Author's Note

And here it is, the moment we've all been waiting for- nope. Just kidding. There's no sex in this scene. Probably wont be for awhile, watch I'm going to break that lol. But seriously. I felt bad for not uploading for awhiel so I thought why not give you guys a treat.

Chapter Eight

Strawberry's Point of View

Saying the meeting was a nightmare would be an understatement. Caption Armor was not nice with his word choice one bit. He wasn't scared to tell the bat pony how he felt about the whole thing and it left Strawberry with an unforgiving taste in his mouth. Not knowing what to do made the stallion feel even worse. His mind raced but unless he wanted to disobey an order to return home than his hooves where tied. With saddle bag secured on his pony along with his armor, the young private looked over at his buddy who stood at the end of the station watching with those sky blues. Strawberry turned away as the train crawled itself to a stop as the scene played out in his mind.

Caption Armor was pacing back and forth in front of the Princess's bedroom door with a sour look plastered onto his face. Strawberry already knew he was in trouble for the broken window; which at the time, was what the pony thought the topic of conversation was about. That false-hood shattered when the Caption started on about how one pony could lose a vile from checkpoint A to checkpoint B and not notice it fell out of his bag. Strawberry tried to explain his side of the story but that only seemed much worse than if he had remained silent. The sound of the train's whistle jogged the bat pony from his memory signaling the fact that his time in the Crystal Empire was over; that it was time for him to head home where he was sure to catch another tongue lashing from his Princess of the Night. A deep sigh left his lips once he stepped into the train car along with him closing his eyes. Strawberry didn't know how he could still be a guard once he went home. Surely Princess Luna and Princess Celestia would be crossed that he failed and broke a window in the process,

"This was not how this mission was supposed to go..." the bat-pony mumbled under his shaky breath.

At the jolt of the train's motion, the Private started down the aisle towards his seat. Strawberry would be a laughing stock once he returned home and his commander caught wind about his actions in another Empire. Thankfully the sun has already set so at least the young stallion could ride the train in peace but he still felt lonely as the seat in front of him was empty. Strawberry wish there was more he could do to help, but sadly the only thing useful he knew of was that there was a third pony who got off the train with him and Sargent Maine, actually, he was pretty sure that she would've made it to the city only some odd minutes before them as she galloped along the trail. That's when it clicked. The mare's hoof prints never showed up near the entrance to the kingdom. He would've remembered seeing rushed and heavy prints with how much she of a hurry she was in. No, the guards would've seen her if she just came running in. Strawberry thought while his eyes star gazed out the window when another idea popped into his head,

"What if she never made it to the Empire-" he whispers standing up with haste, "She could be in the mountains!"

With a new fire in his steps, the Private made his way towards the back off the train. He didn't need to stop it as he hasn't made it to Cloudsdale yet so there was still time to fly his way back to the Crystal Empire. Strawberry couldn't believe that he was about to break an order. The first order he had received on his own and he was about to break it. Once he got to the caboose he made quick work on throwing the door open before leaping over the rail. He opened his wings to give one great thrust upwards, his hooves never touching the ground.

The sky was lovely tonight. The wind was perfect for a good long fly through the clouds-or so, they would be if Strawberry wasn't in such a hurry to get back to the Crystal Empire. It took a few hours to get to the Crystal Empire by flight but by Princess Luna did Strawberry manage it. His wings felt sore by the time he landed in the middle of a... water fountain. Quick glances around his hooves Strawberry groaned to himself. He must still be tired if he managed to also land in water instead of the ground like he aimed for. After he made his way out of the small pool of water, the bat pony began his journey to the castle barracks in hopes of finding some pony who will listen to his words. Maybe Maine is still up, that stallion always had trouble going to be when we were young and I stayed over.

Stopped just outside the door, the young stallion gave the thick wood just a quick push to allow himself entry into the large room. Some ponies had already made their peace with the night and drifted off to slumber in their beds. Strawberry tried his best to keep quiet with a few clinks here and there from his armor in the ocean of soft snores. The moonlight showed ever so gracefully through the windows. Their armors hung up or put into a chest in front of their beds. The Private stopped by the empty bed that he once used himself and unstrapped his boots to be left near the right hoof side of the mattress before he headed into the bathroom to freshen up. He didn't want to look too tired before he made his case of the mare fleeing into the mountains after stealing the medicine vial. With now, even more, quieter steps, Strawberry stepped into the barrack's facility which already had the lights turned on. He figured that a rookie forgot to turn them off so Strawberry really didn't pay very much mind to it.

Stepping up to a sink somewhere in the center Strawberry was just about to turn on the water when the sounds of metal being in mid-turn hit his ears. He wasn't alone in the bathroom. His heart raced as he jumped a little from the sudden noise behind him. His mind began to compete with his startled heart as hoof-steps followed the shut-off water. He needed to hide. He was already taking a big risk with him here instead of on the train ride home. Strawberry turned around to leave only to run straight into something hard and tumbled to the floor.

Warmth. That's what his muzzle felt. Was something warm, heavy, wet and smelled very much like pine. Fluttering his eyes open Strawberry quickly froze. He was not ready for the sight at laid out before him. The Private was muzzle deep into the one and only, Lieutenant Charter's crotch. His black, heavy set of balls rested peacefully on his nose and Strawberry wouldn't lie... Charter has a pretty big, and nice, pair. Feeling his entire face heat up this time he went to remove his muzzle when a deeply confused moan escaped the Lieutenant's mouth as he lifted his head while his shoulder where pressed against a bathroom stall. This was bad, Strawberry had to move but his eyes were locked onto the ripped, bulked, muscles that lay underneath that lilac coat of his. Charter had a strong, square jaw with a thick muzzle. On top of his head lay a wet unbrushed ruffle of light brown forelock that reached down an inch from his head. His chest lifted up and down with calm movements, but they wouldn't be calm for long as before Strawberry could make another move his sunset yellow eyes locked with Charter's reddish-orange orbs.