Chapter 15

"Thank you for being there for me." hooed Swift to Electric, who was lying next to him, "If I were alone now ..."
Her hoof on his lips interrupted him.
"I'm always here for you, Swift." she replied with a smile and snuggled up against him.
It was very reassuring to Swift to hear.

The next morning, Swift went to see Fluttershy in the infirmary first thing.
"can I ask you a favor?" he asked shyly and held out an envelope to her, "Should anything ever happen to me, can you give this to Electric?"
Fluttershy looked at the envelope confused, then pushed it back: "No. I can't do that. You'll have to do that yourself."
"But ..." began Swift, but Fluttershy was quicker: "No, no matter what you want to say. You will have to come back yourself and give her the letter."
Swift wanted to reply something about the fact that it wouldn't work that the letter was meant for the worst case, but then it clicked and he understood what she meant.
With a grim smile he put the letter back in one of his pockets and said with a grim smile: "Thank you."

Since the Stormbreaker had it a little harder, also and especially morally, the Squadron got a day off, which Swift spent at Electric in the workshop.
"So ... that should have been it." Electric said, and tightened one last screw, "Perfect. Your wings haven't been maintained that good in a long time."
A brief movement of the wings and testing of all elements confirmed this. Not a creak, squeak or screech could be heard.
"Perfect. I don't even know how I can make it up to you." Swift said with a small smile.
"oh i have a few ideas!" electric got a mischievous grin.
Swift also got such a smile when he replied, "I'm curious about that."

"That'll have to wait." Twilight's voice came from the door as she trotted in, "Swift, I need your wings. More precisely, something has to be built in."
Electric and Swift looked at each other questioningly, when Twilight put something on a table in front of Swift: "This. It's a kind of tracking spell. If it works, you should be able to find our target mare more easily. I just developed the spell and it appears to be function."
Swift saw the object, which looked like a simple metal rod with something engraved on it.
"How exactly does it work?" he wanted to know.
"The closer you get to the pony in question, the brighter the stick shines." she pointed to the gravueren, "in theory it shouldn't interfere with the MCUs in your wings either."
"in theory? and in practice?" Electric apparently wasn't keen on it.
"We have to test. But if it works, we'll be out of here faster." Twilight replied, "That was enough for me yesterday." you could see that she was sad.
"Well, I'll do a test flight tonight when there's less going on on the battlefield and our troops retreat into the trenches." Swift looked at Electric, "If you will allow me this test."

Electric looked at him in surprise. "You ask me? Why?"
Swift put his forehead to hers, closed his eyes and said softly, "It's you who I want to come back to every time. But after yesterday ... after yesterday I'm scared."
Electric's breath caught, but her heart leaped.
"I'll always be there when you return," she kissed him gently, and he returned the kiss just as gently, "And Twilight is right. If that works, who knows how quickly we'll be out of here."
"Good. I'll join Corporal Nights night patrol."

after it got dark, Swift got ready on the flight deck.
"Are you sure, sir?" night asked, looking Swift up and down.
"Yes, Corporal, I'm sure. We'll test a new piece of equipment, if everything works out that will speed up our search," he smiled narrowly, "I can also clear my head for something like this."
"We have a full moon night. I mean that only because your wings might shine." Night said with a sly grin.
Swift looked at his wings as if he was just beginning to notice.
"huh ..." was his only comment and they both took off.

They flew low over the allied trenches and watched the enemy front, while both kept an eye on this strange metal rod that was now attached to Swift's wing tip.
It gave off a faint glow, but that didn't really help considering how big the area was.
"Hey Sarge," said Night at some point: "Time is up. Fly back, I will continue to take care of the front."
Swift looked up at the moon. "Okay ... I promised Electric. You can handle it alone?"
Night began to smile: "I'm not alone. A whole Thestral Squadron is on patrol up ahead. I can hear them."
Swift nodded, "good luck and clear skies." it tilted over the right wing and flew back towards the airship.

Swift crept quietly into his cabin, but Electric was still awake.
She smiled at him and blushed a little.
"Good evening, pretty, were you just waiting for me?" he smiled and began to take off his uniform and light armor. Only in his uniforms did he get into bed with Electric and she snuggled close to him again.

