Anthro

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15 Part 1
Chapter 15 Part 2
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 1
Chapter 9
Chapter 29

Chapter 2

The alarm clock at Lyra's bedside table began to ring, 8 o'clock in the morning. After grumbling and mumbling to herself, she slowly tumbled her way out of bed and dragged herself to her dresser to fix the dirty pillow-mane she was suffering from. She calmly brushed her hair as she looked into the eyes of her reflection, the turquoise pony that stared back had sleep in her eyes and were half shut. Pictures hung around her mirror, many of them being fossilized remains of past civilizations while others were of Bon-Bon and her friends outside the facility. Wait, the facility, there's a creature she's been waiting for all her life that's sitting in there waiting for her. Lyra's mood quickly went from grumbly and grouchy to happy and hoppy as she rushed out of the bedroom to prepare her meal for the day.

Packing apples, carrots, and a dandelion sandwich as she quietly chanted to herself, "Today's the day, today's the day!" while prancing around her sunlit living room. Her burgundy couch was warm from Celestia's gentle heat of the sun as her cat slept upon one of the armrests before being abruptly awoken by her master, "Today is the day, Darwin!" She exclaimed, it wasn't often that she was this happy about her job. Mostly because it was the first time that she wouldn't be simply sitting there while the scouts searched the mountains and forests for the anomalies out in the wilderness, hoping to do something aside from crosswords all day. You might enjoy doing nothing while on the job, but a dedicated hard worker like Lyra didn't.

Lyra galloped out the door with her saddlebag floating behind her, surrounded in a turquoise aura. Her door slammed behind her and locked with a click.

Lyra bolted through the city, not stopping on her usual commute to pick up flowers at one of Rose's stands, not picking up quills and Counch'n'Quills because today it was hooves-on study time with her new pet... err friend. She did, however, give every pony bright and cheerful smiles as they waved at her. Doughnut Joe noticed Lyra rolling through town like a mad-mare and attempted to match her speed as he called out with excitement, "Hey Lyra, whats the rush?"

Lyra knew the protocol, tell nopony at all costs, with Doughnut Joe it was an often encounter so she knew what to say, "Gotta beat Bon-Bon to our picnic," she called over her shoulder as she galloped, "gotta make it a surprise for her!"

"Ooh a surprise," the yellow stallion exclaimed, "then take these doughnuts, on the house!" He pulled from his saddlebag a small paper bag that contained two chocolate sprinkle doughnuts for Lyra and tossed them towards her. Lyra needed not to look over her shoulder as she caught the baked treats with her magic and tucked them into her saddlebag without breaking her speed. Lyra continued to gallop and watched from the corner of her eye as Joe resumed his business, already distracted with another citizen entering his shop. With every approaching step, Lyra grew more and more excited to spend time with this creature, she finally had a good reason to show up to work on time.

The turquoise pony approached the metal doors to the building and cheerfully pushed them open, the archive's insides were dark and dusty. Blueblood managed to use his political powers to have this place cut off to private use, that way nopony would enter the building by accident.

Lyra opened the door to the basement and was met with the most heartbreaking moaning she had ever heard. Her smile was instantly gone and her eyes immediately focused on Blueblood at the panels that regulated the chamber for the creature sat inside. Lyra had a bad feeling about what was going on and called down the stairs, "What's going on with it?"

"It won't shut up again," he began as he continued twisting the heat dial on the panel, "it can't seem to speak hoovian... if it can speak at all."

Lyra stepped down the stairs, she could see the creature had its arm again wrapped around its abdomen as it clenched itself. It's eyes showed signs of tiredness and pain, as well as other unpleasant feelings. "Have you tried feeding it?"

"Do you know what it eats?" Said Blueblood, his eyes looked baggy and showed fatigue, this thing must have been more annoying than Lyra thought. Blueblood swished the hair from his eyes as he continued, "I certainly don't. Don't want to anger it even more by feeding it the wrong stuff."

Lyra suddenly remembered the apple inside her saddlebag, she pulled it put of the paper lunch bag saying, "Maybe we can start with fruit? If it turns it down then it must be carnivorous and if that's the case then we get fish for it. I know a mare in Ponyville that would be more than happy to provide."

"No!" The white stallion exclaimed, "If you open the chamber up the thing might attack you. You can never be too sure with things you have no idea about." Blueblood used his magic to pull the apple from Lyra and unknowingly take a bite from it, not realizing he had just pried it from his associate's grip. Blueblood swallowed his mouthful of fruit before saying, "We'll wait another day until its desperate for food, then we can feed it whatever we want with minimal risk of denial." Lyra wanted to object, she wanted to use her knowledge to tell him what really needs to be done, but she was so distracted by the creature's fixed stare that she completely forgot how to speak.

"You're gonna starve the thing to feed it? Seems really logical." Lyra made sure her sarcasm was loud and clear, she had a feeling that there was more to this creature than Blueblood was acknowledging. She felt a little put off by his lack of manners after taking her apple from her, but she quickly remembered how Blueblood was always like this, and no matter how much you told him to change his behaviour, he would always threaten to throw you into prison by making up a story to the authorities or mama Luna... yeah Luna adopted him not knowing he was a total poo-brain when he was just a foal. Without a true mother figure, Blueblood grew up not being parented properly, and with no awesome role models to teach him manners he just stayed as the same bratty colt throughout his life.

Blueblood took another bite of the apple, "I let you in on this facility, I gave you a royal blessing and oath to keep this secret. I can fire you just as quickly as I hired you, you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"N-no your highness."

"Good, but the fact of the matter still remains, that the creature is dangerous and must be treated as such."

"How will we learn that it's not dangerous, cause there's a chance that it is peaceful if we nurture it."

Blueblood let out a long and exasperated sigh, he was at her wits end as he grumbled, "I don't know, just watch over it today okay?" Blueblood then made his way up the stairs to the outside world as he exclaimed, "Squire, where's my crowd of admirers?"

Lyra watched as the creature looked Lyra in the eyes, welling with tears and cheeks stained of pain and agony. It broke her heart to see this creature simply in front of her yet she had no power to help it whatsoever. All she could do was stare back at it, that's when she realized that it had suddenly calmed down now that Blueblood was gone. It's moaning and gibberish had come to an end now that the only pony it could trust so far was in the room. "Don't worry," she whispered, placing her hoof on the glass to match it's paw, "I'm not like him."

Lyra didn't know whether it could hear her or not, but she felt better about herself when she told it the truth. Blueblood's orders or not, this thing needed food and it needed it badly. The creature brought both hands to the glass, it's green eyes looking down at its left hand and back at Lyra. The pony had no idea what it wanted, it had already been established that it didn't speak Hoovian, but she had a feeling it wasn't a complex request. She looked around the room, scanning for the royal (and quite unprofessional) superior. When it was clear that Blueblood was having tea time and wouldn't be back downstairs for a while, she placed her other hoof over top of the other paw. The creature's eyes widened with amazement as it shrieked and moved its paws to other spots, Lyra quickly mimicking it. She watched as the creatures naked body jumped up and down as it posed its paws once more to different spots.

It soon became clear that the creature was establishing the first sign of communication, the basic level of an ape. She realized that it was testing her understanding just as much as she was testing the creature's, and it wasn't long before Lyra began to smile at the creatures facial expressions. Unfortunately, a deep voice cut through their matching game and ruined the little fun that was had, "What are you doing?" Blueblood barked.

"Nothing at all," Lyra gulped, she stared into The snooty prince's gaze as it went from her back to the chamber a couple of times, "I-I think I'm uhh I'm establishing communication with it."

Blueblood gave a dismissing "pfft" as he trotted down the steps, his mane was in much better condition and he smelled of unnecessarily expensive cologne, he was probably lying to the press about all the wonderful things he is doing so he could get another date tonight that would be forgotten the next day. When Blueblood approached the chamber, he placed a hoof on the glass and watched as the creature lost its mind. It banged its paws against the glass as hard as it could as it shrieked in anger and Blueblood said, "This thing is a stupid animal. You have no proof that its intelligent."

Lyra approached the glass cylinder as she stammered, "Just watch me, it seems to like me."

"I'd doesn't like you, it just hates you less. There is no such thing as love in the animal kingdom."

"But it was calm until you entered the room."

"Much like a dog hates an owner that abused it, if there was such thing as love in an animal then it would need theory of mind to ask itself why it loves you. It doesn't have that, apes have always been stupid since our great creation by the deities." Another thing to note, Blueblood was raised as a faithful follower of Faustaism, the belief that all creatures were created by mysterious and powerful beings simply called the Deities. Lyra, however, was raised with an open mind and the choice to follow the religion or not. She had nothing against the faithful, in fact some of the structures they made were quite beautiful, but those who constantly preached it (like Blueblood and his idea that he was born better than every pony else) annoyed Lyra. Lyra had become agnostic at a young age, always wondering about the higher power, never acknowledging its existence but at the same time never dismissing it.

"How do you know that as truth? How can you dismiss mine as fiction and support your ideas as fact when there is no less proof for me than for you!" Lyra was becoming frustrated, the shrieking of the creature was trying her patience despite how bad she felt for it.

"Because I have been educated, I have read the Good Books that have been passed down generation by generation. Have you? The ancestors were first there when the deities created us, were you? If these things can think and love then why haven't they proven it to us yet? The books tell of the truth, and you'll need to accept that one way or another." Eventually the monster's shouts snapped Blueblood, a blast of electricity from his horn knocked the creature on its face as he shrieked, "SHUT UP!" Blueblood took a deep breath before continuing, "This thing is dangerous, the books tell of a two legged and hairless demon that terrorized the planet. These things match it's description and therefore must be treated the way they treated us." Blueblood moved his gaze to the weeping demon, "We treat them like animals. Stupid and vicious animals. You're free for today."

Lyra was in shock, she had never seen the prince act with such aggression before, much less to something he didn't understand. Lyra raised a weak hoof I'm protest as she muttered, "Can it be fe-"

Blueblood again shouted in rage, "GO! I need time to calm down." as he rushed her assistant out the door and back into sunlight. As Lyra was escorted, she took one look back to see the creature staring into her eyes with looks of pain and helplessness. It's lip quivered as it began to recover from the electrocution and rocked on the floor. Lyra couldn't even protest the feeling of heart break before she found herself back in the true reality of things once more.

****

The restaurant of Canterlot had its usual amount of ponies, it was your average Wednesday afternoon and every pony was still in school or at work. Lyra found herself alone at the bar inside, sipping on her cold apple cider. She rarely looked up from her drink, she stared into her reflection much like the creature stared at her when she was kicked out. She could clearly see its looks of pain still etched into her mind along with the thoughts of what was happening to it right now.

A sudden, smooth voice was heard next to the mare, "So Lyra," the colt began, "How has the project been going?"

Lyra raised her head to see a brown coated colt with a black slicked back mane and an hourglass cutie mark, it was Dr. Whooves. "Oh hello doctor," she sighed with depression in her voice, "where do I begin?"

*****

"That bad eh?" The doctor said as he trotted alongside her, "And there is nothing you can do to change his mind."

Lyra quickly said back to him without looking away from her doughnut, "He says they are all savages and must be treated like such, this one didn't do anything wrong so why does it need to be punished?"

Dr. Whooves took the final bite from his doughnut before sitting himself down on the town square's fountain's rim and motioned for Lyra to join him. Once she had herself sitting down, he took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He was subconsciously getting her to relieve some stress from earlier, "What we do at the facility is hard, and the fact that it is all secret makes it harder. I know how you feel, when you wish you could talk to any pony but be forbidden from doing so, it makes you feel alone inside. Thankfully you have me, and I have you. Two genius ponies being the only ones to understand each other in this world."

Lyra pointed over to a couple of foals that were at play, "You see those fillies, they have no idea of the things we have uncovered. They are playing happily amongst themselves with the only nagging thought being their late homework due yesterday," that little bit got the doctor to chuckle before she continued, "Mr. Waddle has no worries aside from getting his slippers warmed up before eating his pudding."

"What are you getting at?" said the curious colt, he was interested with where his gal-pal was going with this.

"I'm saying that what they see as normal problems are truly insignificant compared to what I have to worry about, being informed puts so much stress on me because I know why the chimera attacked last week, because its babies were attacked by no-good colts. I want to tell ponies why it actually attacked, but Blueblood forced me to say that it is a stupid and savage creature. Sometimes I wish that I didn't know as much as I do."

Whooves took a deep breath, he raised a hoof to pat his friend on the back as he said, "That may be so, but imagine if every pony was as informed as us, how depressing their days would be. Maybe it's best that what we know remains as what we know, it's what we chose to ignore that allows our days to go by easier." The colt pointed at Mr. Waddles as he said, "What you saw as his biggest problems was his smallest, he was diagnosed with a terminal disease and only has three months. His greatest worry is about his family he's leaving behind. That one filly," he pointed back at the aforementioned group of fillies, "Daisy Chain has much more to worry about then homework. She realized last week that she likes mares and not colts, and has a school-filly crush on her friend's older sister. She faces the humiliation of her friends if they realize it."

Before Lyra could say anything, the doctor continued, "But they are all so happy because they chose to ignore those problems and enjoy the now! Ignore the fact you are alone with Blueblood and I and enjoy the cider you forgot to pay for at the restaurant."

Lyra's eyes widened with shock, she just realized she had accidentally dine-and-dashed as she said, "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

The colt began to gallop away, motioning for her to follow as he said, "I thought the three burly colts suddenly chasing after us would be enough!" And so the ponies dashed into the maze of streets. Turing corners and twisting through the streets until it was clear the colts were no longer in pursuit. It was only three bits for the drink. The chase ended with Lyra and the doctor in a back alley, panting and laughing. Lyra had an incredibly large smile on her face when the stallion exclaimed through quick breaths, "See? You completely ignored what happened earlier today and let yourself enjoy the moment! That's how these ponies live."

Lyra gasped for air before downing her unspilled beverage, "T-thanks for the talk Doctor, Ill... I'll pay for the drink when I get back."

The colt patted her shoulder with his chocolate brown hoof as he said with a wink, "Time and Ponies are what I'm best at, I'll see you tomorrow!" With nothing more, he galloped off into the distance and left Lyra smiling alone in the alleyway, only a few blocks from her apartment.

Chapter 3

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Chapter 4

Lyra's alarm clock was set differently this morning, it rang five hours earlier than usual. The mechanical beeping abruptly pulled her from the sweet deep sleep she was in, her world of dreams shattered by reality. Yet, reality felt no more real than her dreams, she still felt as though this was all some big dream she hasn't yet escaped. If that were so, she hopes that nopony will ever wake her up. Her eyes felt dry when she tried to open them, her lack of hydration overnight made her mouth pasty and her eyelids crusty and heavy. Her abrupt jump back to the real world disoriented her for a moment, but her memories of the reason to wake up so early got her moving with the same amount of energy as though she had a full nights sleep. The nightlife in Canterlot seemed so alien to her, it was so peaceful and silent yet so alive with colours the day could not bring. City lights filled the sky, the starry sky as clear as they could be with the moon bathing the world in a blue hue.

Lyra yawned, her hooves jerked out of bed, her body slowly following behind it as she moved into the kitchen. Darwin was sound asleep on the nice burgundy couch as his owner tip-hoofed past him. Lyra crawled her way into the kitchen and turned on the kitchen light, the brightness temporarily blinding her as she looked for food. She searched high and low and managed to collect two apples, two sticks of celery, two carrots, and a cucumber. She remembered the canines the creature had, it was probably an omnivore, it seemed happy to be receiving vegetables and fruits. Lyra silently packed the food into her bag and exited her apartment, the thought of the creature still fresh in her mind.

A few minutes later, Lyra was standing in front of the Archives, the doors chained and locked. She began to lose hope, she was still thinking of the poor starving creature sitting alone in the basement of the facility as it waited for her to show up. Then she remembered the small window to the bathroom, it seemed big enough for her to fit in. Just barely big enough of her to pass through, her bag made it just too wide for her to fit in through a crawl. After slipping inside, she pulled her saddlebag through the small window after her and landed on the tiled floor. She gasped at the slightest noise she made, freezing herself in silence in fear of some pony hearing her. When the coast was clear, she opened the bathroom door to see the creature sleeping atop its heated towel, the silent hum of the heating vent was a white noise to both Lyra and the creature. She took one last look around before silently inching towards the glass cylinder as she whispered, "Hey... Hey wake up."

The creature didn't move, his breathing showed that he was still asleep along with the rapid movement of its eyes beneath its lids. Lyra tapped the glass gently, she worried that she might wake up the entire town if she made anymore noise than the crickets outside. Wen she tapped the glass again, the creature jerked upright and inhaled loudly. It's eyes didn't open until after it stretched its limbs, it was waking up from a deep sleep in an uncomfortable position. When it's eyes opened, it bared its teeth and crawled to Lyra with excitement.

Lyra placed both her hooves on the glass as she whispered, "Seems like something... Or someone is happy to see me." Her face was stuck in a smile, she had little to no worries about being interrupted by her ignorant boss. The creature didn't have to worry about being hurt by the white unicorn, everything was peaceful. Lyra watched as the creature brought up its paws to match her hooves and babbled some more gibberish, she simply took it as a thank-you for bringing food to her. Lyra pulled the food from her saddlebag and whispered again, "Got you some nice fruits and vegetables."

It's eyes widened, it looked like it had forgotten what food looked like, the creature eagerly jumped to where the control panel was and pointed at the lever. All while not making a sound.

Lyra nodded her head when she understood what it was doing, the creature obviously had learned of how this thing worked and knew what she needed to do judging by the motions it was making. Lyra quickly complied with its directions and opened the door, the sound of it made both flinch in fear of being noticed but judging by how late it was waking up ponies who were used to sleeping through city noises was little to no worry in reality. Lyra also remembered how Blueblood babbles and complains at every peep or pin dropping when he sleeps in his luxury mansion. So he would also be well protected from noises far away, and not know a thing about what happened this night.

As the door came to a full open, the creature stood there, it's eyes fixed on Lyra and on her saddlebag. The creature seemed hungry, and Lyra began to have thoughts about it being carnivorous, remembering how much Blueblood hated a creature he didn't even know. Maybe there was something he was hiding. Could this thing really be dangerous? Lyra began to back up nervously when the naked pink thing started walking towards her, she had a feeling that it might have tricked her into her own demise. The creature lunged at her, it's arms open, the creature pounced on the unicorn and she nearly let out a scream of horror until she realized that it wasn't biting her. It had its paws wrapped around her gently as it pressed its face into her white and turquoise mane. The warmth this creature gave off and the gentle brushing of her hair gave the startled unicorn a hint that it might not have been looking for the same thing she thought. In fact it was looking for just the opposite, it was looking to keep her in its arms forever, it's tender embrace made it clear it was beyond grateful for being somepony it could trust. Lyra was stunned, this was more physical contact then she had expected, not that this was a bad thing. Lyra gently embraced the creature, her hooves softly brushing its head and back as she hummed a lullaby that her mother had sung for her when she was a foal.

