The Celestia Cross

Chapter One
Duty Above Life
Strongwing's Story

Duty

It's what members of the Equestrian Armed Forces live for but none of them took it as seriously as a young bomber Pegasus named Strongwing. Strongwing never planned on being a bomber Pegasus. He had always dreamed of becoming a fighter Pegasus but when he went to sign up as a fighter he got turned away due to his large stature. This setback didn't phase him though. He came back and signed up as a bomber. He didn't care if it was exactly what he dreamed, he just wanted to serve his country in its time of need.

I walked up the large stone steps of the Canterlot War Museum. This large stone structure was made using the rubble left over from the war. It was created to help the citizens remember the horrors of war and the bravery of the ponies that fought it. The large stone entrance loomed ahead of me. This building was just awe inspiring. One would think that the patchwork of stone would make this building look like it was pieced together by a foal but it actually looked magnificent.

I had no time to admire the entire building though. I had work to do. I was contacted by the museum after they heard about my project. They said that there was a way they could help me with the story of Strongwing. I walked up to the front desk and the receptionist immediately pointed me to a side room. In the small side room I found the Curator of the museum standing beside a table with a small metal box sitting on top of it.
"Good morning Ink Weaver. I heard about your project and I knew that we had a great way to help you out."
"That's great to hear! How are you planning to help me out?"
"Well you're writing a book about the recipients of the Celestia Cross are you not? At some point you should be writing about Strongwing and I just so happen to have something that will give you a lot of insight into his Medal winning actions."
"Really? What is it?"
"Have you ever heard of a memory orb?"
"Yes. It lets you experience the senses of whatever pony it was recording, correct?"
"Correct." The Curator turned towards the metal box and opened it revealing a scratched and scorched crystal orb. "This is a memory that is a little different from the common orb."
"How so?"
"Well the Equestrian Armed Forces wanted to study how a Pony's mind was affected during their first mission. What did they think about? Now the only way to get the truth was to record their thoughts. The goal of this research was to find out what scared the fresh soldiers and use that information to improve the training regimen. This is one of the prototypes they attached to new recruits. It not only allows you to experience their senses but also listen to their thoughts."
"That's amazing! So I will not only hear and see everything but listen to what he thought?"
"Yes. You essentially become Strongwing. It's a feeling similar to dreaming."
"Can I look at it now?"
"Yes, but one word of warning first. You will experience everything. You will witness the horrors of war first hand. I have watched this orb myself. It isn't pretty. There's no backing out once you start. The only way to get out of the orb is to finish watching it. Do you think you can handle it?"
"Yes. I am determined to get the full story and I want to see these emotions."
"Alright then. Take a seat over here and get comfortable. This will take a while." He pointed me towards the large chair on the end of the table. I sat down and looked at the prototype memory orb and finally saw how beat up it was. The whole surface was scratched and chipped. There were some massive gashes in the orb and the whole things was covered in scorch marks. I thought about what could have possibly happened to make this orb that damaged.
"Whenever you're ready Ink Weaver. I'll see you when you're done."
"Thank you very much." I stared at the orb and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to see. When I was fianlly ready I focused my magic on the orb and slipped into the memory.

