//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Rarity's Army // by BronyDan //------------------------------// Next morning as the sound of the bugle could be heard throughout the camp, Twilight left the wash tent feeling much more refreshed than she had been yesterday. Many of the other units were out either cleaning their rifles or were on early morning drill sessions. She watched as one of the platoons marched in front of her and then she walk over to the back of the field. There was a long piece of tarpaulin stretched out like a blanket and underneath it was the entire Ponyville platoon fast asleep, using their bags for pillows and all tightly squeezed together like a tin of sardines that neither of them were able to roll over. As Twilight put her food canister, Rarity opened her eyes looking very groggy. “Twilight, what are you doing?” she asked, yawning slightly. “Well, I’ve just had a wash and some breakfast.” said Twilight. “Why didn’t you wake me?” yawned Rarity again as she rubbed her eyes. “Well, I wasn’t sure exactly when you usually wake up Rarity, so I decide to just let you get up at your own accord.” “Well, what time is it?” asked Rarity. “Twenty to nine.” “What?!” said Rarity, sitting up straight and alert. She rolled over to her other side and saw Pinkie Pie asleep, holding her service cap like a teddy bear. “Pinkie, wake up!” she shouted, nudging her in the foreleg. “Yes, Madame LeFlour!” said Pinkie suddenly, waking up and sitting up straight looking quite confused. “Quick Pinkie, wake everypony up, it’s twenty to nine!” shouted Rarity as she leapt out from under the tarpaulin and started buttoning up her jacket. Pinkie pulled herself out of the tarpaulin and began running across the top and was shouting into everypony’s ear to get up as quickly as they could. As soon as she had finished at the end, a cry of agony could be heard on the other side. “My wings!” Rainbow Dash shouted; she was trying to open her wings out to stretch, but they stayed closed up and every force attempt she tried only caused her more pain. Fluttershy picked up her Red Cross bag and went to examine Rainbow Dash. She gently placed her hoof on Rainbow Dash’s right wing muscle, which made Rainbow give another cry. “Oh my, Rainbow Dash. I think you may have stopped some of the blood going to your wings, and the muscle feels quite tight. I don’t think you’ll be able to fly for a few hours.” Rainbow Dash glared over at Rarity, but she didn’t notice. She was just putting on her hat, when the Sergeant Major marched up behind her. “Might I ask where you’re going, Captain?” he asked after Rarity had saluted him. “Well, we were going to get some breakfast.” said Rarity. “Breakfast ended half an hour ago.” reported the Sergeant Major. Everypony groaned in frustration and disappointment. “But we’ve already missed two meals!” insisted Rarity, “Do you realise that we have not eaten for nearly 24 hours?” “That’s not my problem.” said the Sergeant Major, “Breakfast ends at 8:15. You better get your ‘soldiers’ ready, they’re due on parade in ten minutes. The general will be giving the whole camp the outline for today’s manoeuvres.” he saluted and marched away as everypony threw down their food canisters onto the grass. Rarity said nothing; she just sighed with irritation. All the Home Guard units all stood to attention in their groups as General Hoofard explained that for today’s manoeuvre, they were to be against a detachment of the Royal Marines. However while most of the units were wide awake and ready, the Ponyville Platoon were swaying slightly on the spot, their eyes half closed and some were leaning on their rifles to support them. “Starved, having to sleep outside on hard grass, wings too stiff to fly.” Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath, “And it’s all Rarity’s fault. She’s turned this whole thing a complete shambles.” “Oh come on, Dashie, it’s not entirely her fault.” Fluttershy whispered back, “It’s just the misfortunes of war.” Rainbow Dash sniffed in disagreement. “The Manehatten Platoon shall attempt to get round behind the enemy and attack from the rear.” General Hoofard continued explaining, “In order to do this, they must first cross the river over the pontoon bridge. That bridge shall be guarded by the Ponyville Platoon. In conclusion, I shall remind you that you shall be up against regular troops. But I’m sure that you will be able to prove that the Home Guard can take anything that anypony, anywhere, can dish out at them. So good luck.” Over at the river, one of the Royal Marines was crouching behind a tree on the bank. As he peered around the tree, he could see in the distance Rarity and the Ponyville Home Guard approaching. He ran back along river to the pontoon bridge, where other Royal Marines were cutting through the ropes that kept the wooden sections of the bridge together. He called out his warning to them and so they pocketed their knives and ran on ahead. A minute later, the Ponyville platoon stopped on the bridge. Rarity ordered that Pinkie’s section was to remain on the bridge and stand guard while the rest would head on in front. Pinkie saluted and the rest of the platoon marched over to the other side, leaving her, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike behind looking out over the river. As they stood there with their rifles out, Applejack’s eyes caught sight of something in between one of the gaps. “Whoa Nelly, that don’t look right.” she bent down and picked up the rope and saw that the end was frayed with knife