Maine's Point of View

Warm. That's all Maine could use to describe how he feels in this moment and the second his eyes fluttered open was the second the warmth faded away into the brightness of the sun. The white unicorn groaned as he placed his hooves to his head. A soft pain throbbed all over and his body was scolding him that he needed to lay still with sleep being one big demand. Maine studied around the small crystalline room to find only his bed, a tray by the hoof of the bed, and a few monitors by his head that made really vexatious beeps into his right ear. The unicorn gave the room look over only to find a nurse pony in mid-stride over to the end of his bed. When did she get in here? he asked himself but made no movement as if she hadn't noticed he was awake. Everything was a little fuzzy and he didn't know if his voice would work the way he wanted it to, or at least the way he hoped it would since it was mid-afternoon when the magic bomb went off and the sunlight looked as though the sun was just rising.

The unicorn watched the nurse for a little bit as she checked the room, replaced a couple of the roses that sat in a vase at the base of the bed- Maine doesn't remember those being there before hoof -and then came back to the clipboard all while she whistled some kind of offbeat tune, then again after he found out his childhood friend had the voice of angels anything compared to it sounded off.

A sudden flashback to the prisoner escort caused the unicorn to flinch as the memories came back as if they were flash cards. The yellow unicorn, his words about how Strawberry was tied to the whole thing and about how they should have just let the stallion kill the bat-pony. Maine growled slightly at the throbbing pain in his head while it grew from the memory's sudden violent arrival. He tried to wave down the nurse but it was like he was see-through. Maine settled on clearing his throat but it hurt once the deed was done so he knocked a hoof against the metal railing of his bed. The nurse looked up from her charts with big blue eyes. A look of shock was framed on her face. She looked down at the chart then back up at Maine who was now in a state of slight discomfort. He was beginning to feel like maybe he should've just let the nurse do her rounds and leave but before he could apologize the nurse spoke through a slight second stutter,

"Mr. Crusher, you're awake?" the question felt more like she was quizzing herself rather than Maine so he was a little conflicted about his answer.

"Y-Yes, I am and I would like to know-"

"Hang on while I go get the doctor!" she cut him off just before she fled from the room.

Maine called after her to wait only to have his words fall flat as if they never even left his mouth. The stallion placed both hooves on the temples of his head to try and rub out his now thriving headache. He took a deep breath in and a slow breath out as he tempted to at the very least calm down the storm inside his head except his attempts was hopeless. Being a unicorn one would think that he could simply spell it away... only no spell would come to mind at this moment. That's when a hoof tapped his left shoulder. He opened his left eye to find a light brown doctor pony with his mouth running. Sadly he could only hear bits and parts so he asked, a little too painfully, if the doctor could move over to his right in the hopes of actually catching a decent sentence,

"I'm sorry," the doctor said just before he cleared his throat, "I said my name is Dr. Rose and I asked how you're feeling,"

"Honestly?" Maine asked, which earned him a nod of approval, "I feel like shit doctor, my head is throbbing and I can't hear from my left ear but what I want to know is how the other ponies are doing... you know the ones that where with us when we were escorting the prisoner to the holding cell," his throat was going to murder him later on for talking so much he could feel it.

"The other ponies are fine, you're the only one the bomb really did any major damage to," even after the doctor finished talking he could tell by the unimpressed look on Maine's face told him that the stallion wasn't going to rest until he heard the entire report so he cleared his throat and continued, "Private Crusher only had a few bruised ribs and cuts while the other two stallions had concussions and a few minor scrapes but they are well taken care of, in fact, Private Crusher has been checking in on you for the past four hours,"

Maine sighed in relief that no one else had to be stuck in- wait, Private Crusher? Maine was positive that Berry would've been here pestering the staff until the previous stallion had woken up and calmed his nerves in a big, painful, hug yet Berry's name didn't exit the doctor's muzzle. Something was wrong. Strawberry wouldn't have even tried to leave the hospital if Maine was there, the bat-pony had too big of a heart to just sit around out in the hall while the doctors worked on him in a different room. It was one of the things he liked about Strawberry, the stallion would do everything he could to help the unicorn even if he went overboard; however, the bat-pony isn't in sight.

The stallion droned out of what the doctor was mumbling on about as he used magic to throw off his blanket in his attempts to stand up,

"You should lay- Hey! Wait!" the doctor called outward as he placed a hoof onto the unicorn to keep him in the bed but he was overpowered by the white stallion's weakened strength,

"Sir! I beg you!" the nurse cried as she used magic to keep the stallion in a suspended stance that was half on the bed and half off.

The unicorn tried to fight the magic that was holding him down but in his poor state, he couldn't seem to overpower the blue unicorn like he could the earth pony behind him. Maine could feel it in his body that something was wrong. That Strawberry should've been here but he wasn't. The unicorn sent a glare towards the other unicorn as he finally just went limp inside the magic that covered his entire frame. He knew better than to try and waste too much energy in the attempts on breaking free. Maine sighed as he allowed the nurse to place him back onto the bed with a look of disappointment on his face.