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I was now a brown Pegasus with a blue mane. The sun was low in the sky. It was too warm to be morning and most bombing missions happened at night so I guessed that it was late in the evening. I was checking the small crystal orb that was attached to my chest and amking sure it was functioning properly. "Strongwing!" A loud voice called out. "Do you have that thing working now?"
"Yes sir!" I replied. I looked around at my flight. There were five of us. We were already standing in our delta formation. I was at the back with the other rookie Pegasus Skystrike. He was a bit more experienced than me. This was his third sortie and he was starting to get pretty confident. It was starting to border cockiness.
"Hey sir!" He yelled up to the Flight Lieutenant standing at the head of the formation. "What are we bucking up today?"
"Settle down Skystrike." The large Pegasus, Thunderspark, turned to face him. He was a big pony. Even bigger than me and people thought I was big! "We're doing a routine bombing run on the munitions factory in Phillydelphia." He then looked at me. "Strongwing, I know this is your first sortie but if you listen to me and remember your training then you should be just fine."
"Yes sir." I looked around the airfield and saw everypony getting ready for tonight's mission. The fighter Pegasi already had their battle saddles on and were checking the firing mechanisms and their ammo. I was adjusting my blue flight suit to fit more comfortable when suddenly a squadron of Griffons swooped in and landed in unison off to our right..The large twin .50 caliber machine guns that hung from their battle saddles shined in the evening sun. The Griffons that carried them didn't seem to be phased by the weight of the massive guns.
"Sir? Are those Griffons with us tonight?" I asked.
"Yes they are. They're helping the fighters with the escort tonight. Command wants us to have extra protection for this major target."
"Oh buck yes! With the Griffons here there's nothing that can stop us tonight!" Skystrike exclaimed.
"Calm down Skystrike. Even with the extra support the EFM is still going to try to bring us down."
"Let them try! They'll just get torn apart by the Griffons!"
"Skystrike!" Thunderspark's voice boomed and a couple of the other flights looked over to see what was going on. "Settle down! Get your head in the game or it will get blown off!" Skystrike looked down dejectedly.
"Yes sir." Everyone went back to what they were doing or talking about. Eventually the munitions ponies got to us. They wheeled a small cart in front of each one us. On top of the cart was a large bomb lying in a bed of hay. I saw everyone else hop onto the carts so I decided to follow suit. The Earth Pony that was part of the ground crew helped me put the bomb into my harness. Once the bomb was secure I lifted it slightly to test the straps and feel the weight. I had used dummy bombs in training but never any live ones. It was a little heavier than one of the dummy bombs and made me feel a lot more nervous. I didn't have a chunk of concrete shaped like a bomb strapped to my chest I had fifty pounds of high explosives strapped to me! One wrong move and boom! I wouldn't be a pony anymore, I would just be pony parts spread across the countryside. I hit myself in the side of the head with my hoof to clear the thoughts. Everything was going to go fine. We would fly over to Fillydelphia, bomb the shit out of it, then head home. Straight forward and easy.

The cracking of bolts and the snapping of harnesses filled the air as everypony got ready for the mission. Our flight was ready and Thunderspark turned to address us. "Alright. Now tonight our job is to wipe an E.F.M. munitions factory off of the bucking map! We're going to show this so called freedom movement why you don't fuck with the Royal Equestrian Air Force and we're going to show the R.E.A.F. why you don't fuck with Hellcat flight!"

We all gave out a cheer right before the Wing Commander's whistle blew. Different Squadron Leaders blew their whistles while we waited for our Squadron Leader to blow his. We knew which one was his because of its low tone. After what seemed like ages we heard his whistle cry out and Thunderspark waved us into the air. I leaped into the air and gave a solid flap with my wings to get myself moving and before I knew it we were moving away from the airfield in formation.

The light gave way to darkness as we moved across the countryside towards the city of Fillydelphia. Luna's moon was watching over us and I hoped she was as well. I had the feeling that this wasn't going to be something that I could do by myself. I reminded myself that I wasn't alone. I had my flight and the power of the Royal Equestrian Air Force with me. If there was anyone that could drop a bomb on a factory right now it was me. I felt powerful. I felt like I could level that factory with my bomb alone. That feeling left and took my stomach with it as Fillydelphia's skyline came over the horizon.