cuttings, “The rope’s been cut!” she shouted and at that moment, they started to feel that the section of the pontoon they were standing on, was starting to slowly detach itself from the rest of the bridge. Pinkie grabbed the rope and pulled hard to get it back into place and to allow her friends to jump across safely onto the immobile section she was on. “Keep it tight, pass it on.” she said to Applejack who had also taking the strain and passing the rest of the rope to Spike. As they held the rope tightly, General Hoofard came marching along the riverbank. He could see five Home Guard members; their rifles abandoned next to them, standing awkwardly on the pontoon bridge and went over to investigate. He stopped on the bridge, (the section that was loose) and glared at them. “Where is Captain Rarity?” he demanded. “I think she may have gone on ahead, sir.” said Pinkie as she was starting to feel her grip on the rope weaken. “Well, who are you?” asked the General. “Lance-Corporal Pinkie Pie, sir.” “Well have you never learnt to salute an officer before?” “Yes sir, but if we…” “SALUTE!!” At this order, they all let go of the rope and threw their right forelegs into a salute. The moment this had happened however, the broken section of the pontoon finally came loose and began drifting down the river, the General still on standing on it. Pinkie watched in horror as it floated further away and began pushing everypony off the bridge and running after Rarity. Further down the river, Rarity had stopped the platoon to get their bearings. There was no sign of the Royal Marines anywhere, but before Rarity could initiate a plan to find them, the rustling of leaves could be heard behind them. They pulled out their rifles, pointing in the direction of where the noise was coming from, but then they lowered them when Pinkie came running into sight with her platoon, gasping for breath. “Rarity…” Pinkie panted, holding a stitch in her side, “the bridge… broken… General…” “Don’t tell me the General knows what happened.” Rarity gasped. “He more than knows.” gasped Rainbow Dash, “He’s standing on it!” and she pointed at the river. Through the long reeds, Rarity could see the broken section drifting past them, the General seething at them. She ordered everypony to run alongside it and to try and think of a plan to save the General. “Don’t just keep running up and down!” shouted the General, “Telephone HQ for help!” “But I’m afraid there aren’t any telephones.” Rarity called back. “I KNOW THERE AREN’T ANY PHONES ON THE BANK!” the General raged, “Send a runner!” “Can’t you swim across?” suggested Pinkie. “He’s a General, not an Admiral.” shouted Rainbow Dash from the back. The platoon kept on running until they had rounded a corner and in the distance, was another bridge. The archway underneath it was large enough for the pontoon section to drift through, and this gave Rarity another idea. As they stood on the bridge waiting for the General to float past, Rarity turned to Bon-Bon and Lyra and asked for Lyra to dangle Bon-Bon over the side of the bridge; the plan was that Bon-Bon would grab the General just as the pontoon floats under the bridge and pull him up to safety. “I can’t do that.” Bon-Bon protested, “I’m not going to able to reach him when he approaches.” Rarity looked over the side. Bon-Bon was right; the bridge was slightly higher than she had anticipated, so she decided on another suggestion. As the General floated along and caught sight of the bridge, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. They had kept with their original plan of dangling Bon-Bon down to grab him, except now Lyra was hanging upside down as well, clutching Bon-Bon’s hindlegs, while Big Macintosh held onto her hindlegs over the side of the bridge. Rarity had also decided that if the General was to miss, then there would be somepony dangling on the other side as well, which turned out to be Pinkie Pie, with Derpy holding onto her while Doctor Whooves and Vinyl Scratch held one of her legs trying not to drop them both into the water. General Hoofard had no choice but to stand on his hindlegs and raise his forelegs; it felt completely undignified for a stallion of his rank to be rescued in such a way, but there was no alternative. Bon-Bon was lowered further down a little and the General wrapped his hooves around hers, but instead of allowing to be pulled up, he clambered over Bon-Bon’s and Lyra’s bodies and pulled himself over the parapet, refusing all helping hooves. He turned to look at Rarity, breathing heavily. “You bloody fools!” he shouted, but before Rarity could explain, a sudden cry and a thud on wood was heard from behind them. They all rushed over to see that Pinkie was lying, spread eagled on the raft as it continued to float down the river. It was obvious what had happened; Derpy had clearly let her slip through her hooves by accident, and when they pulled her back onto the bridge, she just shrugged apologetically. “You know, I could fly over there and help,” said Rainbow Dash in a loud voice, “but if it hadn’t been for somepony, my wings wouldn’t be so stiff that they hurt!” “Oh, do stop grumbling Rainbow Dash!” Rarity snapped, “Quick, everypony after her!” and they all ran off the bridge after the pontoon again, leaving the General still standing on the bridge. As they continued to chase the raft into an open area of land, where they were no trees blocking the view of the countryside, Rainbow Dash spotted a small boat tied to a pole stuck in the ground. “Excellent!” said Rarity excitedly, “Twilight, Rainbow