This hug lasted for an eternity for Lyra, and she was enjoying every millisecond of it, she was learning more about this creature than Blueblood did in his entire "education" (he bribed his way into university and had all the professors that failed him banished for lying). When the hug ended, Lyra pronked her way into the chamber as she pulled out all the food and said, "Somebody needs to eat their greens."

As the creature entered, it babbled, "Taaan oooo." Lyra giggled, she loved how they could almost have a conversation despite the language barrier. Then she had an idea, one that would hopefully blow away Blueblood and his snooty ignorance.

When the creature reached for the apple, she held it up in one hoof and the celery in the other and said, "Apple?" The creature nodded when the apple was closest to her, and shook its head when the celery was presented. Then she brought the apple back to him as she said very slowly and patiently, "Yyyyessss..." Every time the creature reached for the apple, not understanding what she was trying to do, she'd pull it away and repeat until it got the idea. It's bared it's teeth and its eyes widened when it realized she wanted to help it more.

The creature made her repeat it one more time, it then took its time before slowly saying with a slur, "Yyyyyyyeeeaaasss..."

Lyra jumped for joy, she had a smile that nothing could give her, she was essentially teaching an alien to speak Hoovian. She squeaked in her joyous tone, "You spoke! You spoke! You said yes!"

The creature bared its teeth one more before pointing its paw at the apple saying, "Yyyess yes!" It was rewarded with the biggest and shiniest red apple you could ever find, and the creature ate it like a parasprite would eat anything. The creature took no time in devouring it before doing what sounded like laughter as it said once more, "Yes!"

Lyra approached the creature, she held up a second apple as she said slowly once more, "Aaaaapllllle.... Plllleeeeaaaassseee"

The creature immediately responded, "Apple... Please." Again it was rewarded with the apple and devoured it like the starving creature it was. Lyra wasn't all too afraid of over feeding and endangering its diet because she had studied the effects of over feeding starved apes before while an intern at a vet. So she let it eat the food as fast as possible.

Lyra felt the urge to continue her teachings when she held up the carrot as she said with her patient and beautiful tone, "Caaannnn..."

The creature followed her, "Ccan..."

"I..." said the excited unicorn.

"I." repeated the creature

"Have..."

"Hhhaaaavvve..."

"The..."

"The?"

"Carrrot."

The creature paused before slowly repeating, "Carrot."

Lyra finished it off by adding in manners and said, "Please."

"Please!" It said joyfully.

"Can I have the carrot please?"

The creature immediately responded, "Can I have the carrot please?"

Lyra rewarded its behaviour and effort with one carrot before it nearly ate it whole. Lyra then held up the other carrot as she said with a smile, "Can I have the carrot please?"

The creature nodded its head and said with a smile, "Yes!"

Lyra burst into laughter, she was having more fun on this night than ever before, the creature realized this and shook its head before saying, "Can I have the carrot please?"

Lyra gave it a hug as she said, "Yes." And gave it the veggie that it craved. The rest of the night the spent together went incredibly well, the creature learned basic reading from a foal's reading and speaking book thanks to Lyra and it managed to formulate, "I need bathroom."

Lyra didn't mind the simplicity of the language it was speaking as long as it kept up this speaking and kept reading through the book over and over again throughout the night before she left. By the end of it, the creature had stuffed itself with the goodies Lyra had brought, it was getting dozy and said with half shut eyes, "Good moon." As Lyra left through the window, she understood what it was saying and smiled at it, it had fallen asleep on a much thicker pile of towels and blankets that formed a very thin mattress for it. It had a towel wrapped around its waist to hide its genitals and buttocks as though it were ashamed to have them exposed. Lyra didn't understand why it felt the need to wear fabric around such a specific spot when most ponies were going around half naked for the most part, another mystery for another time.

Before she left, she looked back ad the sleeping creature in its enclosed chamber as she said, "Good moon... Anthro." With nothing more to say, Lyra closed the bathroom window as best as she could and galloped off back to her apartment for the remaining bit of the night she had. She had a tear in her eye as she galloped, not one of pain, but of love. She felt like what sat in that cage wasn't a pet, or a lab rat, but a baby. A baby she had the privilege of raising and teaching to love her. She said to herself, "If the world comes crashing upon us, I'll be happy to have spent my last night with you."

Author's Note

So thanks for the wonderful comments you guys have posted, as well as the helpful critiques some of you have offered. You know who you are, thanks for turning this story in the right direction. And thank you all very much for getting me featured on here, dream come true!

Chapter 5

Lyra was hopping her way to the facility, her smile going from ear to ear as her saddlebag full of children’s books and fairy tales bounced and slapped against her flanks, the bags weighed quite heavy but not enough to stop her. As she bounced her way through the bustling city, Doughnut Joe again followed after her as he said with a smile of his own, “Hey good mornin’ Lyra. Somepony seems extra happy today!”

Lyra stopped bouncing, she only just realized that she probably looked a little silly doing so but she couldnt care less. Lyra brushed her mane from her face as she gently laughed, she looked at the baker with her electric yellow eyes and said with a sheepish smile, “Yeah... I dunno, today seems like a great day for some reason.” Lyra ever so wished she could just sing her reasons for joy from the mountaintop, but alas the dangers of letting word out outweighed her desires to be truthful. Instead she kept her reasons to be happy to herself but expressed her joy as best as possible.

Joe motioned his head to his doughnut store as he said, “Why don’t ya come inside? Have a coffee and doughnut on the house?”

Lyra took a few minutes to think about it, she wondered if Anthro was expecting her to be on time or if she could spare the few minutes to be with society for a few minutes. Lyra nodded her head and hopped her way inside with Joe. While inside, Lyra sat down at the bar and a french Vanilla coffee slid into her hooves as well as a plate with doughnuts on it. Lyra took a sip of her coffee and looked back up at Joe with her foam mustache and said, “Why are you being so generous? This is the second time in a week where you offer me free breakfast, why?”

Joe adjusted his position on the stood, he took a bite from one of the doughnuts and replied, “Because every time I watch you come by my store, you’re the only one who seems to smile every day. Every other pony seems to be unhappy when they enter my store, probably because they are all grouchy and are still waking up. I see you smile as you wave to me in the morning that you make my job worth it. I need to know your secret to being so happy.”

Lyra paused, her chest clenched and her throat tightened up. Her mind began to race as what to say to him, she couldn’t just say, “Oh I’m taking care of an imprisoned ancient and sentient creature that potentially has the secrets to our existence while my boss tortures it.” Instead, she decided to improvise and said, “My secret to find happiness is when you know something or someone out there is happy to see you no matter what you look like. It’s impossible to be grumpy when you know that even a simple hello and a little attention makes their day better. Now picture how they feel when you actually care for them and they mean the world for you... the feeling you get from that much unconditional love is... is astounding.”

Joe took a sip from his coffee as he said, “So basically adopt a pet eh?”

Lyra nodded her head, although what she was talking about wasn’t actually a pet but more like a child, she simply agreed with him and continued, “Adopt a pet, assume responsibility over something or someone’s life in a loving and caring way and your days will be so much better. Its so rewarding to come home after a bad day to see them want to make your day better because they love you. Sometimes they don’t even have to try to make you happy and you just smile.” Lyra looked at the clock before saying, “I’m sorry but I gotta get going, I’ll see you later!” Lyra decided to take the remaining doughnuts and put them in a paper bag before dashing out the door.

Lyra resumed her route towards the facility with Anthro on her mind, she wondered what she would do with him today and what they might learn from each other. Maybe the creature has magical powers much like unicorns or maybe the ability to fly like pegasi, maybe Anthro was super strong or had heightened senses. Lyra approached the facility with every hop, and got more excited each time she hopped a bit closer. She knew she was late, but only by a few minutes. She said to herself, “Oh boy I can’t wait to hear you talk to me, Anthro.”

Lyra approached the door and gave it a knock, it took a minute before Blueblood and one of his bodyguards to come and open the door. It opened very slowly as Blueblood said with a sigh of frustration, “Finally this thing wont shut up again!”

Lyra began to worry, she pushed the door open and rushed through as she stammered with panic in her tone, “What did you do to it?”

Blueblood responded with a shrug, “Nothing, it just started moaning again and hitting its head against the glass.”

Lyra charged down the stairs, her mind worried of what limbs Blueblood broke this time, but what she saw made her sigh with relief. Standing in the chamber was the perfectly alive and well Anthro, he had his hands putting pressure around his groin as he hopped from one foot to the other. His legs were bent inward to add more pressure and seemed to be leaning over as he moaned and did a little dance. Lyra approached the glass cylinder and put her hoof against it as she said, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

The creature babbled its native gibberish, Lyra breathed on the glass and drew a picture of a toilet as she said patiently, “Can I use the bathroom please?”

Anthro quickly responded, “Can I use the batroom please?”

Lyra nodded her head, “Good enough,” she began as she turned towards Blueblood, "Open the cage and let it go use the bathroom."

Blueblood shook his head with worry and said, "Are you crazy? What if it escapes?"

Anthro took a deep breath and grunted through clenched teeth, "Not lie."

Lyra looked Blueblood in the eyes and said with a look of anger as though she would wipe him of the face of the planet as she said, "Let... Him... Go. You need to trust it."

Blueblood began to stutter, "It... It's an ani"

"Shut up with the animal thing! Animals don't communicate with a theory of mind." Lyra shouted at Blueblood, "I've had enough of your nonsense about it being stupid. He is an intelligent and caring creature that needs to be treated equally."

Blueblood scoffed, "What if this thing is luring you into a false sense of security, just to get a chance to escape?"

Lyra shook her head, "Anything would want to escape from a place like this, if only you gave your head a shake and realized that every creature is equal and just as important. If you want to keep him you're gonna have to make him want to stay and the only way you can do that is if you trust it and show it some affection!"

There was a silence, "Lyra was ready to attack Blueblood as her own blood boiled with anger. She had spent too much time with Blueblood being a complete jerk to everything he saw as less important, it was time he took a lesson from Anthro and learned some respect. Blueblood motioned his head towards the control panel as he said, "Open the chamber up, this thing needs to use the bathroom."

Lyra gave out an exasperated, "Thank you!"

Blueblood shot her a stern look with his furrowed brows and spoke in a serious tone, "I'm going to trust you, but if this thing escapes its because of you. Got it?"

Lyra nodded her head, when the chamber opened up, Anthro came rushing out and Lyra came to its side as she said in her soothing tone, "It's okay sweetie, things are going to be different around here from now on." Lyra followed it right up to the bathroom, right before Anthro closed the door on her she said, "Blueblood won't hurt you ever again." Anthro paused for half a second before closing the door the rest of the way.

When the sound of trickling was heard, Lyra again heard a long sigh of relief coming from inside, she took the time to turn to Blueblood and stated with a concerned gaze, "It's time you change how you treat this thing, torturing it will only make it more likely it'll hurt you. He has feelings and a memory as well as facial recognition. He knows that when I'm here that he'll be cared for and when you're here with him that he'll be neglected. The other day he communicated with me using a drawing of him trying to kill you. He has developed a sense of hatred towards you and we need to change this as soon as possible."

"How do you suppose we do that? I don't want to be hurt at all, it's very expensive trying to keep me beautiful." Blueblood gave a brush of his blond mane and smiled at his reflection on the glass cylinder.

Lyra rolled her eyes, "We start by changing how you behave," she began, "if you change now and apologize to it there's a good chance it'll forgive you if I tell him to. It already trusts me and if it can trust you and understand that this room is no longer a place where he'll be hurt there's a good chance he'll open right up and give you all the information you want."

Blueblood took a few minutes to process this, he was deep in thought with the idea that someone didn't love him despite how he treated them. Lyra was pointing out how he had flaws and was extremely narcissistic, but that's impossible because he was perfect. He decided to just go along with it and said, "Where do we start?"

"It all starts with an apology." The turquoise mare knocked on the bathroom door as she said in her soothing voice, "Sweetie... are you almost done in there?"

"Yes please." the creature responded. Lyra couldn't help but laugh a little at his innocence and his ability to communicate. It was pretty adorable. The door slowly opened after the toilet flushed and he said with a smile, "Done."

Lyra wrapped one of her hooves around Anthro's hand as she said very slowly, "Sweetie, Blueblood has something to say to you." She proceeded to give her death stare at Blueblood, his eyes darted from side to side as he struggled to admit to his own fault.

Blueblood took a long relaxing sigh before saying, "I'm sorry." His voice dragged on like he was a toddler and it slightly annoyed Lyra at how he only said it to please her.

The young mare turned back to the naked creature and looked into its green eyes and said with her mothering voice, "Blueblood won't be mean any more."

Anthro let go of Lyra's hand and slowly approached the white unicorn. Blueblood backed up slowly and became extremely nervous when Anthro looked down upon him with his aggressive look. Anthro picked him up as gently as he could, despite being only two feet higher than him and having spaghetti noodles for arms compared to Blueblood, he was quite strong and held him up as gently as possible as he said in his limited language, "I sorry too, I make you not happy. We can be friend?"

Blueblood was beginning to have a meltdown, this creature was covered in filth and was making too much contact for his own liking. Not even his greatest admirers were allowed to touch him this much. But seeing as it was effortless to hold him up it shouldn't be much harder for him to crush the life out of the prince. The prince took a nervous gulp and said through a cringing face, "Yes... We can be friends now."

Anthro gently but him down, before Blueblood could give him a look of disgust he was surprised by his next move. He watched as the creature kneeled down and readjusted his tuxedo to where it was and fixed the tie around his neck. The naked creature smiled sheepishly as he managed to say, "Sorry, I mess up clothes. Nice clothe too."

Blueblood took a minute to process that, he looked from his suit back up at the creature as he said, "Why... thank you. I didn't know you knew of clothes."

Lyra quickly intervened and informed Blueblood, "Keep your sentences simple, I only got it to the language of a three year old."

Blueblood nodded his head before whispering to Lyra, "I didn't know it had an understanding of fashion and its value."

"There are a lot of things you don't understand about it, maybe today you can learn a few things about it with me." Lyra smiled towards Anthro who had taken his towel and wrapped it around his waist once more, she looked back at her superior and whispered, "I know you've never been this close and personal with the lower class, just give it a try and interact with it and engage with it. I promise nopony will know of what's going on here."

Blueblood thought about it, a few seconds later he began to smile, not one of his fake celebrity smiles but an honestly happy smile. He looked from Lyra back at the creature as he said, "What do you suppose we should do today?"

Lyra giggled, "How about we test its artistic abilities. Music and visual art has always been a universal language alongside math, who knows what we can learn from his style."

Blueblood nodded, it seems like he had become very shy now that it just him, Lyra, and the creature. For the next hour, Anthro described in simple words what he wanted and somewhat expanded his dictionary. Anthro drew a list of the objects he wanted and Lyra helped him throughout the list naming all the things he wanted. Anthro and Lyra went down the list together, "I... would... like... a... bed, some food, and the bathroom."

Blueblood agreed to provide him with these living conditions by the end of the night, it was awkward for him to be taking orders from someone else. He didn't look up from his colouring, it looked like he was focusing very hard on his simple drawing. He said to himself as he coloured, "This is embarrassing, the royal hooves shouldn't be brought down to crayons and markers with construction paper."

Lyra looked towards the other unicorn, her head nodding towards the naked creature as she whispered, "He seems to be enjoying the time were spending together." To which Anthro held up his beautiful work of art that blew away Lyra, "Wow," she exclaimed in her joyous tone that only made Anthro smile wider, "you are great at drawing! Good job!"

Anthro blushed as he said with slight struggle, "Thank them."

Lyra placed her hoof on his hand as she said, "Say, thank you."

"Thank you." he repeated, he looked over to Lyra's and Blueblood's drawings as he said, "You draw also good."

Lyra turned to the other unicorn as she said, "We still have lessons to go in language, but he's getting there pretty quick." Lyra looked towards the clock and back at the other two as she said, "If you'll please excuse me, I'll be right back, I think theres a book upstairs that might help you with language." She patted Anthro on the head before trotting her way upstairs with a bounce in her step.

When the door closed behind her, Blueblood was all alone with Anthro, the two sat in awkward silence, not even Blueblood's bodyguard was in the room for a half decent conversation. As he went about his arts and crafts he said, "Lyra beautiful, yes?"

"I guess..." Blueblood wasn't even three words into the conversation before he was ready to leave, the awkwardness had reached its maximum for the unicorn.

"I think she great, she make good friend with you."

"I wouldn't think so," Blueblood decided to drop the awkward act of being somewhat nice to Anthro while Lyra was around and reverted back to his old self, he took a deep breath and continued, "I didn't bring Lyra into this facility to be friends with her, I have plenty of friends. I brought her in and I did as she said because I know you have a crush on her and will do her every command and eventually I can get some information about you. Once I get your history and If I'm right I will use my discovery to boost me to a higher status than just a prince. I actually don't care for you, I just care for your secrets." After waiting a couple of seconds for Anthro to show any reaction, the prince looked from side to side as he awkwardly asked, "Are you not angry because of this?"

"I just don't know all words you use. This not my language." Anthro finished up his drawing and folded it up and put it on the desk.

Just then, Lyra came downstairs as she said, "Hello boys, I'm back. Sorry there aren't any books to help him with language or anything."

"That's okay," Blueblood began as he headed for the stairs to pass Lyra, "It turns out I need to be at a meeting to open a new Hospital under my name. Ill leave you to lock up when you're done, Lyra." Blueblood turned around and left the door without ever saying goodbye, it seemed as though he just wanted to get out of there because he was stuck with a lesser creature for way too long.

"Mean pony." Anthro said as he stretched his limbs and cracked his knuckles.

Lyra brushed her hair once again before saying, "Yeah... he loves himself too much."

Anthro took a look at his drawing before directing his eyes at Lyra and saying with a shrug, "Maybe some day he see real friend not like him for prince, all fake friend leave him and he see truth."