He tuned out the doctor's little rant before he closed his eyes,

"Where is my friend, Strawberry," he asked with his hoarse voice.

The doctor looked down before he took in a breath of air but before he could actually speak there was a knock at the door to the unicorn's current chamber. The trio of ponies turned their heads towards that direction at the sound of the second knock of three. A royal purple mare in a light grey hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows pushed the door wide open before she entered. Aster had her rose pink mane up in a bun while her bangs cupped the left side of her round face in two large curls. She had a bandage upon her right side muzzle joined up with a bruise on her left cheek. Maine could feel his heart skip like the first time he saw her, and the time he was told that she would accompany him in the prisoner escort.

Aster walked up to the bed before she cleared her throat. Her face told a different story than what her words said next,

"Private Night-"

"Strawberry," Maine interrupted, Aster looked him in the eyes before she cleared her throat,

"Strawberry, will be perfectly fine... he's with my brother," her words sounded as though she had practiced in the mirror.

Maine narrowed his eyes at her as she failed to meet his. Would she really lie to him? It's not like they've known each other very long but still, it hurt a little to know that she spoke false words towards him. He could call her out, would that help? Does he want to know the true reason as to why she was lying? The unicorn looked at the earth pony as he patted the bed in front of him. He did want to know and even if he didn't he needed to know. Aster looked back at the white stallion before she spun around to face away from him with her two curled tail almost between her legs. He wasn't going to let go of the subject easily. Her ears fell before she twirled back to face him her face beet red,

"You know, everything wouldn't have gotten to this point if it wasn't for Strawberry!" she yelled at the unicorn who grew a face of distaste, "My brother wouldn't have run away to find your friend if he hadn't gotten himself kidnapped in the first place! If he had just come-"

"Stop!" Maine snapped as the doctor and nurse scurried out of the room "Don't you even pin this on him! That's the last thing he needs!"

Maine couldn't have heard her right. He was kidnapped? No, that couldn't have been it but then again... it would make sense as to why he wasn't here. The unicorn rose to his hooves this time with no other pony to stop him from doing so. He stepped toward the mare with narrowed eyes,

"You can protect him all you want, but the prisoner made sense! Why else would he spit out Strawberry's last name! If it wasn't him then who else! I pulled his records, Canterlot didn't even know he existed until he joined up with the guard! How do we even know he's one of us? What if his whole innocently adorable clumsy bat appearance is all an act!" she spat out with a newfound venom which stopped the stallion in his tracks.

How much does she know?

"Watch what you say, Private," Maine snarled, "Private Nightshade has nothing to do with what's been happening, I can promise you that! He doesn't have a single bone in his body nor the heart to do such treason you're accusing him of!" it hurt to raise his voice but Maine honestly felt attacked.

He grew up with Strawberry. Ever since he and his father came to Canterlot when he was a foal. Maine took another step forward, then another. He was close to just telling her off but he had to remain composed. She came to him as a soldier so that's what he'll treat her as. Maine stopped once again with a shake of his head. The unicorn stood firm and tall despite the pain that rode up from his hooves. His tail twitched in frustration. He needed to cool down so he took a few breaths in then released it in an even bigger breath out through his nose,

"Private Wolfthorn, you are not to speak of Private Nightshade in such manner... and if you go digging through his past without an order from someone higher than you, you'll leave me no choice but to strip you of your rank just to go through basic once again!" Maine threatened with heavy words fused with the seep of the anger he tried to control.

Maine didn't realize he started his march again until her rear hit the doorway. He wasted no time in any more pointless chit-chat before he nodded to the door with disgust in his movement. Maine had forgotten just how much Strawberry had to go through just to get where he was. He may not have been the best soldier but he was one to be trusted. The unicorn heard the door slam behind him as he looked out his window. Strawberry was in trouble. Even if he found the vial and stopped the pony who started this... he would have to face judgment back here in the Crystal Empire. The unicorn couldn't have that he couldn't let his friend take the fall for something he had nothing to do with.

He strolled over to the window and placed his right hoof against the glass as he closed his eyes. Maine took in a few deeper breaths. He was sure that he was going to make the right decision for he knew that Strawberry would do the same for him, the only thing he feared was that Charter won't find him in time. If it was the people he thought had found Strawberry than he knew it would be a pain to get back from. There was also a chance that this could all backfire but he had to take a leap of faith. Maine slowly opened his eyes halfway to stare off into the sky. Yes, this way should work. Coming clean could only help but in order to do so, he needed to go back to Canterlot and speak with the only pony alive who could now clear Strawberry's name of this mud. The unicorn stepped back from the window in order to hunt down a nurse and check himself out of the hospital.

Author's Note

Well guys, things are getting to the boiling point. I don't know how much of you guys wait for my updates but I promise that I shall update the next chapter soon. I would really love to hear from you guys so please, comment down below. Doesn't have to be much. just say hi and I will reply if I can, thank you!