Dash, get in the boat and take an oar each. I’ll take charge.” “Why are you taking charge?” said Rainbow Dash hotly, “I was the one who found the boat.” “Just do as you’re told.” ordered Rarity as she sat down at the back of the boat and began undoing the rope, “Everypony else, keep on running down the bank.” Big Macintosh and Applejack stayed behind to help push the boat off the bank and into the water, and when that was done Rainbow Dash and Twilight lowered their oars into the water, (Twilight using her magic to hold hers up) and began rowing towards the raft. Meanwhile Applejack and Big Macintosh had managed to catch up with the rest of the platoon, but they had all suddenly stopped in their tracks. Applejack fought her way to the front to see what the trouble was and it wasn’t hard to see; the track they had been running across along the bank had completely disappeared and now lead down into a boggy stretch of the river. “Well we ain’t gonna be able to get through there.” said Applejack thoughtfully, “We shall have to turn around and head back to camp.” “But Rarity said we have to keep going on.” Spike insisted. “Well if you wanna try and swim across Spike, be my guess.” said Applejack, “but right now, I think turning back is our best option.” Spike looked at the water, then back to Applejack, and decided to go back to the campsite with them. Pinkie was still lying on her stomach flat on the raft, not wanting to topple it over. She kept her eyes closed as she felt it rock slightly, however she opened them slightly when she heard somepony calling out to her. She turned her head round and saw Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow Dash in a small boat rowing to her rescue. When she heard their hooves step onto the wood, she pulled herself back onto her hooves and pulled Rarity into a hug. The raft wobbled dangerously beneath them. “Pinkie, please.” said Rarity rather embarrassed as she pulled Pinkie off her, “Now we’ll just get you back in the boat and we’ll…” she stopped talking when she noticed something; the boat that they had rowed over to the raft was now floating further away from, so now all four ponies were stuck on the raft. “Rainbow Dash!” she shouted in anger, “I thought you would have secured the boat!” “Why was I to do it?!” Rainbow shouted back, matching Rarity’s anger. She was now fed up of all of Rarity’s ideas and superiority over her, and now this was the last straw, and nothing was stopping her from letting it all out, “You’re the ‘Captain’, you should have done it and show us how to do it properly, when really you would have been making it worse!” “How dare you use that tone at me!” Rarity cried, beside herself now, “Any case, YOU were the last one out, so YOU would have been responsible…” “Girls!” came Twilight’s voice. The two mares stopped arguing for a minute to look over at her. “This is not the time for petty fighting. We have to stop this raft.” her eyes darted around them, trying to think of a solution, and she then noticed a branch hanging over the river. “Quick Pinkie, climb onto Rainbow’s back and try and grab that branch when we get under it.” Pinkie swung her right foreleg into a salute and began climbing over Rainbow Dash until she was standing on her hindlegs, (Rainbow Dash winced slightly as she felt Pinkie’s hooves dig into her wing joints) and Rarity and Twilight grabbed onto each leg for support. As the branch got closer, Pinkie leaned forward until she got her hooves around it, but that still did not stop the raft and as Pinkie clung onto the branch, Rarity and Twilight was being dragged backwards towards the edge of the raft, so they had no choice but to let go, leaving Pinkie to dangle over the river as they continued on their way. “I don’t think it’s worked, Rarity!” Pinkie called after them. “We’ll meet you further down the bank!” Rarity called back as Pinkie swung her hindlegs upwards and wrapped them around the branch and began shuffling back to dry land. They continued on floating down the river for another few hours, until at last, the raft came to a halt in the middle of the river. Rarity looked over at the bank and then at the water. “There is only one thing for it, Twilight.” she sighed, “I shall have to swim across and get help.” “Look Rarity, why don’t I just teleport over instead?” asked Twilight. “No Twilight, I shan’t send somepony into a situation that I can handle alone.” said Rarity as she removed her hat and jacket. “Just hope I can avoid getting any of that water in my mane.” she muttered to herself. She stood on the edge of the raft and looked down at the water, drew in a deep breath and jumped. The water level was just barely over her hooves. Rarity stood where she was and looked back at Twilight and Rainbow Dash; the latter trying not to laugh. She gave a deep sigh and began walking slowly back to the bank as Twilight and Rainbow Dash climbed off the raft after her. Eventually, they caught up with Pinkie Pie and suspecting that everypony else had gone back to camp hours ago, they began the long trek back the way they came. They trudged through mud, scrambled through bushes and walked through fields until they could see a row a tents in the distance. When they finally walked through the gate back into the campsite, battered, weary and silent, the sun was already beginning to set, and they didn’t greet the platoon when they saw them, they just walked over to the tarpaulin that was their bed, climbed in and drifted off to sleep. All in all, the weekend had not exactly been a success.