"There you are again."
That voice ... Swift swallowed hard.
"I was already expecting you."
The black alicorn mare stood in an environment that swift did not even begin to recognize.
"What do you want?" Swift asked and went into a defensive position, his head low above the floor, standing slightly to one side to either attack or fear quickly. His body hadn't decided yet.
"Talk." Nightmare Moon got up and walked up to him, her black skin peeling off on the way and revealing a dark blue fur. the wings that looked like Corporal Night became feathery like swift once had.
"Fear not, my little pony. I am Luna." said this mare with a much more pleasant voice.
"A trick, nothing more." Swift was still on the alert.
"No, that's no trick. I don't have much time. I know that you are looking for the elements of harmony. Give them to me when you have them all." said Luna and looked seriously into his eyes.
"yes of course ... to do what?" swift asked suspiciously.
"If the elements are turned against me I will be banished to the moon for another thousand years, like last time. But when I have them I can free myself from the Nightmare curse." she raised her hoof to him, "Please, I don't want to be stuck on this dusty wasteland for a thousand more years."
Swift rose slightly, but he continued to look suspiciously at her.

He thought about what she had said.
"I do not believe you." he finally said, "that sounds like a trap to me."

"and you are right." said another familiar voice.
Death had appeared and stood next to Swift: "Hello Luna. Haven't seen you in a long time."
"Grim, you are still there? Hasn't my sister made you the offer that you can finally rest in peace yourself?" Luna turned back into Nightmare Moon
"But she did, but I continued to swear my allegiance to her." was Death's answer, and he seemed to be grinning again.
"Oh right, there was something. You fell in love with Destiny!" Moon laughed and it hurt Swift's ears.
"Exactly. And if she wishes I will continue to serve her." Death yelled at Swift, "Now leave this stallion alone so he can do the job Destiny gave him."

Another laugh from Nightmare Moon, and within a moment she was standing in front of Death and kicking him aside as if it were nothing.
"You may be death, Grim, but you have no chance against a goddess like me." with these words she grabbed Swifts Kin and forced him to look into the eyes, "and you, little pony," for swift the world seemed to fade when only these turquoise eyes were in his field of vision, "we will do what I ask, or my next goal is your Marefriend, "the world got a little darker, and swift couldn't do anything about it," Destiny may have chosen you, but I will own you. And with the help of the elements I will finally get my night eternal! "
That laugh again. It echoed in Swift's ears, in his skull, from end to end, and the two turquoise orbs in front of him were underscored by a grin that broke open and showed razor-sharp teeth that made the laugh.
And that laughter kept filling his skull.
He couldn't scream.
He couldn't look away.
He silently pleaded with Death to give him the coup de grace.
Nothing happened until he finally woke up again.

He started up with a gasp. It was time to get up, right on time. Electric had cuddled up to him all night and was sound asleep.
His skull boomed.
And he could see a dark shadow in the corner of his eye.
he just knew that it wasn't a normal nightmare again.

He dragged himself into the canteen, eyes half closed, and managed to drag himself to his squadron's seats without dropping his breakfast or spilling his coffee.
"Is everything okay, Sarge?" asked Ruby. Her voice was lower than usual. When Swift looked up and tried to answer with a smile that he would like to be dead so he could go back to sleep, his eyes widened. His squadron ... they had no eyes! Where the eyes should be were black orbs, their bodies twisted and broken. blood hung in their fur, ther uniforms where shredded. Swift let out a scream and fell off the bench, and with a loud metallic CLANG he landed on his back, wing first.
"Sergeant, what's going on here?" Commander Dash asked, appearing in his field of vision.
Exactly the same.
Another scream from Swift, but his wings held him to the ground, so he put his hooves over his eyes and curled up as best he could.
"This is not real. This is not real. This is not real!" he repeated over and over again.
Electric appeared next to swift and gave him a startled look.
"What has he?" she asked Dash, she just shook her head, said: "Maybe it's the nerves. Maybe some kind of PTSD. We should take him to the infirmary."

Fluttershy went through all sorts of procedures.
"I don't think it's PTSD." She said, "He's more like hallucinations, but other symptoms are absent. I gave him a sedative." she looked at her patient, who seemed to be sleeping restlessly. "Has that happened before?"
Electric shook her head, "not that I know of. But ..." she thought for a moment, "I'm afraid it's the same as our R&R in Canterlot."
When Commander Dash, who was also there and Fluttershy looked at her, told Eelectric what had happened and how they got to Princess Celestia afterwards.
"Oh my ..." said Fluttershy, "I don't think I can help him ... maybe Twilight can do something. She's a very talented sorcerer."
Dash nodded and said, "I'm going to get her. Electric, you stick with swift. Strap him on. I don't want him to hurt himself or anypony else.

Author's Note

Element tracking unit
ETU

Developed by Twilight Sparkle to help locate the remaining elements. This device is a combination of alchemy, runes and magic, as well as a touch of science.
Twilight has managed to combine everything so that