Author's Note

Sorry about not releasing this chapter sooner, it took a lot of re planning and re writing of my ideas and such to get this to be a fitting and interesting story with Blueblood instead of Twilight. I'm also not feeling to great while writing this chapter so it might be a little stale compared to the last one and its innocent feels. I'm also gonna be on hiatus for a few days while I turn 18 in a remote part of Quebec. Once I get back I'll immediately resume my writing.

Chapter 6

After the caretakers left for the night after spending a day doing arts and crafts, the mysterious creature was left alone in its chamber for the night alone. The night covered the city in a calming black blanket, the sky dotted with streetlights and the occasional city noises could be heard in the distance. Hunter sat in the concrete basement, waiting to be visited by his caretaker and the monster in a black suit in the coming morning. He sat against the wall for he had no bed until the end of the week, he stared down at his drawing of him and the unicorn together, the minor flaws took away from enjoying his own work. As he sat alone in the room, a faint red light began to flash against the wall behind the lone human. Hunter looked around in confusion, searching for the source of the light. The slow blinking gave it an eerie look that made the area to his sides stand out in a red glow compared to the rest of the night-shaded room. It was a few more moments before he realized the source of the light as he said to himself in his native tongue, "No... No please don't find me! Not when I'm like this." He began to claw at the back of his head until he found the source of the light coming from under his hair and skin, he had completely forgot about his beacon.

Hunter dashed into the bathroom, frantically climbing his way to the small window he had to the rest of society as he whispered, "Not when I'm like this, please don't find me now!" He looked frantically in every direction as he worried about others finding him and creating a scene. The thought of them trying to break him out only to be annihilated themselves was a scary thought to him, so he only prayed that they weren't coming for him.

Suddenly, a voice was heard echoing through his head saying, "Hunter... come in Hunter!" It wasn't an SOS response, instead it was a transmission that was wired right into his brain that he somehow forgot about despite landing directly on the device and causing a lot of pain only a few days ago. It was amazing to him that his captor didn't find it earlier, maybe because it was just well disguised under his full head of brown curling hair. But another worry still remained, he had to explain to the other end about his current situation. So there was still a risk of the voices quickly leading to a lot of fire and unnecessary death

Panicking, Hunter rushed back into the main room in hopes that nothing else could hear the voices in his head as he whispered back with a sigh, "Yes... Hunter speaking."

"Oh thank God you're alive, Hunter," The other voice began, it sounded somewhat worried yet a lot more relieved once it heard Hunter's voice, "where the hell are you? We can't find you anywhere."

"I'm in a prison cell, not human, its also not changeling."

"Do you need us to break you out or can you handle it on your own."

"Definitely don't break me out, that would draw too much attention. Besides, I think staying here could benefit the humans a little with some knowledge."

"Well... as long as you are alive, if you don't report back same time next week we will be sending out Pinn to find you. Got that?"

"Yeah I understand, so far it has been pretty awful the way I have been treated by one of my captors. Luckily the other one has so far made it clear that it understands that I feel pain."

"So..." the other voice paused for a bit to gather its thoughts before continuing, "you're being treated wrong... yet you want to stay."

"What I'm saying is that things are changing for the better very soon. Pretty soon after I learn more of their language I can communicate that I want to leave." Hunter knew what his plan was, to gain the affection of the turquoise mare and get her to release him back to where he once came from, his goal was to cause as little damage as possible in order to leave a good image of his type behind. Yet the thought of how well she treated Hunter gave the captive a strange feeling in his stomach, a mixed feeling he had a hard time describing even in his own language.

"That's understandable... I worry for you though, its a dangerous world out there and who knows what dangers there are hidden in plain sight. For that, my rule still stands. You have one week to report back to me with your progress or Pinn is coming for you, both him and I care for you very much and don't want to lose you."

"Got it," Hunter whispered to the voices in his head, "become their friend, learn their language, calmly and peacefully leave, report back to you in a week."

With that, the voices went away as well as the red blinking light. Hunter was again left along in the concrete room with only a hard cold bench to rest his naked and pale body upon in order to sleep. Hunter slowly crawled onto the large slab of cold stone and curled into fetal position, not because he was freezing to death but because it gave him comfort. He felt lonely, the only friend he had at the moment was the turquoise horse to keep him company at the same time that the white stallion bullied and pretty much tortured him. As he lay there alone with his thoughts, he contemplated the amount of time it would take for him to learn this new language inside and out. A long time ago it would have taken your average human a few years or so to fully learn a language, but thanks to evolution of the brain it takes barely any time at all to learn it. Hunter reassured himself that he would soon be free from this humiliating captivity and away from these vile creatures. But that also meant that he would be leaving the new friend he made too, he certainly couldn't just take it with him otherwise he'd be no better off than the one that captured him off guard.

And so he lay there, eyes wide open and mind fully racing. Feelings of worry, sadness, joy, fear, anger, and wonder all shouted within his mind. He couldn't sleep despite how late it probably was, so he got up and simply began to exercise his body until it would be tired. As he did his pushups he thought to himself, "This will be all over soon."

Author's Note

So sorry if you find this chapter a bit short and awkward, this time it goes into the mind of Hunter (Anthro's actual name) and everything is in his language, which will be revealed later.

Again thank you very much for all the wonderful reviews you guys have given. It drives my desire to continue this fanfic and hopefully this will achieve the goal I have in mind.

See you guys in the comments section!

Chapter 7

Blueblood looked at his reflection, the stallion that stared back looked unfamiliar. He stared into the aqua blue eyes of his reflection as he adjusted his bow tie and his tuxedo, his shining mane was well groomed and ready for the public, his coat was freshly cleaned, and his teeth were heavily cleaned. Something was different about his reflection, it was more handsome than ever. The snobby unicorn wanted to kiss his reflection, but he would spoil his lips by touching the mirror that stood before him.

As he stared at his beautiful doppelgänger that resided in the mirror, he said to himself in a hum, "It's that time again, that time of the day where I go and smile to the press, kiss a few babies, maybe mention how much education is needed these days. If only they all looked like you, maybe then I wouldn't have to pretend to smile." He sighed, being involved in politics was hard work for the most part, but tonight something was different about the crowd he was about to face. They didn't seem as excited to see him as they usually were, they had fallen silent as they patiently awaited his entrance. There wasn't an electricity in the air that agitated the audience to clamour for his attention, for his unique and unforgettable gaze. This bothered Blueblood, so much so that he would wait patiently in his dress room for the energy to happen. Alas that energy never came.

The room was warmly lit by the round bulbs that encompassed his mirror, they shined their lights onto his beautiful visage and made the wine-coloured room glow with a sensual faint tone. A small window gave way to the rest of Canterlot, the view from his room gave way to the small quiet city that would soon be his. From his private dress room from the Canterlot Castle, Blueblood could look over his city he so wished could be renamed to "Blueblood City" in honour of his eventual god-like status. Across his walls were small snippets of various newspapers, all with his name in the headlines. Such pieces read in bold letters "BLUEBLOOD FOUNDS SCIENTIFIC PROTECTION FACILITY " other titles went along the lines of, "BLUEBLOOD SUSPECT OF ANIMAL CRUELTY" all of those he denied claims to.

He looked over all the pieces of news, none of which ever spoke of Blueblood's definite claim to power and higher status, but to him this was all soon to change. He moved aside some of the more recent prints to find one from when he was a younger foal that read in thick bold print, "CELESTIA CARES FOR BLUEBLOOD: ORIGINAL MOTHER STILL MISSING" This one piece often made the prince question whether he really was meant to be in royalty, or even if he was meant to be any pony at all. Yet every time he looked at this small piece of history he would always remind himself that everypony can make a name of themselves, that nopony can force him to be less than he sees fit.

As he lipped this reminder once more, an image of the unnamed creature that he accidentally froze to near-death popped into his mind. It had only been a few nights ago, how he was forcing it to be less of an equal than him. A strong knot began to form in his stomach, almost as though he were regretting his choices. Before the full feeling of regret could sink in, he remembered the scriptures from the scrolls of the elders. The scrolls depicting of their violence and how they created them solely for violence and destruction, and how it was only fair that these creatures remain in the depths of Tartarus for the remaining eternity. He imagined all the innocent equines, many of whom were probably foals, were slaughtered by their own creators with no second thought. He imagined the creatures forcing them to do jobs that could very well kill them simply because these two legged monsters didn't want to do the jobs themselves. The pure royal blood boiled within the regal stallion, his jaw clenched and his teeth began to grind. He may not like to be touched by the lower class folks of Canterlot, but the thought of the masses of them being slaughtered for the fun angered him even more and reminded him of why he wanted to keep the creature locked up in the first place.

Suddenly, a faint knock upon his door brought him back into reality, the suddenness of the quick pounding upon the carved door made the unicorn nearly jump from his skin. A mare spoke through the door, "Your highness," she began after clearing her throat, "the ponies await your arrival."

He paused, taking a few seconds to look over all his newspapers, the mass of them covering his wall opposite to the window so the moon's light could shine upon her supposed son's work and eventual success. He looked towards his reflection one last time as he spoke with a faked smirk, as though he were trying to convince his own reflected image that he had no burning anger that broiled within the bottom of his heart. As he gave a wink to his reflection he said in a low voice, "Show time, Blueblood."

The door opened to reveal a middle aged mare, her fur coat being only a shade lighter than her brown mane. Her hazel eyes stared up at him through her curling muffin coloured mane as she spoke once more, "Right this way, your highness." Blueblood reluctantly followed her down the hall, the tall roof standing above them gave room for lots of portraits of the past ponies of high status. A few of them were of him, seeing as there hadn't been many memorable ponies that weren't royalty with the exception of a few. After all, a wall looks good either empty or full of paintings and pictures alike, so Blueblood's beautiful face needed to fill in many empty spots amongst the other paintings. As they walked down the hall, the tall stallion would glance out the even taller windows to see the small building he had been in only a few hours earlier. It appeared as though a small red light was flashing from the inside, he quickly dismissed that as his mind playing tricks with him and continued down the hallway until reaching a door to the outside.

The brown mare stopped before him, placing her clipboard in her light saddlebag to open the door for the royal pony. As he passed through, glancing over his shoulder, he said in a low voice almost unable to be heard, "Thank you."

What followed next was the usual for him these days, millions of flashes of light surrounded him as even more ponies for various newspapers across the kingdom shouted out their questions in dire hope of him answering them. The bright lights were ecstasy to him, the attention was intoxicating, and the amounts of time he heard his name was over-stimulating. As he approached the few microphones that belonged to the highest regarded news sources, he raised a hoof and waved gently. His unshorn fetlocks swayed in the gentle cool air of the night as his eyes twinkled and his teeth shined.

"Please," he called out very calmly in his charismatic voice, "one at a time if you please. Some silence would be greatly appreciated." He somewhat enjoyed the silence amongst the chaos every now and then (although if everypony were to shout his name in unison that would be most welcome).

One reporter stood at the tip of her hooves to stand out amongst the rest of the ponies as she exclaimed, "Mr. Blueblood, more reports have been made about you harbouring dangerous creatures for experimentation. Are these claims true?"

The stallion in question gave a slight chuckle as he replied to her, "The studying that goes on within the facility is in fact not dangerous. All experiments that have been performed were done under professional manners in order to better protect the ponies of Canterlot."

Another reporter shouted from the back, "What about the claims that you are developing weapons for the Equestrian Army and that you are planning to invade Saddle Arabia."

Blueblood turned his head towards the pony who had spoken, giving the younger stallion a harsh look as though to tell him to shut his mouth, "In all honesty, waging war on a country that my aunt had just visited would be stupid and an all around horrible idea seeing as they provide us with the majority of our oil we use in a year."

Yet another pony decided to pipe up with his own question, "What are your goals with the recently established facility of yours?"

Blueblood casually replied as he smiled to the cameras, "The goals are simple, to learn about the world around us, with better knowledge today, our children will have a better education tomorrow." When Blueblood finished his sentence, he threw his wavy silk hair over his head and gave his iconic smile to the cameras which began to flash all around him once more, his eyes were filled with bright blinding lights and he was enjoying every minute of it.

One of the reporters that had already spoken decided to ask aloud once more, "If its to better understand the world around us, and to further the education system, then why is the secrecy needed?"

"Secrecy is important because we want no information to fall into the hooves of the Changelings, whom would use the information against us as best as possible. They are the enemy and we will stand victorious as we always do!" Blueblood wished he could roll his sky blue eyes as the crowds once more ate up the "Changelings are the enemy" line once more. He knew the memory of the attack was still fresh in the minds of Canterlot and knew he could exploit their fear of an attack to further his popularity. If there was one thing he knew, it was that a pony alone was smart but a city of ponies are stupid and will act in fear at the mention of war while a pony alone could see through the improbability of his statement.

The cameras began to flash once more like a storm, but amongst the chatter and clicks of cameras, a small and faint voice made it to the prince's ear, "Mr. Blueblood," the voice squeaked, "I have a question."

Blueblood looked over the crowd, he saw no stallion or mare that could match the age of the voice, the voice sounded quite young to be in a crowd. He smiled his iconic half grin as he said with a gentle laugh, "Who said that? Come on up front."

Eventually a small yellow head popped from between the hooves of the crowd and stared up at Blueblood with bright green eyes that shined like lasers. Her small yellow mane was covering half of her face before she blew it aside, the crowd was melting at their hearts when the innocent filly approached the prince so nervously. Something about her eyes seemed off to Blueblood though, it seemed as though her mind was on something else and wasn't the Prince everypony loved, she seemed very nervous. She cleared her throat and squeaked in a nervous voice, "I work for the Foal Free Press, what is your favourite colour?"

The crowd began to melt with adoration for the young filly, the situation was absolutely adorable and Blueblood saw his opportunity to boost his popularity amongst parents and said in a warm and gentle voice, "You know what my favourite colour is? It's green, the same colour as your beautiful eyes." Blueblood picked up the foal and sat her on the table amongst the microphones, the crowd continued to "awe" at the moment. From the corner of his eye he could see what appeared to be the filly's mother smiling with a tear in her eye, he knew he hit jackpot right there and wasn't ready to end it there. To send the moments adorableness over the top, he gave the foal a kiss on her forehead and personally returned her to the mother that stood at the back of the crowd.

As he made his way there, with the foal floating in his magic, cameras flashed like wildfire around him trying to capture the moment where a prince carries the young innocent child to her mother who would otherwise have been an ever age mother and daughter. He smiled for the cameras and took a few pictures with the mother and daughter before moving back to the front of the crowd to finish up the interview, he was in an ocean of attention that he was enjoying very much, knowing that he was surely going to become a more important pony than ever before with moves like that. He knew that the rest of the interviews really didn't matter after that, nothing could top that for any newspaper.

The rest of the night went by like a blur, after a few hours of speaking with the press and having individual interviews with the higher ponies of society, after kissing babies non stop, and reminding Canterlot that Changelings are evil and all that, Blueblood found himself in the Castle's restaurant. He sat at a round table with a few select other stallions that could control the world as well, Hoity Toity and a few other celebrities. They all sat at the centre table and shared stories and laughs about their superior lives compared to the 99%.

"I have been having such a hard time with my hotel in Manehattan," Hoity Toity began, "the carriage they sent for me had no sunroof and only had one mini fridge." The rich snobs all sympathized with the designer's harsh living conditions.

Another actor smirked as he recounted an incident of his own, "I had some nobody mare approach me and ask for my autograph. She was around her adolescent years and had the ugliest braces you could imagine. The poor filly had such a poorly kept mane that I wished I could tell her to leave me alone."

The stallion to Blueblood's right, who was obviously a sports star judging by the smell of cheap deodorant he was endorsing, leaned forward and adjusted his nicely pressed suit as he spoke, "Ugh, I hate it when the gross ones approach you, what did you do?"

"Simple," the actor began, "in my nearly unreadable cursive I wrote 'go clean that rat nest' she seemed so happy to be next to me that she probably didn't even try to read it." This caused the rest of the high status ponies to laugh along with him, Blueblood seemed to feel slightly equal amongst this crowd. Although none of them were royalty like him so he was still just a bit better than them.

Blueblood decided to add his own story of woes, "My mom once got me a dark blue chariot instead of a black one, how frustrating is that?" The crowd was silent, none of them seemed to laugh or look at him with much sympathy. In fact, the sports star to his right gave him a look as though to say he sounded pathetic.

"That's not that bad, your highness." The athlete added emphasis on the word highness as to suggest something he wasn't getting at all, that was somewhat unusual for him.

A military hero spoke up from across the table, he usually remained silent through most of these gatherings in order to retain his awesome appearance, only seldom did he speak and it was usually for greetings and goodbyes. Tonight he decided to speak to Blueblood, he sounded slightly put off by the prince's woes for some reason, "You have nothing to complain about pretty boy." The hero topped his hat in order to shoot the snow-white prince a cold look with his burning red eye that still remained, he finally decided to switch positions from laid back to sitting upright for once and continued, "You are a prince, you were born into fame. Everypony else here has had to work for their status and can have reason to complain about what they have. The money you spend s not yours, you just need to ask your mommy for another thirty billion bits every now and then while these stallions here worked for half that amount." Blueblood began to have a sinking feeling in his heart when the grey pony leaned forward to reveal the scar across his face, "I fought for your family, in a war we could have just avoided. My best friend was lost all those years ago so you could sleep well at night. Despite the life we give for you to carry on like nothing, only the fewest get to even be remembered on their gravestones. I am only at this table because of my name, Brave Soul, not because of money or fame, I made only a fraction of what you get as allowance in a week."

Blueblood went to interject, to add a piece of information to maybe help the group favour him but the grey veteran stood up as he spoke through a raspy voice, "Until you can only visit your friends by staring at a blank tombstone, until you watch everything you stood for be torn apart, until you see the true realities that you say you understand, then you can tell me of the problems you have, Blueblood."

The crowd was dead silent, the fact that the veteran didn't even address him as a prince was a real shocker, but what he said was quite true. Blueblood didn't lose his best friend, he didn't sleep in the mud at nit while avoiding death in the day for a few years in a foreign land, and judging by how Brave Soul added emphasis on his name suggested they all realized he wasn't an Alicorn like the princesses. He felt torn by what had just happened and watched as the middle aged hero made his way to the exit, the prosthetic limbs not making it any easier for him.

The silence that followed was painful for the poor prince, the others finished their drinks and immediately looked towards him when the bill came to the table. Blueblood looked at the triple digit number and gave a fake smile, "Don't worry, friends, drinks are on me." Unfortunately, it appeared as though he didn't have his wallet with him, he didn't own this restaurant either to he was in a slight pickle. The thought of his friends at the table chipping in for once gave him slight hope as he stammered, "I seem to have forgotten my wallet, can one of you pay for once?"