Thunderspark looked over his shoulder as he addressed us. "Ok boys we're getting close, stay calm and keep your head clear. Keep your eyes out for anypony wearing red. If you see something call it out so everypony else knows. If you're unsure whether it's friendly or enemy call it out anyways. Better safe than sorry. You boys just listen to me and we'll get home in one piece okay?"
"Yes sir!" We all called back to him. Without warning a majority of the fighter pegasi and griffons sped ahead of the bomber group.
"Uhhh sir?" I asked, "Why are they leaving us?" Thunderspark chuckled.
"Don't worry kid. They aren't leaving us to die." He reassured me. "They're going off ahead to clear the path for us. We still have the other ponies and griffons in case anypony slips past the forward group." I felt a bit better knowing that when we got to Fillydelphia there would be less resistance from enemy fighter pegasi but it also meant that the cities defenses would be alerted. Ahead of us I saw muzzle flashes as our fighters engaged with the enemy. The sounds of sirens could also be heard in the distance as the city's defenses went to full alert. Spotlights flicked on and started scanning the night sky. I knew that with spotlights came anti-air. If you got caught in a spotlight you only had a short amount of time to lose it before more lights focused on you in a technique called "coning". Once you were caught in a cone you were pretty much bucked. There was almost no way to get out of a cone and the anti-air focused on anypony caught in a cone. I said a quick prayer to keep the lights away from me.

"Heads up!" I heard Sky Strike yell, "We've got a group of enemy fighters at two o'clock high!" I looked over to see a group of three pegasi in red flight suits coming towards us. They were pretty war away but we could see them due to a spotlight accidentally targeting them. The pony controlling the spotlight realized their mistake and moved the light off of his comrades. I lost sight of the fighters as they fell back into darkness but soon after I spotted little flashes of light where they just were. They looked like muzzle flashes but instead of the usual twin flashes beside the torso there seemed to be one flash under each pony. Was the E.F.M. running low on resources? Did they only have enough to put one gun on each pony? That would be great news because it would mean our attacks were hurting them. My thoughts were cut short by the sound of Sky Strike's voice, "Hey! I think the idiots are shooting at us! Do they think their little pop guns can hit us from this distance? All they're going to do is waste-" His head exploded. My mind froze. I stared at the lifeless body as it fell. The majority of his head was missing. The words he would never say still hung on his tongue which I could clearly see. As I stared I realized that I had some of his blood on me. I lifted my hoof to wipe away some of it and felt something hard. I lowered my hoof to see what it was. It was something white with jagged edges that felt like a rock. My panicked brain finally worked out what it was and I threw it away in terror. It was a piece of Sky Strike's skull. I was having a full on mental break down now. Sky Strike was here a moment ago talking to me and now he was dead and falling to the ground. I didn't want to join him. Thunderspark said that we would all make it home in one piece. We didn't though! Sky Strike was dead! Oh Celestia, he's dead. What do I do? I was brought out of my breakdown by the sound of Thunderspark's voice. "-Right kid? Kid? Snap out of it!" I finally realized that I hadn't been flying while this was going on and had fallen a considerable height. Luckily I had been saved by Thunderspark. He broke formation from the other two ponies in our flight and swooped down to catch me. "I-I'm alright sir. It's just Sky.... He's dead sir."
"I know he his son but we need to keep going. We'll drink to his memory back at base. Now come on. The other two are waiting for us and if we stand around here we'll get picked off by fighters." I nodded to him and started flying again. We turned and headed towards the other two ponies in our flight that continued on towards the factory.

We were almost there and the air was full of action. A griffon flew by as it held an enemy pony in its talons. The pony was trying to fight back but the griffon had a considerable advantage. As they tumbled past I noticed why I only saw one muzzle flash on the enemy fighters earlier. Each E.F.M. fighter did indeed have only one gun but it wasn't the standard .303 caliber machine gun that most pegasi carried. It was one of the large .50 calibers just like the griffons carried. It was slung under their chest just like my bomb. It was extra firepower but it probably cost them maneuverability. The pair continued to fall towards the earth until the griffon clawed the pony's throat and pushed him away. The pony was left clutching his bleeding throat until he hit the ground.

Finally we started to gain ground on the two pegasi of our flight. As we neared them the world was suddenly filled with blinding light. We were in a spotlight. "Shit! Roll right and dive!" Thunderspark shouted at me. We rolled away and the spotlight left us but when we turned to find where our flightmates were we discovered that the spotlight was still on them and that more lights were joining them. They were getting coned. The shells from the anti-air guns exploded in the air near them but none of the shells seemed to do any damage to the pair. "What do we do sir? We need to help them." I said to Thunderspark. He shook his head.
"There's nothing we can do for them. We can only hope they weave their way out of this one." I watched and hoped that their maneuvers would confuse the lights and allow them to slip away safely. My hopes were crushed as a well aimed shell exploded between the pair, tearing them apart. I watched in horror as two more of my comrades fell to embrace the earth again. "Oh Celestia." I said as tears formed in my eyes.
"Come on kid. We have to move. The factory is just up ahead. We just need to drop our load then we can return to base." I looked at Thunderspark. His eyes were full of sorrow but he wasn't about to let it show. I nodded in agreement and we moved towards the factory again.

