Princess Celestia personally!
Swift accepted the award on behalf of the Stormbreakers, proud of his Squadron. When he was about to get back in line, Princess Celestia stopped him: "Just a moment, sergeant." Swift turned around again when Celestia said: "The Private Amethyst Fire and the specialist Arctic Bolt please step forward." both stepped in front of and behind Swift
"For the injury in battle, I will give Sergeant Swift Specter and Private Amethyst Fire a Purple Heart each." she solemnly attached the medals to their uniforms. at Swift next to the first.
"and I proudly present the 'Heart of the Dragon' to the specialist Arctic Bolt,"
Arctic's eyes went wide when the medal was attached to his uniform, "For bravery before the enemy, and for destroying the enemy flagship."
There was loud applause.
Swift also applauded

The rest of the ceremony was relatively quick and the groups broke up into smaller groups for private conversations.
The entire Stormbreakersquadron and also Electric gathered around Artic who was still beaming with pride.
"Congratulations," said Electric, beaming at Artic, hugging him and saying, "and thanks again for saving my Swift."
"Your Swift?" Rainbow Dash asked as she came trotting, "It still belongs to the army." She handed over a scroll, "March orders. Tomorrow at noon we're heading north. Twilight has located the next position."
"Yes Commander!" Swift said and saluted, then turned around: "You heard her. Enjoyed the evening, but no hangovers tomorrow, understand?"
"Yes sergeant!" said the entire squadron as if in one voice.
Swift cocked his head and looked at Amethyst before saying, "You are not meant, Private. Your injury renders you unfit for service."
"I know, Sergeant, but I've agreed to fly with you and help Twilight Sparkel and Electric Swing." said the private beaming.
"Oh wonderful!" Electric exclaimed, "I'm very happy!"

The evening was tough.
Swift's chest was still very sore as he lay down, but he needed sleep. Even more, it was so nice when he could snuggle up to Electric without having to be afraid that the alarm could go off at any moment. At the moment he was lying on his stomach and had a blissful smile on his lips.
Nothing could go wrong at the moment.
"Swift? Do we have to go to the front tomorrow? I heard the fighting in the north was particularly bad." it was Electric's low voice.
Swift sighed softly, then replied in a voice of reassurance, "Yes we have to. If there is really an element of harmony there, the best way to end this war is." He didn't even notice that he had phrased the sentence incorrectly, he was so tired.
His head lay down on the pillow and he yawned heartily again.
"Swift ... I'm with you no matter where you go." Electric again, this time a little ... quieter but safer.
"Then I will avoid Tartarus for the time being." he replied with a mischievous smile before finally falling asleep.

The next morning was as hard as the night before.
But for other reasons.
Swift didn't want to get up, it was too comfortable in bed with Electric at his side.
But all good things end at some point.
With a heavy heart he got up and at noon he found himself at the airship that was just taking off towards the north.
"Swift. Because of your injuries, you are given easy tasks at first." said Commander Dash, briefing everyone present, "The corporal should take over the Stormbreakers on patrol."
"Yes ma'am." Swift said and saluted, "Otherwise everything is business as usual. The journey will take about 4 days as we have to go slowly."

During the flight, Electric took regular care of Swifts and Rainbows wings. It was Rainbow's turn and had placed her metal wing on a workbench so that Electric could work more easily.
"I have a question for you, Electric." she said after a while
"Yes I'm listening." Electric said, "What is that question?"
"How does Swift handle two of these things?" she raised the wing, "I ... I don't feel completely anymore. And it hurts me every time I look in the mirror."
Electric screwed a little further before she replied: "I think it's the same with him, even if he doesn't want to admit it. I've already watched him do it. As soon as he sees himself, he looks at his wings and moves them very slightly, but he never looks particularly happy. "
Rainbow nodded, "I understand it. The grand piano is great, no question and I prefer it to nothing, but ..."
"... the feeling is simply missing." ended Electric for her.
Rainbow nodded.
That made Electric sigh, and she tapped her hoof against the metal of the wing as she said, "The problem is that we have no choice but to use steel. We tried everything, but only steel is light and hard enough for that load. Before the war even that would not have been possible. Maybe with a little more development time ... "
She closed the service hatch on Rainbow's wing
"Well, We will see." she finished the thought, "Maybe a unicorn will find a charm to replace the wings. I would prefer that personally."
Rainbow moved the wing as a test and rammed the wing edge against one of the workshop pillars. It didn't give a millimeter, but the pillar got a dent.
"Right now, the wings are very handy for combat, and Swift uses them as shields. Maybe it's not that bad." said Rainbow and examined the wing edge more closely, "I have to go. This week it's my season's turn with the evening patrol."
"Clear sky for you." Electric said, which made Rainbow smile.
"Ah, Swift always says that. I wonder where he got this from." Rainbows was current when she left.
So that wasn't normal for Pegasus?
She would ask Swift later.

Swift was flying alongside the airship, testing what his chest would do. In fact, it felt better in the air if the wing was only minimally moved. Strong wing beats, as used in combat situations, however, still hurt a lot. But that got better too.
Maybe he was ready for action again when they reached the front, even if he didn't believe it.
Simple explanation should be included, and that would be enough to find another element.
Hopefully it went as fast as the last time. Then they could take care of the last element that hadn't moved at all, which was a bit unsettling.
how much time did you have? nine to ten months, maybe only eight. He had to look at the calendar when he lands again.

Author's Note

The losses during the battle for manhattan were limited, but the collapse of the front at this point meant that many of Princess Celestia's troops are now trapped in an encirclement. It is estimated that one thousand five hundred soldiers are currently either on the retreat or are being held up on a new front while the old one follows them very quickly.
Nonetheless, the small tribute to the soldiers was received positively by the press and public.