"Can't you just say your the prince and get what you want?" Hoity Toity gave a look towards Blueblood as reference to what Brave had mentioned earlier. The other ponies looked towards him as well as thoughntheynwerenall wondering the same thing. This was shocking to Blueblood, shouldn't friends help other friends out when they are in need?

"They don't do that kind of stuff here, they already work for royalty and thus have gotten used to my presence. I'm sure I could pay you back when I get my wallet."

One by one, the ponies quickly stood up and left the table and used lame excuses such as, "My wife is probably expecting me." or "I need to get home, I think I have a conference to plan for." This made Blueblood's gut knot itself tenfold, his heart was broken by how quickly his friends abandoned him when he had no money for them. So there he sat, with the expensive bill in front of him and empty chairs beside him. Blueblood gave a weak sigh as he sat there in an awkward situation, this was the first time he would be kicked out all because his friends abandoned him.

He then asked himself, were they really friends or were they just there because they were almost as famous as him? Who wouldn't want to be friends with him, he was a prince, a charming, handsome, charismatic, rich, well groomed, prince.

The only pony he knew that talked to him as though he weren't a prince was that aqua-blue mare, Lyra, but she did it without trying to insult him. Why did he feel so different about Lyra's approach to him compared to the ponies who had abandoned him just now? When Lyra smiled, she seemed so nice and appreciative of his presence, unlike these jerks who left him at the first opportunity. He needed to find out why she was so different and why she never left him, maybe there was something he was missing that she just knew so well.

One awkward scene of being kicked out of the restaurant he almost owned, Blueblood hailed his personal carriage back to his room, never speaking a word the entire trip there. As he sat in the luxurious interior, he stared into the distance and thought about how he had been treating others that could have been friends. The feeling of being surrounded by others that are like you is one thing, but what if there was something better than that and that could be achieved much simpler? His train of thought was cut short when the vehicle stopped at his doorstep, one of his assistants opened the door for him as the old pony spoke softly, "Here you are, your highness."

Blueblood got out of the carriage, nodding slightly as a thank you and proceeding to his own house. The insides of the house was filled with portraits of himself that had been done by countless artists from all over the globe, some were much better than others, but none of them really captured his inner beauty. His room was the only part of the house that lacked a million faces of Blueblood staring at you, his room contained one large bed big enough for a dragon that faced a balcony. The balcony windows were open and allowed a soft soothing breeze from the night to flow into the room and give it a relaxing touch, the lights of the city had gone dark and the noises of a busy city had died down for the next couple hours. As Blueblood climbed into his bed, his royal golden silk pyjamas already on him, he looked at his bedside stand that held a single piece of paper. Using his magic, he lifted the paper to his face and opened it up to see the work of art he had done himself earlier that day. It showed Lyra and the prince together with the creature slightly to the side, the level of detail was nothing compared to some of his many portraits, but he continued to stare at it. His mind was deep in thought about what his life had been and how maybe he had been living it wrong, maybe there were a few souls out there that were able to give him some answers. Before he knew it, his eyes had fallen shut for the night and he was asleep.

Chapter 8

It seemed almost impossible how much her life had changed in the past week, one day she would dread the morning and the 8 hour shifts that followed, the next she was counting down the seconds until she could wake up again. Every morning she was like a foal on Hearth’s Warming Morning, having gotten very little sleep the night before in hopes that morning would soon come. When the morning finally came for the young mare, she would giggle like she used to as a filly as she hopped and danced around her room while waiting for her toast to pop. She had little patience in the morning, calculating the fastest route to the “condemned” Archives so she could get to her little Anthro as soon as possible.

“I wonder what we’re going to do today, Darwin!” she said gleefully as she caressed her feline companion. It seemed as though Celestia herself could feel the positive energy from Lyra and made the days shinier and happier every morning. Her room was ablaze with beautiful light, her cat sprawled in the window’s sunlight only to be awoken by the energetic mare.

The cat gave a simple meow, digging its nails into her couch as it stretched before hopping off. Lyra gave Darwin a puzzled look as she said, “Just because I am excited to see Anthro doesn’t mean I don’t love you any less.”

The cat gave another meow before it began to claw at Lyra’s desk. She furrowed her brows as she responded, “Don’t you use that kind of language with me Mr. Grouchy Pants! You know I’m still taking my studies professionally.” She watched as the cat closed its eyes and rolled over onto its side to which she replied with a snicker, “Okay so maybe I am excited to see him, if you were in my horseshoes you’d feel the same way.”

When the toast popped, Lyra quickly dashed into the kitchen to eat it plain, no peanut butter, no jam either, that takes too much time. She grabbed a notebook and writing utensils before kissing her little fuzzy grey cat as she said with a scrunching face, “I wuv you!” Lyra took no time to wait for her cat to reply and dashed out the door and into the glimmering world of Canterlot, ponies were trotting their way to and fro as they went about their business. She noticed that the mailmare of this district of Canterlot, Ms. Letterlove, had delivered her something today.

The unicorn decided to take a few minutes to gather the mail and sort through the assortments of bills and junk ads, yet one small envelop stood out from the rest. It had a name that seemed familiar to her, a name she hadn’t seen in what felt like forever, Bon-Bon. Her eyes widened with surprise as she wondered what she had written her. Was it a simple “how do you do” letter or was it an angry “why haven’t you mailed me” letter? She decided to open it later once she had made it to the facility on time.

Today was a bit different, today she was running a few errands as well knowing that Anthro was not only hungry but he also seemed to be ashamed of being naked. The thought about the piece of cloth that had been dug up potentially matching his foot never escaped her mind; it could be a sign of even greater intelligence and maybe even a culture similar to Equestrian. She was to make a stop at a small grocery store to pick up some snacks for the three of them at the facility as well as make a stop at any stallion fashion store in hopes of maybe finding something that could kind of fit Anthro’s unique complexion.

She set off to the merchant area of Canterlot, looking all around for a clothing store as fast as possible and get anything to fit the naked monkey, she definitely had the extra couple of bits to spend thanks to her job. But with all these thoughts of Anthro’s secrets, her letter from Bon-Bon, and food to get for the day, she wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of her as she galloped through town.

Suddenly a tall purple mass collided with Lyra, knocking both her and whatever she hit off balance. Her vision was doubled for a moment as the world seemed to spin around; her head was going to hurt in a few seconds once the pain settled in. When she got back on all fours and went to check what she collided with, it was to her shock and horror that she ran straight into Princess Twilight Sparkle. Stuttering with nervousness and embarrassment, Lyra tried to help the alicorn up as she stammered, “I-I am so sorry your majesty!”

Giving her head a shake, the slightly taller princess regained balance and said with a smirk, “It’s okay, you just knocked the wind out of me.” When Twilight set her eyes on the smaller embarrassed mare, her eyebrows raised and her smile grew as she exclaimed, “Lyra? Is that you?”

Lyra raised her head as soon as she was reassured that Twilight was in fact not angry, smiling awkwardly she replied, “Yeah… how’s it going?” Lyra knew Twilight as somewhat an acquaintance, they never really hung out but Lyra was always at the library renting out the anatomy books on primates. They spoke occasionally, but that was as far as that went in terms of their friendship.

“Everything is going super great, you know my friends right?” Twilight pointed towards the other five ponies behind her, the pink one seemed to be as happy as Lyra was at first, while the yellow one seemed to be as awkward as her at the moment. She remembered their names only because they almost always made headline news with their adventures.

She nodded her head as she spoke a little more confidently, “Oh yeah, hey Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Dash.”

Twilight pointed towards Lyra's saddlebag as she said, “So, you still working with Prince Blueblood? Is he giving you a hard time?” Twilight gave a grin as she spoke, she was already over the whole incident that had just passed from the looks of it.

Lyra chuckled, “Nah, he’s not that bad. Sure he’s a little annoying now and then but most bosses are like that aren’t they?”

Twilight giggled as well as she sighed while looking around at the many buildings of Canterlot, “Yeah, it’s been so long since you moved from Ponyville, Bon-Bon and I have talked about you every now and then.”

Lyra’s ears perked, “Really?” This was a bit of a surprise to her, it didn’t seem like the two would ever become friends, even more surprising was how it sounded as though Twilight was hinting towards Bon-Bon missing Lyra.

Twilight nodded, “She says that she sent you a letter, hopefully you get it soon. Anyways, I better let you get back to crashing into other ponies, have a nice day.” Twilight and the group turned around and headed their way, Lyra gave a quick wave goodbye and made her way towards the malls, hoping not to have wasted any time with that little encounter. Her mind was already back on Anthro only seconds after going their separate ways, she was already thinking at a million miles an hour on what else might happen today.

*****

As Lyra approached the facility she noticed that there were multiple stallions dressed in black suits that were making eye contact with her, all of them sharing the same fierce and intimidating look as she approached with every step, "Gonna have to turn around, lady," said one of the closer ones as he approached her, "this building is too dangerous."

Puzzled, Lyra tried to raise her head over the shoulders of the oddly over-dressed black stallion as she peeped, "But... but I need to get in, I work in the archives."

The monochromatic colt scoffed, "That is untrue, ma'am, I urge you to turn around now or I will have to use force."

Lyra wasn't willing to put up with this strange encounter, it seemed so odd and was now beginning to worry her when she thought of what was going on inside with poor Anthro. What if these ponies were from another higher part of the government that even Blueblood had no control over? What if there is a super secret agency that is above the law, and above Blueblood being above the law? Her mind immediately jumped into panic as she began to stammer in agitation, "I need to get inside, I'm sure you understand why."

Without moving a muscle, the agent spoke to her in a stern and extremely intimidating voice, "Lady this is your final warning before I put you to the ground, I strongly urge you to back up and go home now, this building is dangerous and has been found to be emitting a form of dark magic."

Suddenly, before any violence could occur, Blueblood's head popped from behind the abandoned archives as he said, "Oh, hello, Lyra." He quickly trotted up between the two conflicting equines as he said with a very calm and relaxed expression, "Don't worry, she's with us. She just didn't have her badge."

The agent looked at Blueblood, his eyes seemed so emotionless yet made him seem so dangerous, like he was a stone cold fighter. He nodded his head as he took two steps back, "My apologies, ma'am, you may proceed. Next time i suggest you wear your identification badge."

Lyra nodded, sighing with relief as she let out all her inner panicking energy inside her, she felt as though her limbs had become spaghetti when the thought of her getting taken down by a monster of a colt was dismissed. Using her shaking spaghetti legs, she trotted up next to Blueblood as he was making his way behind the facility as she quickly spoke, "Thanks for saving my flank back there, what's with these guys?" Lyra motioned her head towards the thirty some ponies that surrounded the simple grey box of a building, standing motionless much like the royal guards, only this time they sent thirty thousand volts of electricity through you instead of a spear (she had a hard time deciding which would be better). Blueblood showed no sign of worry or panic at all when he turned his focus to her, in fact he seemed rather tired as though he stayed up all night.

"I'll mention that in a few minutes, please enter through the bushes." Blueblood nodded his head towards another suited stallion that stood beside what appeared to be a simple green bush, the pitch black pony that was built like a tank turned his head towards the bush and lifted it with his magic before motioning his head for them to move into the newly exposed hole. Lyra gave an unsure look to her superior, it wasn't like him to have so much security for a normal day. What if there was something serious that happened last night? What if it was Anthro?

To her surprise, Lyra watched as Blueblood moved into the bushes first, not minding at all that his hair was getting slightly out of place when he turned to invite his trusted side-kick to follow him. To Lyra, it didn't seem like Blueblood to crawl into a dirty hole without a full suit, much less insist on entering first. Lyra quickly follows him, her mind searching for an answer to all the questions arising from these situations, she quietly asked the unicorn leading her, "What's going on?"

Blueblood took no time to answer, "I'll brief you when we get inside." Blueblood eventually exited through the other end of the tunnel to expose the locked up inside of the archives, all the books had individual plastic covers to protect them from the dust, and planks of wood had been nailed over the doors and windows to allow only slivers of light through. It was strange how sudden these changes were to the facility and it raised only more questions for Lyra. Blueblood opened the basement door, filling the room with a warm and calming light as he said, "Right this way, ma'am."

Lyra jerked her head upright and fixed her gaze on Blueblood, her brow raising in curiosity. Did he just use manners? Lyra slowly complied with her boss, trotting into the basement that seemed completely different from the rest of the building. As she entered the basement, she noticed the brown stallion that sat next to Anthro. She watched as the two almost had a full conversation between each other, the Doctor being extra patient with the linguistically challenged creature.

"Name?" The naked pinkish creature asked with wondering eyes.

"My name is Doctor Whooves," he spoke with a smile and joy in his voice, "what is your name." The doctor pointed a brown hoof towards Anthro.

He took a few seconds, trying to think of how he would speak, but before he could say anything he was stopped by Lyra's and Blueblood's entrance. Blueblood motioned for Lyra to sit beside Anthro, opposite of Whooves. Blueblood waited for the small crowd of three to calm down before he began, "Good morning, lady, gentle colt... and you," Blueblood motioned towards Anthro who barely understood what they were saying before continuing, "today I'm sure you noticed the new guards outside. That won't be the only thing that's different around here, in fact almost nothing will be the same anymore from hence here forth. Last night a news reporter asked about the possibility of your presence," Blueblood again pointed towards Anthro before continuing, "whether this was mere coincidence or some pony got some information she wasn't allowed to know, I will let this incident slip because these changes will prevent any further speculations to arise and further keep our secrecy present. The first change is the need for identification badges when approached by the special operations guards outside, they will be surrounding the building for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The second change is this very room, because of rising concerns brought up by Lyra and the creature's behaviour, renovations will begin starting tomorrow to improve the living conditions and further improve cooperation with our subject."

Before he could continue, Lyra sheepishly asked, "What made you change your ideas about his living conditions?"

Blueblood nodded, "I was about to inform you on that, it's the biggest change too and needs to be stated." Blueblood slowly paced from side to side before sighing, "I'm sorry, everypony, for everything that I have said and done, it was wrong of me treat you like any less of a pony than I am. The deities made us all equal and as a strong believer I must uphold this point, so starting now I will treat all ponies as equals to myself." Blueblood turned to look at Anthro as he nodded, "As for the subject, I will not hold any anger or resentment in case I am wrong and that he is in fact a gentle and kind creature."

The doctor raised a hoof as he asked, asked, "You mentioned that this place was to be renovated, what is going to happen to the subject, he can't be seen by any outside carpenters or renovators? What is the plan to keep the secrecy strong amongst us?"

Blueblood smiled as he replied, "The plan is simple, at approximately midnight to five in the morning, the subject along with all books in the upper level will be moved to my personal house while the renovations take place, if the subject is to behave accordingly I will grant him permission to live in the private gardens to give him freedom and open air. Only if he can prove he will not run away."

Lyra nudged Anthro's side as she whispered to him with a grin, "You hear that? If you are nice, you can stay in the big garden."

Anthro paused and searched for the right word to use, after a moment he replied in a whisper, "What is garden?"

"A garden is a big place with lots of flowers and trees," Lyra motioned the shapes of the flowers and trees to help Anthro better understand, "but only if you are nice."

Anthro paused again, staring at Blueblood without looking away, after a short silent moment he said in a hush, "He sorry say first."

Lyra turned to look at Blueblood as she calmly spoke with her warm smile, "Blueblood, he wants a personal apology for what you did to him. It was unforgivable how you treated him but if all he asks is for an apology then I suggest you do so."

Blueblood sighed, he still had very much patience unlike the previous days, he slowly lowered himself to get into Anthro's line of sight as he whispered, "Hey... I am very sorry, it was wrong of me to hurt you for reasons that probably aren't true. Can you forgive me?"

Anthro looked towards the prince, a small smile began to form on him and he whispered in return, "Yes."

Blueblood shot back upright as he exclaimed with glee, "Excellent, I'm glad we could work things out." He looked around the room to see strange marks on the walls that were probably done by using a broken piece of concrete against the concrete walls. He looked at the depressing room with the empty glass cylinder that still smelled like the creatures excrement (only now it wasn't as retched as it was a few days ago), taking a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing with his instructions, "As for today, we will just hang out I guess, I really didn't have any plans for studying unless one of you have an idea of your own."

Lyra pulled her saddlebag into view, "Actually I have a few things that can be counted as experiments." She then pulled from her saddlebag a few rolls of fabric, some string, and an assortment of different cutting utensils as she gleefully said, "Since I couldn't find anything that would fit you, I decided that maybe you could make your own clothing instead. Although I don't understand why you want to constantly wear clothes in the first place. So maybe you can make something to wear today while we learn some more words okay?"

Anthro simply replied with a, "Yes." as he was given all the fabrics, strings, needles, and cutting tools that Lyra had purchased.

As he began to look over them, going over the sizes of the fabrics and amount of string, Blueblood leaned towards Lyra as he whispered, "How do you know he wants clothing?"

"It's just a theory, and is a pretty far fetched one at that, but it could be that he has an advanced sociological development in his brain that is on par, if not better than, our own brains. He could have been taught to hide his skin in order to protect himself from weather and such, maybe even use it for the same reason as us which is fashion."

The doctor decided to join in on the conversation, "Being part of this facility, I've seen my fair share of creatures that the public still knows nothing of, and judging by all the differences and similarities they have had I wouldn't be too surprised if Lyra's theory was correct. Perhaps this thing is not the only of its kind and that there are more out there that uphold this idealism of clothing as a social standard."

The two other ponies looked over to the brown stallion, Lyra raised an eyebrow and spoke with curiosity, "Wait a minute, you have the ability to time travel right? Why can't you go farther back in time to when these things were maybe more present?"

The doctor was caught off guard by her question, it had never occurred to Whooves to ask that himself. He pondered for the answer but appeared to have trouble finding it, after a few moments of deep thought he said with a shrug, "I don't know. Throughout all my travels through time and space, not once have I found a race of these beings. I can only go as far back as creation along with the Changelings. It appears that that was the beginning of time and that these things were never present throughout history."

The three stood in a huddle with blank faces, having trouble understanding the mystery behind the creatures presence on the planet. Their silence was soon broken when the subject spoke up, "Lyra, look."

Turning her head to face Anthro, Lyra gasped when she saw him with what appeared to be makeshift pants and for some reason a loincloth over top. The group was aghast by his sheer speed in making his own clothes and watched as his hands moved as swift as a bee when stitching up his fabrics to form enclosed pants. Anthro used the string and fabric to make a belt to go around the waist and hold the pants up, using loops in the upper rim of the pants to secure the belt in place. When finished, Anthro looked towards Lyra with a smile as to say, "Waddya think?"