Ahead loomed the the munitions factory we were tasked to destroy. The damage from the bombs of the other pegasi in our wing seemed to have little effect on the structure. The defenses in the city were nothing compared to the defenses I could see inside the compound. "Okay. We're almost there." Thunderspark said to me, "Once we get over the factory I will give the signal to dive and we will release our bombs. Once you release, pull up and turn to the left. Don't forget to twist the cap before you let the bomb go." I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see a pony in read turn towards us and open fire.
"Enemy left!" I yelled but it was too late. He opened fire on us. A diving E.A.F. pegasus saved us however. The bullets from his machine guns slammed into the enemy fighter and made his guns fall silent. As he fell towards the earth I turned my attention to Thunderspark. I noticed blood flowing out of holes in his side. I flew along side him to speak to him, "Sir you're hit!" I said to him. Thunderspark coughed and blood covered his muzzle.
"I know Strongwing, I know. Look. I'm not going to make it but you can. Just fly over there and drop you bomb. Every bomb counts remember. Just do that and you can go home. Can you find the way back?" I nodded to him. "Good. If you can't just link up with another flight. They'll show you the way." Thunderspark coughed again sending blood out of his mouth and his side. "Go now. Drink to our memory when you get back to base alright? Don't think about us until you get the job done." His eyes slid closed and his wings stopped holding him up. Thunderspark headed towards the ground one last time.

I put him out of my mind for the moment. I needed to follow his last advice. I couldn't think about my flight now. It would only slow me down. I had to go drop my bomb. I sped towards the drop site and looked for the flares the pathfinders dropped that indicated the target. I saw the flares just a few feet of the area I was above. As I began my dive an explosion deafened me. I felt something hot tear through my side. I looked down and saw a large gash in my side where a piece of shrapnel hit me. It was bleeding heavily. "Oh that's not good." I muttered to myself. I had a job to do though. I looked around to see where I should drop. I suddenly realized why we weren't doing damage to the structure. The roof was reinforced to protect it from this kind of attack. Our bombs were useless. I needed a plan. I saw a small hole in the roof that was caused by tonight's attack. It was just big enough for a pony to fit through. I was dizzy from the blood loss and there was no way I could aim a bomb to fall through that hole; There was no way I was making it back either. I twisted the cap on my bomb. It was now armed and ready to explode. I aimed myself towards the hole. If I made it in there I would detonate the explosives inside and blow the whole facility. I closed my eyes and fell. "Let's go have that drink boys"

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I awoke in a cold sweat. The curator was standing nearby. "Quite the experience, isn't it?"
"That was frightening. I don't know how ponies could handle doing more than one mission. How did you get this orb? How was it not destroyed in the explosion?"
"Yes it was a massive explosion."
"Largest in pony history."
"However the crystal these orbs are made out of is some of the toughest material known to ponies. It was found buried in the rubble after the Equestrian Armed Forces took the city. The orb was reviewed and Strongwing was recommended for the award. If he hadn't thrown himself through that hole they never would have destroyed that factory. It was a strong blow to the E.F.M. It robbed them of a lot of their ammunition. If that factory wasn't destroyed the E.F.M. wouldn't have run out of tank shells during the battle of Manehatten. That pegasus may have won the war."
"And I just experienced it. That is just awe inspiring." I stood up and shook the curator's hoof. "Thank you for this opportunity. You have given me a lot to think about."
"Anytime. I enjoy history and we need this part of our history told. Thank you for your work." I turned to leave the small room and started my walk home. I had a lot to think about indeed.

End of Strongwing's Story