Saving Private Rarity

by Show Off

Chapter 4

My prediction proved accurate; Snap and I were awake and flying an hour before the sun was up. Thankfully, our patrol only covered the camp, and thermals rising from the bonfires meant we could glide most of the time. He flew close to me, mere inches separating our wing tips.

Several times we spotted Quill below us, running from tent to tent searching for his beloved Rarity.

My wingman raised his visor to look me in the eye. “You know, before I saw the size of this place, I had some hope he’d find her quickly; but now…” His voice trailed off in thought.

“But now we don’t even have the slightest idea of whether or not she’s alive,” I finished.

“He’ll do anything to find her.”

“I know.”

We flew in silence for a while, keeping alert for trouble. Once or twice one of us would zip off to buck what we thought might be an enemy craft, but every time it turned out to be a rogue cloud that had wandered in.

“Thank Luna the patrols here are less…eventful…than the ones back at the old fort,” I commented after five such encounters.

“You and that Princess of yours…” Snap chuckled.

“Hey, you saw what happened at the award ceremony; I’d say I have a decent shot.”

“Dream on, Lunatic. Dream on.”

“I will, thank you.”

He smirked and shook his head.

The rest of our patrol continued in much the same way. We never encountered any real threats, and were actually glad to get back into the swing of everyday grunt work. The biggest incident we encountered was an argument between two other ponies down in the camp, which we interrupted before it broke into a fight. I thought I saw the tell-tail glow of Famosity’s magic behind a tent a little ways away, but further investigation proved fruitless.

Quill flagged us down at exactly 1800 hours. Famosity stood next to him with a clipboard which the lieutenant seemed very interested in. “Ready to begin again?”

I stretched my wings a few times. “Let us catch our breath, Quill. We’ve been on patrol all day.”

He checked the sun, then the clipboard before giving us a reply. “Very well; you have five minutes. Captain, trim the last sweep of sector twelve.” He returned to the map, studying it for some clue as to his beloved’s whereabouts.

“If he trimmed a sweep, that means he had us booked solid from 1800 hours until dark…” Snap postulated.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “We are earning our bits today, my friend.”

“No kidding.”

I decided the best way to spend my five minutes was to lie down and pour my stress and fatigue back into the earth. I shrugged off the lightning turrets I’d been carrying all day and lay down. Snap made use of his time by stretching and having a glass of water some ways away from me.

As I lay there on my back—eyes closed, wings extended, dumping all of my fatigue into the ground—Fam walked over to chat.

“How was patrol?”

“Uneventful,” I answered keeping my eyes closed. “I have a real bad cramp in my left wing though…”

“Maybe I can help.” She stepped over to it and placed a hoof on my wing. “Where’s it hurt?”

“A little to the right,” I grunted.

She moved her hoof and found the spot, dead on. “Here?” she asked, applying a bit of pressure.

“Ow! Yeah, that’s it.”

“Sorry.” She moved her hoof gingerly in the spot I had indicated, applying light pressure to try to work the kink out. “Is that helping any?”

“Yeah, a little.” The pain began to numb as Famosity worked the soreness out of the muscles. I sighed as the stress ebbed away and my wing began to feel much better. My eyes snapped open as a wave of pleasure washed over me, threatening to overwhelm my already tired mind. I sat up abruptly, shaking her hoof off my wing in the process. “Okay, you’re gonna have to stop.” I was struggling to control my breathing.

“I thought you said it was helping,” she said, confused.

“It was; I just…I’m good now, thanks.”

“Okay…” She trotted off, leaving me staring after her flank and trying desperately not to be as aroused as I knew I was, and I was thankful my wings had already been extended.

Snap walked over and flashed me a sarcastic smile. “She hit the right nerve, eh Show?”

“Snap, I swear to Faust, if you do not cram a hoof in it, I will-“

“So are we ready to start?” Quill cut me off.

My wingman and I snapped to attention. “Yessir,” Snap said.

“I want to thank you both,” he said. “You’re fine stallions. I know you won’t let me down.”

We suited back up, taking a moment to make sure our guns were tracking properly. Quill gave the map one final check before giving us leave to take off. Like last time, he organized the search while Fam radioed the proper positions to us. We were in a much more active part of the line this time around, and had to keep dodging falling mortar shells from the Carebear lines. Rarity was nowhere to found.

Gumballs raked across the sky, cutting a deadly swathe inches from my rear hooves. “Ground fire!” I yelled into the microphone. “Evasive action!” Snap peeled off to the left while I dove down to try to draw fire away from the trenches.

The guns tracked me, and I pushed myself to the limit to try and avoid the deadly candy. I was faintly aware of Snap relaying the coordinates of the guns to Fam, but I was too preoccupied with surviving to take much notice of what he said. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the turret, manned by a lone Charlie Bravo, on top of the second row of trenches in the Carebear lines.

“Shutterbug, I’m going to try and keep his attention; come in behind him and take him out.”

“Roger; be careful,” came his reply.

I circled around for another pass, barely keeping a head of the stream of sugary death that poured from the barrels of the gun. I lined up and swooped low over the CB trenches, and let loose with a volley from the lightning guns on my back. Several of the enemy’s forces were vaporized instantly, while the ones who survived were cut down by friendly fire as the turret tried to keep up with me. Thank Faust the Carebears were idiots.

Their stupor didn’t last, however. Many began turning their own weapons onto me, and my lightning turrets couldn’t hit them all.

“Bucking bears…” I heard over my radio, followed by a sickening thump. “Got ‘im! Lunatic, pull up!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” I angled into a steep climb, zigzagging to avoid any small arms fire that might follow me. I rose to a safe altitude and held up for my wingman.

“Well…that was fun,” I said when he joined me.

“You’ve got a strange idea of a good time,” he quipped back.

My radio crackled to life. “Show?” It was Famosity; her voice had a slight quiver to it. “Show, are you alright?”

“Still kickin’” I replied. “What say we get back to that search pattern?”

“I…sounds like a good idea,” she said. “Resume pattern at mark 5-1.”

“Mark 5-1,” Shutterbug repeated. “Thanks Fam.”

We continued our search for another fifteen minutes before the sun finally sank below the horizon. We were still unable to locate the white unicorn who so commanded the lieutenant’s attention. Quill was thoroughly dejected.

“Two days…for two days I have looked for Rarity and still nothing!” He stomped around the tent in a huff, venting his frustration at the canvas ceiling. “You’d think someone would have seen her by now!”

“Isn’t the general best friends with Rarity?” Fam asked. “You could try asking her.”

“I tried to get an audience with the general; she was far to busy to see me.”

“Sir, I know this must be frustrating for you…” Snap started.

“Yes! It’s incredibly frustrating. I would have no qualms about the war if I could find her!”

“This isn’t the old fort, Quill. You’re going to have to resume your duties at some point.” I was too tired to be tactful about what I said.

“I am aware of that, Sergeant, but I will continue looking for her as long as I can.”

“I should probably mention that we’re all supposed to be in the trenches tomorrow,” Fam said quietly. “We’re going to relieve some of the other airborne squads.”

“Then why are we still awake?” Snap questioned.

Quill stared at the ground, defeated. Fam walked over and gave him a hug; after a moment, I joined her. Snap tried to slip away, but the captain pulled him in as well. “It’ll be okay,” she said. “After all, we’ve got each other.”

The lieutenant nodded gratefully. “Thank you. But I will find her; make no mistake about that. I’m going out for a walk. I’ll see you lot in the morning.”

He left, and the rest of us said our goodnights and fell asleep.