She must have been telling her how they found Dash, because she was describing how she eliminated one of the pursuing jeeps with some "awesome" shooting. After that it had been pretty self explanatory. They drove here, set up camp, and then Rarity came along the next morning. Rarity started telling the two about how she had ended up in the forest by their camp. When she got to the part when she fell off the truck and hurt her leg, Scootaloo's gaze drifted to Rainbow Dash's new arm. She started to lose focus on the story as she scrutinized the limb.
"If you have a question, ask it." Rainbow Dash said suddenly, surprising Scootaloo. She quickly jerked her gaze to Dash's face. Clearly she hadn't meant to be to obvious. "Go on. I'm not going to take offense." Rainbow Dash told her. Rarity had stopped talking. She was also looking at the arm with curiosity.
"I- I haven't really thought about it until now, but… I mean, I had assumed it was armor, but I was worn out from the past few days, and I didn't think about why you'd have armor when you were a prisoner, and I mean, I guess I just-"
"Calm down Scoots." Rainbow Dash said, comfortingly. Scootaloo stopped rambling. "I'm guessing you want to know what this is?" She continued, raising the prosthetic. Scootaloo nodded.
"Mhm."
"Well," Rainbow Dash started. She drew out the word to stall for a moment, as she tried to figure out how much to say. After a moment, she decided the simplest explanation was the best. "I was on a top secret mission. The squad was hunted, and in the fight, my arm was… blown off." Judging by Scootaloo's reaction, it was probably best she didn't give her the more gory explanation. She recoiled just a little, clearly trying to hide her disgust at what her mind conjured up.
"Does it hurt?" the girl asked, still intrigued.
"No. Well, not since… it… happened." Dash replied. "Good thing too," she started saying. She wanted to get Scoots' mind off of the topic of dismemberment. "Or else I couldn't do this!" Rainbow said as she jumped up, punching clean through a tree. Scootaloo's face lit up, her eyes wide.
"Awesome!" she exclaimed, as Rainbow Dash found a rock and pulverized it. Rainbow Dash walked back to the fire, taking a seat again. Rarity looked a little smug.
"What do you have Rarity?" Dash asked her jokingly.
"That rock was a type of fluorite. It's very soft compared to most rocks."
"I knew that. I doubt I could crush anything too solid so easily." Rainbow Dash replied. Rarity doubted it was true, but it wasn't like Dash to admit that. Rainbow Dash suddenly sat up straight, closing her eyes and listening carefully.
"What's wrong?" Rarity asked her.
"Quiet." she replied curtly. "Quiet! Everyone!" she said louder, the chatter around the fire quieting down almost instantly. If the soldier heard something, it was best they listened.
It was deafeningly quiet. There was not a sound to be heard. "Are you sure you-" Scootaloo started to ask, only to be silenced by a shushing finger. They waited for several seconds. Wind blew through the trees gently, rustling the leaves. The slight wind began to blow opposite direction, and suddenly the sound of rotors chopping through the air was almost unbelievably loud in comparison to the near absolute silence.
"Douse the fire, get to the trees!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Everyone dropped their bowls, Sweetie Belle covering the fire in a thick layer of dirt they had ready. The trucks had been parked under tree cover, so there was a good chance they wouldn't be spotted. Once everyone was under the trees, it was as silent as before the panic, besides the incessant sound of the rotors. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo had run to the same group of trees. They all carefully crept towards each other.
"How did it get so close so fast?" Rarity asked, visibly upset.
"The wind must have changed just as I heard it. When it changed back it was much closer." Rainbow Dash replied.
"We're lucky it did, we would have been caught like deer in headlights." Scootaloo said.
The helicopter finally came into view, it's matte black exterior clashing harshly with the morning sky. It's cockpit was shaped roughly like an egg, and it was small as far as aircraft went.
"Scout helicopter. No mounted armements." Rainbow Dash reported. "It's callsign would be Little Bird."
"That's doesn't make it sound nearly as intimidating." Scootaloo remarked.
"Not at all." Rarity agreed.
"It isn't, until it brings the mother bird. If they spot something, there is always an attack helicopter stationed nearby, ready to deploy."
"I hope it didn't see anything then." Rarity said, Scootaloo nodding in agreement. They waited until the rotors had faded to silence, and everyone met back up in the clearing. Sweetie Belle was the first to talk.
"Do you think it'll come back?" she asked, blatantly pointing the question at Rainbow Dash.
"I doubt it. The search pattern should bring it far from here." Everyone looked relieved. "Unless it saw something it needs to look at again." The general mood returned to anxious worry. "But," she began, "I doubt it did with your excellent performance." The assembled group became significantly happier again, as the pride they gained from the statement engulfed their fears. "There's just one thing that bothers me." she said.
"What's that?" Sweetie Belle inquired.
"If that helicopter is following normal search patterns, it should have approached from the north or south, not the east."
"Isn't the stronghold to the east?"
"Yes, but the pattern is to travel from side to side, parallel to the deployment point." Dash explained. "But the Little Bird would have been going straight out."
"Maybe they decided it was better that way?" Featherweight suggested. "I mean, they did almost find us."
"No, they wouldn't risk the court martial." Rainbow Dash told him, her face grim. "The average punishment is execution." Featherweight didn't respond, but it was clear he was thinking "I sure wouldn't."
"Then how do you explain it?" Scootaloo asked.
"The only other explanation is that it didn't deploy from the stronghold." Dash replied.
"Simple enough then, right?" Scootaloo remarked.
"No, there are no other air bases for miles. The closest one is still another sixty or so miles north-west." There was silence as everyone tried to solve the mystery. After a few moments, it was clear to everyone that they weren't getting anywhere trying to figure it out on their own.
"Dash… is it possible there's an airbase you don't know about?" Rarity proposed. Dash looked thoughtful.
"I knew about every non-classified airbase the Iron Federation held, but then there are the classified locations," Rainbow Dash responded. "I do remember Spitfire mentioning a 'Project Phoenix'. If there was a secret to be held at an airbase, that fits the bill."
"And if it was so secret that you weren't told, with your job and all, it makes sense they would want to make sure we didn't happen to stray too close," Rarity said.
"So they deployed the helicopter from there to make sure we weren't liable to discover it," Scootaloo finished. She grew a smirk. "But that didn't work too well, did it?"
"This could be our chance!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "This is an opportunity we cannot pass up. We can hit them where it hurts!"
"Yes!" Scootaloo cheered, starting a frenzy in which every Bloodmark Crusader joined.
Caught in the middle of it all, Rarity and Rainbow Dash could do nothing but smile at the girls' excitement.