Lyra turned to Blueblood as she said with a look of astonishment on her face, "This thing is smart," she said quietly, "like really, really smart."

Author's Note

So I'm sure you noticed that there is a new cover to Anthro, I'd like to know what you think of it in the comments section. Also I'm gonna be sketching up an image of Anthro/Hunter and Brave Soul (I know he's not a major character but my idea for his design was hard to describe). Pretty soon ill whip up Anthro's sketches that he drew with Lyra and Blueblood the previous day. Also, have a Good Friday to all the Christians out there reading this and a good day off to all the atheists that read this as well.

Chapter 10

The cart moved slow in the night as Lyra rode with Anthro at her side and the Doctor across from her. The only thing to break the silence were the occasional violent bumps in the road as they traveled along the cobblestone pathway to their destination. The poor doctor wasn't all that used to being awake at such an hour and was lucky enough to sleep for most of the ride from when he was picked up at his place by Blueblood's special agent ponies to be transported to Blueblood. Lyra however was wide awake with her head resting upon Anthro's lap as he sat with his back against the wall. Anthro wasn't tired, but he seemed to be deriving comfort from the warmth of her head and breath on his legs as he ran his long fingers through her hair, feeling it between them and watching as it gently swayed in the breeze.

Lyra gently floated Bon-Bon's letter at a distance, allowing Anthro to read a little bit of the new language, his eyes scanning over the paper and its beautiful hoof writing. She turned her head enough to see Anthro running his finger along the lines of writing as his lips moved in silence, his mind was quietly working away a translation of each word. Lyra was sure he would only understand less than half of the letter mostly because of Bon-Bon's hoof writing. When he reached the final line where her signature and printed name were placed, he quietly tried to pronounce the name and repeated it over and over again until he spoke, " What's Bon-Bon?" he asked with a yawn at the end.

Lyra sighed, taking a few seconds to shake off the thoughts of her future with Bon-Bon moving in with her soon, she worried what would happen to her career if anything were to go and worried more when she thought of losing Bon-Bon as a friend because of her job. She gently sighed and pressed the side of her head against Anthro's legs with a bit more pressure as she gently and slowly spoke back, "Say 'who is Bon-Bon' sweetie."

Anthro rolled his eyes, reminding Lyra of how she acted when she was younger, "Who is Bon-Bon sweetie?" He gave a smirk from the corner of his face as he added emphasis on "Who".

Lyra gave a faint laugh, she knew Anthro was giving her attitude without even knowing what he had said, "Bon-Bon is a friend of mine," she began, turning her head to see Anthro eye to eye, "we grew up together and are almost like sisters. We used to share a house when we were living in Ponyville, she would occasionally help the Cakes with making candies of all sorts while I played the lyre at parties and studied about creatures like you. Then Blueblood came for me and told me of the opportunity of a lifetime in Canterlot. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to bring Bon-Bon to live with me so we haven't seen each other in a good while. Now she says she's moving to Canterlot for me." Lyra didn't even realize how fast she was speaking for poor Anthro to comprehend, his eyes darting around in their sockets as he tried to process all those words into his own language.

There was a long pause, neither of them spoke for a while until Anthro broke the silence and said sheepishly, "I don't know those words."

Lyra chuckled once more, she couldn't help but find the honest look on his face a little funny seeing as he sounded like a foal in an adult's body. Taking another peaceful breath and patting his cheek she said, "I said that we are best friends."

Anthro wasn't slow to ask another question, "Will I see Bon-Bon?"

Suddenly, it hit Lyra that she wouldn't be able to tell of her great accomplishments to the pony who mattered most to her, she would have to lie to Bon-Bon every waking moment and fear she find the truth. Lyra sighed and let out a quiet, "No," she then had a thought pass through her mind, maybe not of a solution to the problem she was in but it was a thought that slightly cheered her up as she closed her eyes in a smile and whispered, "you're my little secret."

The cart suddenly stopped, throwing the Doctor onto the floor with a loud thud only to have him arise just as fast. A confused look was on his face as he mumbled and slurred in a tired voice, "Are we there yet?" His eyes were baggy and had sleep in the corners of them as he blinked himself back to full consciousness.

"I don't know," Lyra shrugged, "It was like a three hour ride so maybe we are."

The back doors of the carriage swung open to reveal a dozen of special agent ponies surrounding Blueblood at the centre, "And here they are," he spoke with a calm smile upon his face, "lets get the big guy out before any pony sees and everything is ruined." With nothing more to say, two of the agents up front began to cautiously approach the carriage with a few more behind them with their horns charged and ready to electrocute Anthro if need be.

Anthro didn't need any persuasion, after seeing the open night sky and smelling the fresh air, he threw himself onto the ground outside and quickly stood straight, his quick moves alarmed the protective agents as they were only milliseconds away from dealing with fried biped. Anthro calmly got up, his hands raised as what appeared as a sign of peacefulness as he slowly turned around to face the carriage opening. The carriage was quite high off the ground and required some assistance with getting off, either the help of a pony or steps to lift passengers into the back. As Lyra made her way to the exit, Anthro went gently wrap his hands around her shoulders and hindquarters as he lifted her up in a position much like a cat would be carried. The amount of strength Anthro had within him surprised the small pony as he lifted her with ease and gently sat her on the ground. Only now did Lyra notice that she was about two thirds the height of Anthro, yet probably weighed as though she were only a quarter his size which would explain his ease in carrying her. Once she had her hooves firmly planted on the ground she raised a hoof as well to let the agents know that she was alright.

As Anthro slowly stood upright, making sure he wasn't doing anything wrong, the black suited guards prepared to take Anthro to the ground using their charged electric magic that sparked and crackled from their horns. Anthro ran for the nearest tree and leapt towards its lowest branch and began to swiftly scale it. Showing no signs of struggle, he swung himself from one tree to the next using all four hands of his, letting out what sounded like laughter mixed with victory.

The ponies that watched his acrobatic feats all had the same thought on their minds, whether he had just escaped or not. Those questions were quickly put to rest when a set of hands descended from a branch above the unsuspecting Lyra and lifted her up as she laughed with surprise. The guards again reacted quickly but by the time their hooves were pointing where Lyra once was, she was already long gone. One second Lyra was on the ground, the next she was swinging from tree to tree with two of Anthro's hands gripping her.

"You are quite the active one aren't ya?" Lyra was trying to shield her face from the branches as well as make sure she wasn't going to be tossed into the trunk of an oncoming tree, but every time it seemed like she was about to get clotheslined by a branch, a set of Anthro's hands would intercept her and flip her into the air again only to catch her and repeat the process. At first she let out a few peeps and small squeaks of fear but they were quickly changed to moans of nausea followed by hoots of excitement.

The flipping and tricks came to a stop when Anthro grabbed hold of one of the taller trees that stood above the rest like the giraffe that Pinkie once invited to a party. He had his two upper hands gripping the large tree branch while his lower set were cradling Lyra as safely as possible. Lyra had only a moment to breathe before Anthro tossed her onto his back, using one hand to make sure she had her hooves wrapped around tight before climbing almost as fast as he could run. Lyra shut her eyes tight and buried her face into the back of Anthro's neck in fear of getting a mouthful of leaves but after a few seconds of not even her mane being rustled she opened to see her carrier moving as swift as a hummingbird through the openings.

She let out a gasp of excitement as the two climbed higher and higher, slowly making their way to the top of the tallest tree in Blueblood's forest of a garden. Once they had finally made it to the top, in what felt like under a minute, Anthro gently set Lyra on the thickest branch available. Worrying she might slip, she was quickly reassured when she figured out that the behemoth of a tree had not only branches perfect for gripping but also had branches that were as thick as normal tree trunks. The two stood upon the branch, letting the wind of the night flow through their hair and whatever clothes they had on them. They stared out at Blueblood's massive garden, it seemed to stretch on for kilometres on end until there was a clear cut gap in the trees that made a square, showing where the garden ended and the actual forest began. Lyra tapped Anthro's side as she motioned her head towards the borders as she said over the noise of the wind, "You... cannot... go... farther... okay?"

Anthro nodded, "Okay, I stay in garden, yes?"

To which Lyra replied, "Yes, no leaving!"

There was a bit of a pause, the two decided to take a moment to soak up what they were seeing, the nature being overwhelming to Anthro as he took a deep breath of the night air and said, "That many fun!"

"Yeah it was," Lyra called out over the noise of the wind and the leaves blowing, "its beautiful up here."

There was a silence, aside from the noises of the nature at night, neither of them spoke for a brief moment. The small unicorn turned her head to see Anthro looking back at her, his bright green eyes staring at her with a sort of puzzled and joyful look as though he was thinking of saying something. Whatever he wanted to say would have to wait when the sound of Blueblood's voice called from below, "Lyra," he shouted loudly in a worried voice, "are you alright?"

Lyra had a smile across her face as she shouted back, "Everything is awesome up here, we'll be down shortly." Lyra then proceeded to tap on Anthro's back and watch as he kneeled before her and allowed her to climb back into the previous position from before. The two then looked down below to see that they had climbed the scale of a five story building. Lyra held on tightly as she said, "We aren't jumping down or anything stupid like that right?"

Anthro was simply frozen, Lyra could see the grip on his lower hands had rendered the knuckles a bluish tint due to the amount of pressure. His eyes were wide with fear as the two stared down at the ocean of leaves and branches beneath them, not moving a single bit.

Lyra quickly realized what was going on and asked him loudly, "Are you scared of heights?"

Anthro simply nodded back to her once he translated what she had said.

Somewhat frusterated, Lyra sighed and said calmly, "Just be careful climbing down." She wasn't as calm as she sounded, inside her head were thoughts of all the possible ways they could fall off the largest tree in the forest to their deaths. She expected Anthro to grip the tree as tight as possible and move as slow as a snail, but to her surprise he was quite smoothly paced as he climbed down the tree. She could see his knuckles had turned white from the tightness of his grip on the branches but his face seemed calm and collective as his eyes quickly scanned the various branches for the next one to climb onto.

As the two slowly made their way down the towering tree, Lyra rested her head against the back of Anthro's neck as she spoke with a sigh, "That was quite the rush, I can't wait for all the fun we'll have tomorrow."

"Yeah," he replied in an even calmer voice, "can I know more word?"

Lyra understood that as, "I would like to grow my vocabulary." to which she replied, "Absolutely. I'll bring some more books for us to read some time soon."

*****

After what felt like a few minutes of climbing downward, Anthro and Lyra were finally on solid ground and Anthro could once again walk without fear of falling. Blueblood, along with his many bodyguards, approached Lyra as the prince said with a smile, "It's quite late out, and a long drive home, why don't you stay here for the night?"

Lyra was surprised by the proposition, thinking that he must have been joking about letting an everyday nobody like her in his royal home. But the earlier incident began to change Lyra's thoughts, excluding the fact that she was exhausted and could use the sleep, she accepted that maybe Blueblood had changed for the better for good. Lyra yawned as she spoke through a sleepy smile, "You know what, that sounds great."

Blueblood and Lyra as well as the personal militia of guards walked towards the door that connected the garden to the house as the white unicorn said, "Wonderful! The doctor has already been brought to the guest room, that's where you'll sleep as well. The stallions here will escort you safely to your room."

As Lyra passed through the doors and into the calmly lit house, Blueblood stayed behind with a few of his guards. He nodded to the remaining stallions as he said, "Go on inside, I'll be just fine on my own."

The guards looked at each other, looks of worry on their faces as they cautiously entered the building and shut the doors behind them. There was a moment of silence where Blueblood waited for the guards to be gone for sure before turning back to the confused Anthro. He looked into the bipedal creature's small eyes as he spoke in a deep and intimidating voice, "I know what's passing through your mind, and I don't like it."

Anthro raised an eyebrow as he responded with a shrug, "What?"

The unicorn didn't break eye contact with him as he slowly approached the creature, he may have been only half Antho's height but he was still intimidating as he said with a look of growing anger, "Even if you aren't the hellspawn that the Good Book speaks of, the feelings that you have for Lyra are disgusting and immoral. At no point in the Good Book does it say that a mare may lie with any soul but the stallion that chose her much less one of a different species. Your love is wrong in the eyes of the deities, and I must uphold this rule." Blueblood was not a preacher of his religion, he didn't agree with Stallions marrying Stallions but he believed it wasn't his business meddling with other ponies love lives. What put Blueblood on edge was the thought of Anthro falling in love with an Equine, even worse was the thought of Lyra falling in love with this animal.

Anthro continued to have a confused look on his face, darting his eyes from side to side before giving a sheepish smile, "Pardon?"

Blueblood began to approach Anthro to the point where he was making the creature almost twice his height back up in fear as he said with a growl, "Stay away from my Lyra." The emphasis that Blueblood added to Lyra's name made something click in Anthro's mind, which was followed by an even more confused look on his face.

Blueblood gave an exasperated sigh, "Forget it, you're probably too stupid to understand anyways." Blueblood then stormed off into his house and shut the door behind him, but before he fully closed it he said in almost a whisper, "You know... I wouldn't be surprised if you either wound up torn apart and dead or gone by tomorrow morning. The things that lurk in these woods are probably creatures you've never met before. Just thought you should know." With his loving good-night wishes done, Blueblood shut the door completely behind him, leaving Anthro in complete confusion and silence.

Anthro said to himself in silence, "Me love Equine? Ew."

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter seemed lacking a bit, I was going to have a segment where it changes to Anthro/Hunter's perspective for a bit but that would have been too complicated for me at the time. So now the next chapter will be another glorious Anthro's perspective chapter and it will clear up a lot of confusion i noticed happening in the comments section. I love you all (except Randy, he's an asshole).

Also, If you notice me being a little rude, or vulgar and using sexual humour that is a little extreme, don't worry. Most of my jokes towards people that say offensive things aren't true (except Randy, he's an asshole) and it only means that I took the time to think about your sexy bodies and find a way to make it look like I wouldn't service your throbbing love.

Randy, you're an asshole.

Chapter 11

Hunter stood at the doors to the large building, a look of confusion and slight disgust on his face as he said to himself, "Gross, she's a horse and I'm a person. That's jut wrong."

He slowly turned around, facing the dark moonlit woods once more as he said, "He may think I am helpless, but he doesn't even know me yet." He then bounded for the nearest tree one more, grabbing onto it and quickly begun to swing himself from branch to branch, sometimes running and jumping gaps while doing mid-air flips for the fun of it. The freedom that Hunter felt was intoxicating, giving him a high like never before. He swung from branch to branch with ease until a small red light began to shine once more, breaking his concentration and causing him to fall from the somewhat high branch onto his stomach.

After groaning for a bit, clutching his stomach, he quietly grunted, "What do you want now?"

"Hunter," a woman's voice spoke back to him, "Hunter is that you?" The voice began to cry on the other end, obviously one of joy for the sound of him being alive. She quietly wept to herself for a few seconds before sniffling and saying, "Hunter, I miss you so so much. We've all been so worried about you!"

Hunter's eyes widened with surprise when he realized who it was, he took no time to respond and said, "Liara, I'm so sorry I haven't sent you anything in the past few days."

Liara gulped down her emotions, she sounded happy to hear Hunter's voice once more as she said, "Pinn has been telling me of your new hobby of getting kidnapped."

Hunter gave a small laugh, leaning up against a tree and sitting on the ground to preserve whatever energy he had as he went on to say, "Yeah well, there are a lot of things that we don't know, and from what I can tell there are a lot of answers here."

There was a long pause, Hunter worried if he had said something that could have affected her, or put her off, she lowered her voice over the communications systems as she said, "Y-You're not saying anything are you?"

Hunter was quick to respond, he could feel the worry in her voice and spoke with confidence, "Nope, the only things that I am telling so far is what's obvious. Like my body type and such."

"You aren't going into too much depth are you?"

"No," he began after another pause to think, "these things are intelligent but they don't speak English thankfully. Otherwise I would have spilled the beans by now."

Liara's voice became worried, "Hunter," she began with a slight shakiness in her voice, "don't joke about that, we can't risk losing you. You are important to us."

"I know, I know," he began, "but what if there is more to life than what I do?"

"Hunter," she started, "you are my mate, I've chosen you and once I have a child you can run off and do this sort of thing."

He took a few seconds to breath, memories of how the two of them had chosen each other when they reached of age and were given the pressure of having a child at such a young age. "Fine, I guess you're right. Anyways I'm glad you still remember me and I'm happy to let you know that I will be coming home by the end of the week."

Liara sighed with relief, "Good," she began, "I can't wait to see you soon!"

Hunter quickly responded with a smile on his face, "Yeah, I can't wait to see you too." WIth that, Liara disconnected and her voice stopped ringing in his head.

There was a moment of silence that hung in the air as Hunter got up onto his lower set of hands and began to gently walk around the tree. His eyes fixated on the night sky as he smiled brightly, he felt at peace until a voice broke the silence, "I dreaded the day I would ever see one of you again."

Hunter followed the sound of the voice to a creature that was in a open area, laying upon a makeshift hammock made of clouds that was suspended between two trees. The yellow eyes of the creature fixed their red pupils on Hunter as he said again, "So, when will it rain fire and brimstone?"

Hunter immediately got into a fighting stance, his hands wrapped around missing guns and weapons and only after a few seconds did he realize how silly he looked. He stood upright when he noticed the creature, that appeared to be a cross-breed of multiple animals, wasn't making a move on him but was instead laying down in the hammock. Hunter began to feel hot in the face as he said, "How long have you been listening?" He was beginning to feel embarrassed as he thought of this creature looking at him talk to himself out loud.

The creature began to shake his hand, as to mean that he was there for a while as he said, "Well... long enough to know that you aren't all crazy."

Suddenly it hit Hunter that he was speaking perfect english with this monster, and that the monster was able to understand him. Hunter began to back away slowly from the monster, without taking his eye off him as he said, "So... what are you doing here?"

The creature gave Hunter a look of exhaustion as to say that he has nothing to worry about while saying, "I don't know, the rest of this boring city is asleep so I just do what I want. I heard some commotion come from the forest and then I find you."

Hunter began to feel a little more relaxed as he asked cautiously, "Who are you?"

Discord hopped off his cloud hammock with a slight grunt, "Where are my manners," he began as he approached Hunter with his talon extended, "a rough translation from Hoovian to English would make my name Discord, Lord of Chaos."

Hunter paused, looking at the talon and then looking back up at Discord meeting his red and yellow eyes. After a few uneasy seconds, Hunter stuck out his hand to meet Discord's as he spoke slowly, "Name's Hunter, I haven't anything else to add to my name. Just Hunter."

Discord and Hunter quickly shook hands before returning their hands to themselves, the mixed creature began to float around Hunter as he asked curiously, "I've always been fascinated with you creatures, knowing a lot more about you than simple scripture, but I have never come to understand why you wear clothing for no reason?"

Hunter was a little caught off guard by Discord's sudden inquisition as he floated around him, disregarding the fact that his wings weren't even moving to keep him afloat seeing as the ponies could do whatever they wanted with their magic. He slowly followed the beast with his eyes as he responded, "Why do you care, you just said you're the god of chaos, why aren't you destroying everything?"

Discord slowly swooped down next to the biped, with his paw and talon on Hunter's bare shoulders and his face almost pressing up next to his as he spoke with his low hypnotic voice, "These ponies, these citizens that inhabit this world, they are powerful. It was one self-proclaimed god and her sister that froze me to stone for the first time." Discord let go of Hunter and turned to face him as he continued his story, "But the source of their spell was carried to a new host, and thus I escaped. It wasn't another cataclysmic event that followed, instead it was six citizens from a country town that sealed me once more. They let me escape a little while afterwards and changed me, made me obey them and realize the importance for companionship."

Hunter gave a suspicious look to Discord, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that these ponies, the mortals, control the very forces that once ruled them. Soon there will be no gods, only the truth and blood." Discord turned Hunter's head to face the castle, making him look at the only lit room where the white unicorn slept, "You're the last piece to a big puzzle," he said in a grim voice void of any emotion, "you are the crossroad to a world void of hope and filled with knowledge, or a world built upon lies and peacefulness where order lives on."

Hunter broke free of Discord's grip and backed away from him as he said with worry in his voice, "I'm simply in a bit of a confusing situation, just on a mission to learn about these creatures." Hunter was beginning to feel uneasy of Discord's presence, fearing his words and how he could be right. Yet he still didn't understand how simply being here in the garden could bring an entire world to an end.

Discord could see the confusion in the small creature, narrowing his eyes to intimidating slits as he growled, "Like I said earlier, I know a lot about you creatures, I know that no matter what you will always think of yourselves. You are ignorant and oblivious to the damage you are causing, every living thing here is too, the scripture tells them that you are dangerous, but it is they who are a danger when with you. The farther you go on, the more you leave behind in your wake, and the more you leave behind, the more curious the fearless will get, and the more curious the fearless get, the closer the world comes to an end."

Discord began to walk away, looking at Hunter who had a look of fear and depression on his face. When the creature reached a clearing in the trees where the moonlight covered the ground in soft light, he looked at the biped while slowly floating away. His white eyebrows furrowing into an angry look as he hissed, "They are in danger simply by your presence, you will bring chaos with every step you take. I suggest you leave immediately." With that, he took off. Leaving Hunter to himself once more with serious confusion.

Hunter stood there in silence, his eyes staring into the distance as his mind delved deeper and deeper into the ocean of thoughts and confusion. "What just happened? I can't leave just yet, I made a promise, but apparently I can't stay." He began to pace back and forth, his hands on his temples as he tried to relax himself, "Hopefully this will all be solved by the end of the week once they are finished studying what I am, I'll tell them that I have to leave and be gone back home in an hour. I'll be with Liara, Pinn, and everyone else within the week, but what will I leave behind? How did I get myself into this?"

Chapter 12

Anthro leapt from tree to tree, the early morning sunlight shining brightly through the small gaps between the leaves and into his eyes. He quickly rushed his way through as he approached the side of the large royal house. There was a branch that hung next to Lyra's window and he made his way to it without any detour, his eyes locked on the branch that hung next to her window. He remembered as clear as day itself the image of Lyra's shadow shown on the window, the black silhouette against the yellow lit panels casted a bright light that etched the image clearly into his mind.

As he reached the branch he sought for, his arms aching from working so soon after waking, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he looked through the window. Staring inside, he looked on as the two ponies, Lyra and the Doctor, slept in the large bed. The red carpet was lit up by the sun's beautiful light that gave it a warm and soothing glow while the four walls remained in darkness. Anthro began to stand straight, watching as his shadow stretched across the floor and grew closer to the other end of the room.

The warm sun shined onto his back, the concrete walls slightly pained his hands with a slight burn, and his long hair helped heat up the back of his neck. Anthro looked into the room at Lyra who remained in peaceful sleep with her back turned to him. He thought over how she treated him unlike anyone else in his life, as though he was wanted for something more than science. As he stared into the window, he placed one of his hands on the glass, sighing as he thought of how she would feel if he left her without a goodbye.

Suddenly, Lyra began to roll over, Anthro's heart began to race as he began to plan a quick escape to avoid the painful goodbye. When she rolled over, her eyes were wide open and staring right at him. He held his breath as he froze in place, even if the sun was burning his back he was still frozen in that position. The pony covered her eyes to shield the blinding sunlight and get a better look at the silhouette, her mouth whispering his given name in her dialect.

He turned his head side to side, looking for a possible distraction, but when no results or possibilities showed he decided to face her smiling gaze. He gave off a weak smile in the corner of his mouth, hoping to mask the pain he was feeling inside as he watched her climb her way out of the bed as to not disturb the doctor. She made her way to Anthro and pushed the window open as she whispered, "Good morning my little secret."

Anthro tucked his chin in slightly as he sheepishly replied, "Good morning."

The mare waved her hoof into the building as to allow Anthro to enter the building despite Blueblood's request to keep him out. When Anthro had climbed in and sat himself on the ground, the unicorn slowly wrapped her arms around his neck as she whispered into his ear, "Ready to learn a lot more today?" Anthro simply nodded.

****

The massive and endless garden towered over Lyra and Anthro as they walked along the leaf-covered ground. Their necks had grown tired of all the looking up that they were doing, their hands and hooves growing tired of all the exploring without rest. "That right there is a bird..." Lyra pointed her hoof towards the little delicate creature as she focused on Anthro, "can you say bird?"

"Bird," he replied casually as he carried the saddle bag over his shoulder. Inside the saddlebag were a couple of children's books courtesy of Blueblood's unused library that the two had raided. They were looking for a nice spot to watch nature and read, hoping to expand Anthro's vocabulary.

"Good job!" The mare bounced with glee as the two crossed a tree trunk over a river, while Lyra had to keep her balance, her precious biped could cross with ease using his opposable thumbs to grip the large mossy log.

"Lyra?" Lyra could hear the trouble in Anthro's voice, he seemed to have thought over what he was about to say.

There was a silence that hung in the air, the two paused at the centre of the log as they watched the water fall over the edge down below.

Lyra smiled toward the creature, "Yes, Anthro?"

She watched as Anthro paused, his eyes showed that he was thinking over every word he could say, almost as though he needed to say something important. After a few seconds without a response, her subject closed his eyes as he said, "Y-you... teach me... thank." There seemed to be no emotion coming from Anthro, Lyra simply shook it off as nothing more than a bit of trouble translating.

Lyra's cheeks reddened as she giggled, "You're welcome, Anthro."

There wasn't much talking for the next couple of minutes, the two simply looked at the world around them with the nature sprawling its beauty in all directions. At one point they crossed over a simple wooden fence with writing scribbled onto it, taking no notice of it the two carried on with the viewing of the forest's elegance. After the long and silent journey through the dense bushes, the explorers reached a clear in the forest where a flat rock sat with the sun shining onto it.

Lyra studied the rock, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her hoof as she spoke to Anthro, "Do you want to read here?" Lyra pulled the books from her saddlebag to help Anthro with putting together what she had asked him. She didn't mind the amount of bugs that were flying through the air for the nearby waterfall drowned out the sound of the buzzing insects.

Anthro looked around as well, studying the surroundings more than the rock itself, looking up into the trees and in the bushes before he nodded his head and shrugged. His forehead beaded with small droplets of sweat from walking through the thick warm air, his hair matted to the back of his neck from all the heat. Lyra assumed that Anthro was warm blooded much like she was, and that the sweating was the same as monkeys sweating.

The two approached the rock and sat down, Lyra spoke aloud to no one in particular, "This probably won't take long," she turned her sapphire yellow eyes to the biped as she continued with a smile in the corner of her mouth, "you seem to learn much, much faster than foals do. Almost like twice the speed."

The biped gave a confused look, having trouble to understand what she said.

Lyra quickly remembered how he was still a beginner and said, "You... learn... fast."

Anthro responded with a blush as he smiled sheepishly.

****

It had been five hours that the two of them read from the plethora of books that Lyra had packed, now they were snacking on some food that Lyra had packed for the hike. While Lyra munched on her salad, her friend was gobbling up the loaves of bread as though he were a vacuum. Lyra gulped down her leaves, "You did amazing today, Anthro," she turned her head to face him and brushed her silky smooth hair, "I'm amazed by you."

Anthro wiped his mouth of all the bread, "Thank you." His speaking was slow, but his accent was beginning to disappear, "I am good with language."

Anthro looked around at the pile of books, his eyes darted over all the titles until he found the anatomy book for apes, he quickly opened the book and flipped through the pages until he planted his finger on the desired section. After finding the page about the ape's brain, Anthro pointed his finger at the ape's frontal lobe as he said, "I am better there," he then moved his finger to the temporal lobe as he continued in his slow speaking, "and I am not good here."

Lyra paused form eating her snack, she looked at the diagrams and remembered her neurology lessons and understanding of the brain. She realized she might be at the cusp of a breakthrough as she grabbed the book with her magic and said, "So, you are good with language, what are you bad at?"

Anthro appeared as though his mind was beginning to race, Lyra wondered if she had asked a question too difficult for him to answer. After a few seconds, she watched as Anthro's blue eyes focused on the drawing pad, he took the drawing pad in his hands and began to whip up a sketch as he mumbled, "Just a minute."

After a few minutes, Anthro presented his diagram to Lyra as he said, "I have problem in the brain."

Lyra took the diagram in her magic and floated it in front of her. On the large white rectangle she saw multiple pictures of her with different facial expressions that were very exaggerated. Beside each drawing of her face, there was a "+" sign followed by Anthro's eye, followed by a "=" sing followed by another face of hers.

Lyra was having trouble deciphering his drawn code as she mumbled in confusion, "I don't..."

Lyra lost her train of thought when she began to notice a pattern in the drawings, her eyes widened with awe as she scanned the image over again. Beside her angry face, she noticed that the end of the equation had her with a very calm face, the same thing went for sad and the look of discomfort. Beside her face for frustration, and rage towards a spilled drink there were drawings of her shouting at a cowering Anthro. Beside her face for being calm and relaxed there was all of her exaggerated facial expressions beside the "=" sign. Lyra cracked the code that the creature tried to explain to her, her eyes grew wide with surprise and her jaw nearly dropped into her salad bowl as she said, "Oh my goodness... I can't believe it."

Anthro began to inch away as he said cautiously, "What's wrong?"

Lyra jerked her head to look at her biped with a look as though she were staring at a god as she whispered, "You just explained a symptom of autism in the most simple way possible."

Anthro nodded his head with excitement, his mood showing he had gone back to being calm as he took the pad again and began to scribble on it, "Not exactly Artism," he began as his voice trailed off, after a few more minutes he held the pad to her again as he said, "it's like this."

The intelligent creature presented Lyra the next drawing.She saw that this time he placed a number beside the first diagram that appeared on a linear scale that had a stable increase in bars from right to left. He then drew his face on the scale opposite to the number.

Lyra's jaw nearly unhinged, "This is incredible... so you have Asperger's syndrome?"

Anthro nodded his head, snapping his fingers as he said with a smirk, "You got it."

Lyra got to her hooves and began to pace around as she quickly spoke, "So you have the inability to differentiate between facial expressions, kind of like a lack of emotional recognition. Also you seem to have hinted towards lacking social queues, but not on a scale as serious as autism. While your facial and social abilities are hindered, your frontal lobe has an increased strength giving you an increased comprehension of language and communication."

She turned to look at Anthro, he said slowly with a shrug, "What? Are you happy?"

Lyra nearly tackled him with a hug as she exclaimed, "I'm more than happy, I am amazed by your intelligence, you managed to explain in the simplest manner how mental disabilities work! You also proved to me that you are a visual learner, and proved to me that you creatures have mental disorders just like us!"

The hugging didn't last long, Lyra quickly backed away as she spoke with a look of embarrassment, "Are you okay with hugs? I know that a symptom of Autism and Asperger's is that you don't like it"

He nodded his head, "Yes, not from behind, those scare me."

"Okay then," Lyra resumed squeezing the life out of Anthro as she giggled, "I can't wait to document this!" Her mind drifted off into imagining her winning awards for single handedly discovering every aspect of this new creature, becoming a hero to all those that will follow in her steps.

But then, Anthro raised his hand to her mouth and hushed her, she watched as he scanned the area and said cautiously, "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Lyra began to feel a bit uneasy, there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary aside from an awful stench that emanated from the trees to their right.

Anthro's eyes began to widen, his grip beginning to tighten around her as he spoke, "We are in danger."

What happened next passed in a blur, Anthro wrapped his arm around Lyra and tossed her to the side as brown body lunged from the bushes. Lyra rolled on the ground and tried to regain her awareness to see a large timberwolf with its paws planted firmly on Anthro's arms, pinning him to the ground.

She watched in horror as her biped struggled to free himself while the beast lowered its sharp teeth to his face, the fowl smelling breath probably causing him to grow sick. Frantically, Lyra searched the ground for anything she could distract the wolf with, looking for any sort of weapon to free Anthro when she laid her eyes on a large rock. She picked it up with her magic and tossed it towards the beast's face with pinpoint accuracy as she shouted, "Over here you dumb animal!"

The rock pelted the side of its face, a piece of wood chipped off the side and fell onto the ground, angering the wolf enough to bark in rage towards the unicorn. Anthro shouted towards her with his arms struggling more to free themselves, "NO!"

As soon as the creature turned its focus and lunged towards Lyra, the long haired biped broke free of its grip and chased after it. She closed her eyes and her body tensed up, expecting her body to feel the pain of mauling. But when she opened her eyes she saw that Anthro had jumped after it to intercept its lunge, saving her life again. Anthro landed on its back and quickly wrapped his death grip around the neck and firmly gripped the ground. Once he made sure the creature couldn't escape, Lyra watched as he dragged it towards the ledge, his eyes closing tightly with fear of what was to follow.

Lyra quickly caught on to what Anthro was planning as she begged him with panic in her voice, "Don't do it, you'll hurt yourself."

It didn't seem as though Anthro heard her, he continued moving towards the edge, gripping the ground tightly with one set of hands and keeping the forest-creature locked in a chokehold with the other set. The wooden wolf thrashed its paws in all directions, contorting its body right, left, up, and down to free itself from it's captive's grip but to Lyra's surprise Anthro was more than capable of holding it tight.

Lyra watched in horror as her hero approached the ledge, his brows furrowing in either frustration or in preparation of pain. She watched as Anthro tightened his grip on the animal, the sound of wood breaking could be heard coming from his death-grip. The amount of pressure he was applying didn't seem to phase the timberwolf, though, for it continued to claw at Anthro and deliver minor insignificant injuries.

As She continued to plead to Anthro to reconsider his decision, it appeared as though his mind had been made. He tensed up his body head to toe, turning into a living statue, and fell off the edge of the waterfall with the timberwolf in his arms. Lyra watched in horror as the two tumbled into the water below, the wolf yelping in horror as it plummeted to their doom.

Lyra shouted at the top of her lungs, "NO!" She had no idea why she didn't do anything to stop him, the way he violently threw her off of him told her he knew what he was doing, but the way he never even looked at her or acknowledged her existence before jumping off confused her even more. She galloped towards the waterfall, her heart had jumped into her throat and was beating at a near heart-attack speed as she thought of all the possible ways Anthro could have been injured or maybe even killed.

As she firmly planted her hooves onto the ledge making sure she wouldn't face the same ending that Anthro probably faced, she peered over into the water below. The sound of bodies slapping against the shallow river followed by a shout of pain made it only worse for her thoughts, images of her precious biped floating lifeless flashed through her mind. Her heart slowed down, though, when she noticed Anthro's head moving up and down in the water while the timberwolf's scattered bits drifted away in the water's current. It didn't take long for her panic to return when it appeared Anthro was having trouble swimming, his arms splashing the water violently as he gasped for air between his yelps of injury.

Lyra didn't take a moment to spare, she rushed around the waterfall's edge, galloping her way down the calmer sloped side towards the shore Anthro was attempting to swim to. As she urgently made her way towards the water with the feeling of her lungs on fire and tears welling in her eyes, she held her breath tight and jumped into the water after Anthro. The chill of the ice cold water made her body instantly curl up, but the constant thought of Anthro drowning caused her to fight her instincts. She kicked and pushed at the water as hard as she could while trying to avoid his thrashing arms before she slowly and carefully placed a hoof under his left arm. She kept her stomach pressed against his back and her chin buried in his neck and shoulder as she swam on her back towards the shore whilst keeping his head above water.

Upon arriving at the shore, Lyra used her magic to pull her saviour from the water and placed him on the flat and dry safety of the ground. She then pulled herself out and shouted in a mixture of panic, anger, and relief, "What is wrong with you?! Are you insane?"

Anthro didn't look up at her, his eyes still shut with pain as he began to roll over onto his back. Lyra covered her mouth to hide the shock when she saw the disgusting angle his right arm was bent at. His hand fared no better and all but his thumb and first finger weren't dislocated. The skin stretched and his bones jutted out in places where they weren't supposed to as Anthro screamed in pain now that his adrenaline had passed.

Lyra rushed to his side, doing her best to keep looking him in the eye and not at his dislocated shoulder as she said with panic heavy in her voice, "Anthro, I need you to breathe okay? Breathe."

Lyra thought quick, she had never dealt with an injury as serious as multiple dislocations. The only memories were of her books showing the joints of monkeys and various apes, how the ball and sockets of apes were eerily similar to Ponies. Lyra had no time to question why the joints were much the same, she had to apply her knowledge once again to help her new friend who appeared to be feeling more pain as time went on. She quickly rehearsed inside her head, "Get the injured subject to bite down on something strong, get them comfortable, give something like a painkiller, then bend his elbow at a 90 degree angle before proceeding."

Lyra looked around her surroundings frantically, looking for an object the injured creature could bite down on. She quickly spotted a thick stick and used her magic to place it in Anthro's mouth, making sure he understood what was about to happen. Once his teeth were clenching down on the stick, Lyra motioned for him to sit up whilst keeping an eye on his shoulder.

After Anthro complied with her and was sitting upright with his elbow bent at 90 degrees, Lyra checked over his shoulder to determine which of the two dislocations her book told of. She scanned his back to see that his shoulder blade was intact and there was no sign of fracturing or shattered bones, Lyra said calmly, "Okay, thank goodness its the injury I can repair myself."

As Anthro sat on the ground, his eyes finally opening up, he pointed with his good hand towards a bushel of blue plants as he stuttered in agony, "P-plant... give... now."

Lyra looked in the direction of his finger, she noticed he was pointing at a bush of Poison Joke leaves. "That's poison joke, are you"

Before she could finish her sentence, Anthro shouted at the top of his lungs, "JUST DO IT!"

Lyra rushed towards the small bush and used her magic to pluck out a dozen stems as she stammered nervously, "This stuff isn't safe for ponies."

As she approached the injured and shaking creature with the plants in front of her, Anthro grabbed them with his bare hand and placed a handful of the leaves in his mouth and began to chew. Lyra watched to her surprise as Anthro's shaking began to stop, the sweating began to halt, and his body began to relax. As she watched him sigh in slight relief, he said between spitting out the poison joke seeds, "Stops hurt. Not long though."

Lyra didn't have time to ask of his immunity to the plant, instead she approached his side and ran her hoof over the injury as she said to herself "Now that the painkiller has been given, his arm bent at the right amount, and with the stick back in his mouth, its time to put his arm back in place."

Lyra held Anthro's arm and bent his arm inwards as she said calmly, "This is going to hurt." She looked into his eyes as he simply nodded, she figured he was either used to injuries like this or simply knew what to do as well.

"On three, okay?" Lyra made her voice loud and clear as Anthro responded with his eyes locked on hers, never leaving her gaze or blinking. With her hoof, Lyra held the branch tighter as her eyes shut and she called out slowly, "One..." there was silence in the air that seemed eerie, as though the forest paused to watch what was going to happen next, "Two..." the two of them prepared for what was to follow, for neither of them would enjoy it, "Three!" Lyra used the force of her magic and hoof to rotate Anthro's arm out, there were a multitude of noises that were extremely unpleasant which were followed by the faint sound of his shoulder going back in place. As the procedure went on, Anthro's expression changed from extreme agony to ecstatic relief as soon as his arm was functional again.

Lyra watched as tears of pain rolled down his cheeks every time he blinked, his teeth had bitten down on the wood hard enough to nearly break through. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, the sight of her precious Anthro going through such pain was hurting her more than she had expected.

She ran her hoof around his shoulder, his soft wet skin stuck to her hoof as she ran it gently down his forearm to his hand. Slowly and cautiously, Lyra made her way to his fingers, the skin around the sockets had sunken in on one side and his fingers rested under the bones of his hand on the other side. Lyra counted to three one last time and instead used her magic to pull all three injured fingers back into place at once, making the ordeal end quicker and save extra pain for the two.

As soon as his fingers went back in place, a loud popping noise was heard followed by Anthro punching at the ground in a mixture of angry laughter and pain. The shouting quickly stopped once the pain had passed, Lyra watched as his eyes rolled around in joy now that the pain had stopped.

A few seconds later, Lyra found herself in the icy water with her relieved friend. She looked at his face to see a look of pure relief as he sighed, his body floated in the water as the sounds of nature filled both their heads.

Neither spoke to each other for a solid thirty seconds, they simply swam in silence as Anthro waited for the poison joke to wear off and end its numbing. After a moment of silence, Lyra looked toward Anthro as she said with a look of worry, "Anthro I want you to look at me."

"Okay," he slowly replied as he rolled over in the water to face her upright, "what is wrong?"

"I am very angry at you, you scared me half to death, and you came even closer to death while doing that." Lyra could feel the guilt in her stomach for not stopping him, but there was an even stronger sense of guilt as she watched her hero lower his head in shame.

"Sorry," the ashamed and confused biped turned his focus to his toes in the water, making sure to avoid looking Lyra in the eyes, "I was trying to protect you."

"And you did," Lyra began, she got to her hooves and began making her way closer to Anthro, "you saved me from the timberwolf." The cold water once again shocked Lyra's body, the low temperatures were something she seldom experienced on the city of Canterlot. She had no time to care about how she felt, she focused on looking Anthro in his small eyes as she spoke.

Anthro began to look back up at her, "I care for you. Are you still mad at me?"

Lyra paddled her way towards him, her mane getting wet from the splashing water around her. Once she reached Anthro, her hind hooves searched for a tall rock to stand on, once finding it she balanced herself against Anthro while standing on the rock as she said, "No I am not mad, I am proud of you, and worried for you." She wrapped her arms lovingly around him again, her lips meeting his wet cold cheek to plant a kiss as she said, "Thank you." She could feel the warmth from his body, she couldn't explain it but she seemed to feel safer than ever when she was holding Anthro.

There was silence, the only sound was the waterfall churning as the trees sighed in the wind, the two stood together as they hugged. Anthro ran his cold soaked hands through her colourful mane, rocking side to side as she sniffed out her tears of mixed emotions. Their bodies grew cold, and the distance between them grew shorter as they hugged tighter and tighter to warm the chilled river. It was at this moment that Lyra realized she had completely forgotten about Bon-Bon's arrival, but she didn't seem to care either for at the moment she felt like she was at peace. She held Anthro tight in her arms, letting her tears roll down her cheeks and drop into the water as they smiled together.

There the two sat in silence and they embraced each other as they let their built up emotions flow out of them, the only sounds to break the silence were sniffles and light breaths of relaxation. Neither of them took notice of their surroundings nor to the little bit of red that trailed down Anthro's back from his head.

Chapter 13

Blueblood stood at his balcony, watching over the green forest as he awaited Lyra's return. Every time he pictured the small unicorn he would experience feelings that seemed alien to him.

Blueblood paced back and forth, he mumbled to himself, "Hey... Lyra, I was wondering if you would like to..." He shook his head, "No, no, too casual, I'm a prince so I need to sound fancy. Chicks dig fancy right?" He took another deep breath, still pacing and talking to himself, "Would you care to join me in stargazing? I'm sure the stars won't be as beautiful as your eyes."

The stallion paused in his pacing, "Wow," he began, "that sounded extremely lame."

He turned his gaze to the forest once more, sighing, "Why can't I just approach her? Why am I like this?"

The regal stallion sighed, turning his saddening face towards his immense room of solitude, the afternoon light shined through the cracks of all the blinds that had been drawn and made his room appear to be barred in like a prison cell. Before he could make his way in, his ear flicked at the faint distant noise of hooves marching through the forest.

Blueblood turned his head once more, his eyes scanning the dense forest floor, "Could it be," he spoke to himself in a hopeful whisper, "could Lyra be returning?"

He waited for a few more seconds, the noise getting louder and closer until he could see Lyra pushing her way out of the forest with that mysterious creature behind her, "My greatest desire is to be rid of you, but to be crowned king would be even greater." Blueblood narrowed his eyes on Anthro, watching as the creature smiled and laughed with Lyra as they approached the door.

"What? They think they can waltz into my house covered in the filth of nature? Not on my watch." Blueblood quickly dashed out of his room, heading for the stairs as he nodded towards the guards, "Quickly, gentlecolts, to the kitchen entrance!"

Blueblood finally made it to the stairs, he watched with a worried look as Anthro and Lyra set their dirty prints upon the polished royal floor, "Hold up," he urged them, "you can't just walk in all dirty like that."

Lyra, confused by the sudden appearance of the prince, laughed softly, "What's up, Mr. Clean? Afraid of a little dirt on your floor?"

Blueblood nodded his head, "It takes my royal housekeepers a lot of their time to polish these floors to perfection, I hate to see their work be ruined."

He watched as Lyra looked to her hooves, the mud and dirt etching perfect replicas of her hooves and Anthro's feet upon the mirror-like floor. The beautiful mare realized the mess they were making and turned her head to the tired-looking biped with dilated eyes as she said slowly, "Let's go get washed up outside, we don't want to ruin the clean floor."

The long haired creature nodded as he spoke unusually slow, "Okay," is all it said before turning 180 degrees and exiting the kitchen. Blueblood watched as Anthro bumped against the door on his way out, apologizing to it before walking around confused outside as though it were lost.

Lyra was close to follow, but before she could leave Blueblood stopped her as he said nervously, "Hold on, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

She turned to face him again, her right brow raised in curiosity as she asked with confusion, "Okay?"

Blueblood took a few seconds, he knew he had her right where he wanted her but he didn't know if everything was actually right in the first place. He thought to himself "Okay, Blueblood, just ask her out and chances are she will say yes."

He took a quick breath, but as the words traveled from his brain they escaped his mouth in simple "Um's". He could feel his face turning red, he wondered if his question had fled in fear of rejection much like he was feeling. Every time he tried to speak, the beautiful mare's hair or her bright eyes distracted him. It took an embarrassing thirty seconds before the regal prince shut his eyes and blurted out almost too quick for his own tongue, "I was wondering if you would like to get some dinner tonight?"

The beautiful mare appeared confused, shaking her head with a short laugh, "I'm sorry, what?"

Blueblood began to feel his heart sink as he wondered "Why am I so nervous about asking her out? Usually babes will line up for me and I feel nothing..."

"I'm sorry," he sheepishly said, turning his back to her, "I knew you would say no." Blueblood felt his face turning red and quickly shielded his embarrassment from the unicorn before him, he had never humiliated himself in front of a lady since he met that unpleasant mare at the gala a few years back. He wished that he could turn invisible and erase the day from her mind to hide his shame, but then he felt a soft hoof rest on his shoulder.

There was a sweet laugh, "Did I say no?" Lyra had approached him, not paying attention to the dirty floor that glistened with mud in the afternoon sunlight.

His ears perked and his heart skipped a beat, Blueblood began to smile before turning to the sweet and kind pony as he stuttered, "So... so you'll go to dinner?"

Lyra shrugged, "I don't know, today was a little crazy already. That's kinda why I was surprised by your invitation, I almost died today so maybe tomorrow-night will be better for the both of us, how's that?"

Blueblood felt like jumping with joy as he giggled in his deep voice, "How wonderful! Tomorrow night it is! Now you better go outside and wash up your hooves." Blueblood drew Lyra's attention back down to her dirty hoofprints.

"Alrighty," she sighed with a smile, "I better help Anthro, he's a little loopy after eating a few painkillers." Lyra began to make her way out the door, laughing when she noticed Anthro had beenca petting the leaves of the nicely trimmed hedges as he waited for her. Before exiting the house, she turned around as she said with a smile towards the royal unicorn, "You know... you really did change."

"For you, I'd change a million times over," Blueblood watched as the kitchen door shut and separated the two. When the unicorn was shadowed in the darkened kitchen, he continued to talk to the empty room, "but only for you." Blueblood's eyebrows furrowed when he watched as Lyra and Anthro laughed together outside, his mind began to wander into an area it should not have entered. He began to think of the two becoming a sinful couple, one that the deities would condemn and it would be because he didn't save her from sin soon enough.

The unicorn began to feel a slight anger as he thought of Anthro, he thought of why she could possibly love a dumb creature like him over a royal stallion. As he turned to exit the kitchen and return to his room, he thought to himself "How will I kill Anthro and make it look like an accident? I want to save Lyra from his disgusting desires."

Something happened at that very moment, something that Blueblood began to feel slightly sick at the thought of Lyra losing something she obviously cared for, but the thought of a love between mare and animal causing her to be eternally damned scared him more. He gave his head a shake as he continued to think to himself "That thing could very well be a mortal creature, and it can be killed if so. But what if it is immortal, what if it is from the underworld and can only be killed by another god?"

Blueblood's thoughts were broken when he heard the door open once more, "Hey we're all cleaned up," said the gentle unicorn as she entered the kitchen with her clean hooves, "can Anthro come in?"

His heart stopped and his mind raced, he needed to find an excuse to keep Anthro from entering his home. "Actually... I think Anthro would like it better if he stayed outside for tonight, wouldn't you?"

The mare followed his line of sight to the nodding creature, his smile seemingly innocent but at the same time showing worry. He turned around as he said aloud in his slow voice, "I like it better outside."

"Perfect," said the prince as he watched the creature climb onto the nearest branch, making sure to pet the tree trunk before climbing higher and higher.

When the two ponies were alone, Lyra gave a prolonged yawn as she said to the overly handsome unicorn, "Well, I think I'm gonna hit the hay for today. I know its only dinner time but I am tired like a dragon after migration."

Blueblood watched as the beautiful lady made her way through the kitchen towards the exit, "I can't wait to hear what happened today on our date tomorrow night."

Lyra turned around, her soft smile that he loved was on her face as she cooed, "I can't wait to tell you all about it, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow morning." Blueblood waved Lyra goodnight as she ascended the stairs towards her new bedroom, once again leaving Blueblood alone in the kitchen. When Blueblood was sure he was alone, he nodded towards the suited colts, "You are dismissed, gentlecolts, take the evening off."

The agents looked puzzled but didn't question their boss, they simply left in silence leaving Blueblood to his thoughts. The prince moved his way towards the window as he monologued, "Wait until you see what I am capable of, mother."

Author's Note

Hey guys, sorry this chapter is so short, I wanted to add an extra bit to this but I need to tweek it a bit more in order for it to work.

Chapter 14 will have quite a bit going on inside it so don't expect it to be out soon.

Chapter 14

Hunter was strolling through the backyards of the prince's garden, gazing upon the wondrous nature that sprawled out in every direction. The night life was different from the day, the trees seemed to bloom many warm-coloured flowers as they sensed the heat of his body approach them. Every time Hunter extended his hand to meet the leaf, he would watch in simple entertainment as the small flower would scurry away back inside the plant in fear of being hurt.

The sound of the wind blowing through the trees made it seem as though the leaves were taking deep breaths after a long hot day in order to welcome the cooler night. Upon the wind were small sparkling seeds that blew around Hunter's body, the neon lights felt warm against his skin and disappeared as soon as they touched his body. The new life that the night brought forth was intoxicating to the lone boy.

"Wow, this place is incredible," Hunter kept his eyes fixed on the night sky, the shooting stars streaking across the black canvas and twinkling out of existence, "I wish I could stay here."

He kept walking, he could feel the flutters of butterflies in his stomach with every step he made in his bare feet, clenching the grass between his fingers to feel as much of the ground as possible. He figured it was a chemical reaction in his feet and a certain type of weed on the ground that caused a little yellow glow where his footprint was carved into, the glow disappeared only a few seconds later to leave an empty print on the ground.

There was a low voice, one that seemed familiar yet hadn't been heard in forever, "I hope you can come back..."

The boy turned his head to the direction of the voice, hoping that he wasn't soon to be in danger again after what happened today. The voice originated from a dark shaded area covered in bushes, the plants rustled slightly as the voice continued to whisper, "We... hope you can come back."

Hunter gulped in slight worry, "W-who's there?" He kept his eyes locked on the dark bushes as he slowly walked towards them, his fists were clenching in preparation to fight for his life once more. As he made his way toward the bush, thin and weak weeds would latch on to his bottom hands and wrap around the fingers only to be torn off at the slightest pull from the ground. It was as though the ground was warning him about not entering the bush, as though it were alive and protecting him.

He extended his arm and touched one of the leaves only to hear the voice from behind him say a little louder, "You're not going to leave us, are you?" The male voice sounded to be hidden behind a tree when Hunter whipped his head in its direction, his eyes scanning the area for danger.

When he turned around, he spotted what appeared to be movement as it cornered around a tree and disappeared into the darkness. Hunter began to chase after it, shielding his hands from the leaves slapping him while he rounded the corner and called out, "Where are you? Who is this?" He had a feeling he might know who it is but also worried that it could be a trick to get him killed, he wasn't ready to take a chance even if it looked like it was his friend.

There was a woman's voice coming from the same direction as the man's, she sounded depressed and exhausted, "You've already forgotten about me, haven't you?"

The sudden presence of the female voice made Hunter's heart skip a beat, he recognized that voice as the sound of his wife and bearer of his child. Her voice sounded like it came from a little farther down the forming dirt road, he watched as the trees gently swayed their leaves away to reveal a dirt path that seemed to lead to the voices.

He took no time to spare and immediately began to run down the road as he said a little louder, "Where are you guys? Why won't you let me see you?"

"Look," the male's disembodied voice began with a more agressive tone, "he doesn't even recognize us any more."

Hunter closed his eyes and shielded his face when a wall of leaves came into light, preparing himself to get scratched up as he broke through the wall. When he felt nothing he lifted his face from his hands to see that the leaves had shifted out of his way, revealing the doors to the prince's house.

The boy stood there, the blood racing through his head which caused a splitting headache when an ominous woman's laughing began to surround him, "You actually care about these horses? That's pathetic."

Hunter shook his head, "No, no I don't love them!"

The male's voice took over as it asked Hunter, "Then why haven't you returned home yet? If you don't care for these animals then why haven't you left them for those who really love you?" Behind him there was a loud gust of wind that ran through Hunter's ears and headed for the large wooden doors to the majestic unicorn's house, pushing the doors wide open to reveal a darkened room before muting everything completely.

Hunter stood frozen in fear, his eyes locked on the clean food-filled area that was only lit by the moon's light in the doorway. He remembered quite well how the white stallion despised the idea of him entering the house, but the idea of more of his own species getting caught within that house scared him more. He didn't want neither his wife nor his best friend to go through the same treatment that he had suffered, and the only safe place for them was outside. Thus Hunter sucked in a chest-full of air, clenched his fists, and made his way into the house.

The inside was dark, silent, and too clean for his liking. Upon the walls of the first room were metal instruments probably used for holding food over a fire, sharp knives lined the large white table as well as very small silver shovels and pitch-forks all probably used for the soul-purpose of eating. The black-and-white tiles echoed the quiet slapping of his bottom hands against the ground, worrying him that the noise might wake up the prince.

Suddenly he heard his best friend behind him, "You have a choice to make." The double-doors that lead to the garden shut violently and forced Hunter into a silenced darkness. The only sound to break the frightful silence was his breathing as he slowly made his way into the next room.

As he stepped onto the wooden tiles, loud cracks and creaks were heard beneath the floorboards causing him to stop in his tracks. He could hear the voice of his wife coming from the top of a flight of stairs next to him, "Chase after us, that is if you really care for us."

He flinched, hoping that her rude loudness wouldn't disturb the sleeping of any resident before bounding up the stairs in a hush. He looked to the large statues of horses in armour, figuring that they were either a means of security or intimidation as they suddenly began to turn their heads to look down at him.

Hunter quickly realized that statues aren't supposed to move and stopped in his tracks, his heart racing in his throat at the horror of the two larger-than-life statues crumbling in front of him. The loud clanging of the metal rang in his ears as they broke through the floor around him, a bright green glow leaking out of the holes that the statue's limbs had created.

Figuring this was a sort of magical safety measure, Hunter turned around to face the stairs and began to race down. He had learned his lesson but it became apparent that the magical house wasn't finished scaring the life out of him yet when the stairs behind him began to disintegrate, the bright green glow below replacing it as it raced against the speed of the panicking boy.

Hunter jumped down past last few steps and began to run for the exit, but to his horror he watched as the entire wall itself began to rumble and move away from him. The pots and pans shook violently off of their hooks as they clanged agains the ground, falling into the opening crevice that was forming between Hunter and the door.

Horrified by the actions that this spell was taking, Hunter looked around as the house began to shake and fall apart, not a single wall was left standing after the self-inflicted tremor hit. The roof was the last to fall through the floor as it tore away the majority of the tiled kitchen floor, leaving only a small place for him to stand amongst the now ocean of green smoke and light. He tried to keep himself from looking into the massive green abyss as he shouted out, "What's going on?"

A disembodied voice began to circle around him, "You abandoned me, because you don't love me."

The panicking boy quickly recognized the voice as that of the mare that was caring for him, somehow speaking perfect english to him as her floating face spun around him. Hunter gave his head a shake as he shouted out, "I care for you, and I didn't abandon you."

There sounded to be faint distant laughter that trailed away from him, followed by planks of wood forming behind him with loud creaking noises. He turned his head slowly and fixed his eyes on the thin floating bridge that had formed and that trailed into the distance, the pattern of wood planks was often broken by the addition of a painting or a door. Hunter carefully placed his hand on the first piece of wood, hoping that it would not collapse under his weight. To his surprise, the magical bridge that had formed was quite capable of holding his heaviness.

The boy began to walk down the bridge, looking around at the infinite ocean of blackness and green/blue smoke. He could hear the voice of Pinn echoing through his head, "You've grown up with me, we spent our childhoods together." As Hunter walked, he watched as memories of his childhood appeared in the smoke to his sides. He watched his memory of first meeting Pinn as a child, being helped back up after being pushed teased for being different.

Hunter could hear the sound of the children's laughters that surrounded Pinn and him, the two knew they were going to be friends from the start. He remembered how Pinn stuck by his side despite how different he was from the rest of the children, how Pinn was always willing to fight by his side when he was needed. Hunter began to feel his heart weigh heavy in his chest, the sense of guilt flooded him as he thought over his choices while the voice of his best friend continued, "You were my best friend, and now you're leaving me forever?"

"No," he shouted in response, chocking back the tears that were forming in his eyes, "I am not leaving you!"

There was silence once more, the sound of smoke and whispering winds were the only things heard as Hunter continued to walk along the bridge. He tightened the belt he made around his waist and loincloth, hoping things wouldn't turn for the worst when he saw the bridge had suddenly stopped in front of a large pillar of stone.

He walked up to it, his heart was racing as his eyes darted in every direction, he moved his hand towards the large rock formation but jumped in fear when it began to rumble. The large stone body churned and cracked as pebbles tumbled into the black ocean of emptiness, the sound echoing long after the shaking had stopped. A face began to form in the stone as it suddenly circled him, it was the face of the unicorn that taught him his new language, "You have a choice to make, Hunter."

"I don't know what to pick, either way I am hurting someone!" His curling hair swished around his head as he looked to follow the moving stone monument, keeping his eyes locked on the forming faces.

Hunter watched as the face of the royal stallion emerged in the place of the mare's as it spoke, "You can chose to leave, and break her heart but return to the loved ones at home."

He continued to watch as the face again morphed back to the mare's as she whispered through the air, "You can leave me with a broken heart and crushed dreams for your personal desires." The face suddenly began to crumble once more into dust, the bridge burst to life in a bright glowing blue fire before turning to ashes and leaving Hunter stranded.

The horrified boy stood perfectly still, watching as the floor beneath him appeared to breathe, flexing inward and outward in a rhythmic pattern. He worried about falling over the edge into the dark abyss that had engulfed the entire world around him when he felt the platform begin to tilt. He held to the edges for his life, he could hear the voice of Pinn once more as it hissed, "Or you can stay, leave your best friend betrayed and your wife without a child. You can leave us for your personal desires in order to stay with the horses that treat you like an animal."

Hunter began to lose his grip on the wooden pillar, feeling the supporting column beneath it crumble as it tilted beyond a safe angle. He felt his body slip towards the black abyss, his limbs thrashing in all directions to regain his grip and prevent his death. His heart had jumped into his throat when he felt nothing but the weightlessness of falling from a height, he screamed for help despite being the only physical body present. He felt the wind against his skin as the blue and green smoke surrounded him, the coldness chilled his body all over as he plummeted to his doom.

Hunter could see his vision blackening out, a darkness was closing in around his sight as he listened to the voice of Pinn one last time, "You have to chose. I'm coming tomorrow night."

He screamed, the blackness had covered his eyes entirely as he felt the tugging of the wind through his hair. Suddenly he opened his eyes again to see an ocean of green trees below him that was rapidly approaching. Hunter again screamed for help as he realized that he was actually going to die, extending his arms in dire hope of saving himself.

The skydiving boy closed his eyes, hoping that some diving being would save his life before impact. He could feel the butterflies trying to escape from his stomach when he extended his arms, his eyes had locked onto a thick vine that might be strong enough to hold him.

In a matter of seconds, he was holding onto a large green rope as tight as he could, hoping to survive the ordeal. He could hear the wind screeching through his ears as his fall turned into a swing, his bottom hands drawing closer and closer to the ground. He looked ahead of himself to see a branch coming towards him, it looked high enough that it would miss his head which calmed him for an instant. It was too late, though, for him to realize that the vine would still be affected by its presence and was thus flung into the air a mere thirty feet.

Hunter flipped through the air, thrashing his arms as he shouted in fear of dying on impact in a failed circus act. His hands and arms were sore from being strained so much and so suddenly, his neck was already hurting from the whiplash of going through a loop at several G's. Hunter was relieved when he felt the ice chill of water engulf his body instead of hard ground but soon after began to feel the pain of slapping the water like he did, it seemed like he was safe from death yet again thanks to water.

After flailing his limbs madly, he eventually pulled himself from the water and began to gag and cough for air. As he coughed his hardest, his nose stinging from the water and his eyes teared, he slowly lifted his body and looked towards the highest tree. Panting and exhausted from nearly dying again, he coughed out in a worried tone, "What the hell did I eat? What just happened?"

He scanned the area, looking at the surroundings as the colours slightly changed from green to blue and back, the trunks of trees appeared to be breathing. It was clear to Hunter that he had just had a bad trip after eating the glowing blue plants his teacher had told him were good pain-killers. "Eat the blue leaves," he said in a mimicking tone of someone with a deeper voice, "they are the safest."

There was a pause, he took a deep breath before sitting down and continued to monologue to the colour-changing grass, "It seems I'm still on a hallucination-trip, just not as bad as that." He turned his eyes back to the large house that he had conveniently landed in front of as he rested his back against a tree, "Trip or no trip, those guys are right. I have a huge choice to make, but what do I chose?"

Thinking of what the floating heads and voices had said to him, Hunter spent the rest of the night awake, thinking of whether he should stay or if he should go.

Author's Note

I would just like to remind you that you can find me on xbox, psn, and steam with the following names:

XBOX LIVE: GreasyOscar
PSN: GreasyOscar
Steam: Carlosspicyweiner702

Hit me up on any of these and enjoy my non-sensical babbling rants as I scream at the television (XBox Only). If you're lucky enough you will find me on a sugar-rush, a rant without medication, or hear me beatboxing (I'm apparently good)

Ask me questions, call me names, make me cry, it'll be like we're actual friends..

Chapter 15 Part 1

The day had gone by swimmingly for Lyra, spending the majority of it learning with Anthro and Dr. Whooves. Something seemed off about her biped, though, because his mind seemed to wander while they looked over the sprawling nature of the forest. He seemed to look into nothingness, his mind deep in thought. Every time she asked what was bothering him, he could constantly say, "Everything is okay," in his drawn out speech.

Lyra was in the guest room, combing her hair after taking a shower in order to prepare for the night out with Prince Blueblood. She could feel her stomach flutter in a confused array of emotions ranging from excitement to nervousness, she continued to brush her hair even after it was straightened to her liking.

"You look fine," The doctor began, sitting at the edge of his bed as he stared at her reflection, "you don't have to get so worked up over a night out on the town."

Sighing, Lyra swivelled in her chair to face the brown colt as she nervously replied, "It's not just any night out on the town, Doctor, it's a night in Canterlot with one of the most important political figures of this generation. Prince Blueblood wouldn't be expecting any less from me than fabulous."

The doctor pushed himself from the bed, making his way to her side as he softly spoke, "If the prince wanted fabulous, I'm sure he would date a model or a celebrity, If Blueblood asked out a pony that had just crawled out of the woods I'm sure it wasn't because he has a thing for dirty girls."

Lyra, still quite nervous but somewhat relieved, laughed in her throat before she said, "I guess you're right, but again, this is Canterlot. I'm a small town filly from Ponyville, a nudist society compared to the glamor of the capital of Equestria."

The mare turned back to the mirror, using her magic to put on a necklace as she began to rant, "What if I do something weird or embarrassing? What if I use the wrong spoon or fork?"

The doctor, trying his best to keep her calm, spun her around in her chair to face him, "You're overreacting, Lyra, just keep your cool and enjoy dinner at the Palace Diner. I hear that the Apple family back in Ponyville sent a good batch of Zap-Apples to Canterlot, so expect some great food."

Lyra sighed again, she forced herself to look into the mirror and said to the Doctor, "I'm sorry I'm like this, I'm just so nervous."

"You don't have to be," Whooves began, "just have a great time."

There was a knock on the window, the two turned to see Anthro standing on the window-sill. His eyes were locked on Lyra as he gently tapped the glass again, his face showed no smile and his posture appeared to be stressed.

"Anthro," Lyra began as she trotted towards the window to open it, "I was just about to go looking for you."

Upon opening the window for Anthro, granting him entrance, he kneeled down to Lyra as he nervously spoke, "Can... can I talk... talk at you?"

There was a confused look from her, she had never seen Anthro act so distressed when nothing seemed to be wrong. She gave her head a nod, "Sure."

*****

Anthro and Lyra stood outside the doors to the garden, none of the secret agents were nearby which seemed to relieve the biped a bit more. Lyra watched as he paced back and forth, his breath short but quick between each other. She could tell that something beyond the garden was worrying him, something that they had not dealt with yet. After a few seconds of nothing, the long-haired creature turned to her and said through closed eyes, "I... I..."

It became clear that Anthro was going to break down, Lyra could see the look in his eyes that stress was getting the best of him. She had the feeling that maybe he needed comfort despite her little knowledge of his problem, and she had also nearly forgotten about her surprise she had for him.

During the day with Anthro and Whooves, Lyra spend the arts and crafts period to herself in order to create something that would show her appreciation for Anthro's cooperation. She knew that it was stressful for him to be away from his natural habitat and that maybe a gift would show that he was more than a pet to them, she hoped that her hard work would show something more than love for a lab-rat.

Lyra quickly raised her hoof to stop Anthro's stammering, "Hold on, sweetie," she began as she reached through the neck of her dress, "I have something for you."

Anthro paused, having a stressed and confused look on his face when she made him close his eyes and cover them with his hands. She wrapped her hoof around her surprise before pulling it out as she said, "Okay, take a look."

The biped sighed, removing his hands from his eyes he was caught off guard by the gift that hung before him. Draped over Lyra's hoof was a small necklace, using the coloured paper from their arts and crafts and using ribbon as the string. Lyra used her magic to rest the necklace on Anthro's chest, his hand gently holding up the paper heart.

Lyra gave out a cheerful, "What do you think?" She watched as his face changed from stress to a look of tearful joy. His shoulders began to drop as the stress left his body, his lips started to quiver and tears began to roll out of his eyes. She noticed how he was having trouble reading the message on the heart, resting her hoof against his face she spoke in almost a whisper, "It says, 'You'll always be my Secret'."

It took a few seconds for anything else to happen, she watched in silence as Anthro cried against her shoulder, holding her up and hugging her tight.

She could feel the love in him, his gentle grip on her body along with his warm breathing seemed to sooth him more than she had expected. However, Lyra was caught off guard when Anthro put her down so suddenly. When she had her hooves on the ground, she looked around at the garden once more and said, "Now what were you going to tell me?"

There was silence once more, she watched in unease as he held the necklace in his hand. His head looked from the necklace to the mountains beyond the trees and back, his mind deep in thought. After another moment of silence, Anthro sheepishly smiled and said, "I wanted to say... have a good... uh... night."

Author's Note

Very sorry that this is such an awkward, rushed, lacking, and incomplete chapter. I have been feeling bad about the lack of posts to this story and figured that the best thing to do is to just take baby-steps back into my rhythm of writing.

It's hard for me to suddenly jump into a rhythm like periodically writing, but it's extremely easy for me to just derail from one already in place. I've just been so shaken up by the sudden changes that are about to happen in less than two months that I haven't been thinking of this fanfic, mainly what's causing so much trouble is the fact that I am moving off to college for Animation very soon and the whole music career has also been weighing heavy on my time as well.

Again, sorry, but what's here is here and more will definitely come soon.

Love,
DC

Chapter 15 Part 2

"Well I gotta say," Lyra began, tilting her head to look around the room, "this is by far the best restaurant I've ever eaten at."

Blueblood chuckled, taking a sip of his wine and raising his right eyebrow at her as he replied with a smile, "Only the best for you, my lovely lady."

So far the night had gone swimmingly, the two had a reserved spot for them in the Palace Restaurant, they had some of the finest salads harvested from the untamed forest, and were preparing to enjoy the band's performance. The large gold and white walls towered over them until they reached the circular dome at the top, a large painting of the day and night sky covering the highest point in the room while pegasi appeared to fly around in the painting.

"I sure am glad that I remembered to bring money this time," the prince chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Lyra had a confused look on her face, unsure of the meaning of Blueblood's joke.

"Long story." He replied with a sort of nervous laugh with that, she figured it might have been an incident that happened a while ago and quickly brushed it off. Although the restaurant was of high class, and the prices only emphasizing its fanciness, she had the desire to eat like a Ponyville citizen. She could smell the well steamed vegetables as well as the mints and spices coming from the kitchen, only making it worse for her poor hungry stomach. She watched as the prince across her gently twirled his glass with his magic, as though he were subconsciously taunting her with how much money he had.

She turned her focus to the glass of expensive wine in front of her, her mouth already preparing itself to taste the bitter-sweet mixture of well-aged alcohol. Using her magic, she floated the glass to her mouth and downed the wine in one go, not taking the time to breathe in between. As she continued to chug, she could hear the prince's voice from across the table, "Err, my dear?"

Lyra stopped her drinking only when she made sure her entire glass had been emptied before placing it back on the table, giving her a good view of her date's uneasy look, "That was a little uncivil," he whispered to her, "this isn't Ponyville anymore."

The mare looked around the room once more, reminding herself of how she had to act posh in front of the most elegant society in Equestria. She then tucked her muzzle closer to her chest as she sheepishly replied, "My bad,"

Blueblood paused, she watched him look over to the other end of the restaurant where a young couple had gotten the same salad that they had ordered, the large plate with steaming vegetables probably made him wish he was being served sooner. He then turned his attention to his date, a curious look in his eyes as he asked her, "So what happened the other day, I couldn't help but notice that the creature,"

Lyra quickly interrupted him, "Anthro," she corrected.

"Right," he resumed, "Anthro... I couldn't help but notice he seemed a little odd, care to explain?"

It was finally Lyra's moment to gush about their interesting day that took place, ready to amaze her date with what she had learned from a creature that hadn't been in any books yet. She explained to him how Anthro had a brain very similar to theirs, thus being able to have mental disorders as well as special capabilities and talents. She watched his face turn to shock and awe when she reached the part about how Anthro had become the hero by saving the two of them from a dangerous timberwolf.

When she was nearing the end of her story, she took a deep breath to make up for all the talking before ending her tale, "So long story short, he has a form of Autism as well as a boosted capability in learning languages, he also taught me that his biology is affected differently by poison joke compared to the biology of yours and mine."

"So that's why he was all..." Blueblood was looking for a word to help describe is unorthodox behaviour, twirling his hoof around as though it were helping him.

"On our way back," the joyful mare began, "he said that the stuff was going to make him 'high' and 'trip' whatever that means."

Suddenly, a very familiar voice called from behind Lyra, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Lyra."

Lyra, surprised and confused, turned her head around to see a purple alicorn with five others at a table, a small dragon had joined them as well. Lyra realized the pony she was talking to and stammered, "P-princess Twilight, wha-what a coincidence."

As the unicorn was preparing to get off her seat and bow before her, the princess giggled, "Oh Lyra, I don't need to be treated like that, remember?"

Sheepishly, and slightly embarrassed, Lyra got back into her seat as she replied, "Oh... yeah sorry bad habit." She gave a fake laugh as she moved the hair from her eyes, trying to act as though nothing had happened.

Twilight turned her eyes to the prince opposite of the table as she politely said, "Prince Blueblood, always a pleasure."

Blueblood gave her a nod, a smile in the corner of his face, "As to you, your highness." His smile quickly disappeared when a white horn and purple hair that had been combed to perfection popped from behind Twilight, followed by the rest of the unicorn's body. Lyra could see the look of awkwardness in her date's eyes as he said in monotone, "Oh..."

The white mare, caught off guard, stood there in joint awkwardness as she mimicked him, "Hello... Blueblood."

The silence was incredible, Lyra had been in many awkward situations before, but none were ever as painful as these two ponies when Blueblood tried to remember her name, "How are you tonight, miss... miss... Mys"

"Rarity," the unicorn replied in complete monotone, as though every moment was angering her slightly more as she pursed her lips.

Blueblood tried his best to act cool as he said in reply, "I knew you were Rarity, but my brain was saying otherwise, like, like,"

She didn't even wait for him to finish, "Uh-huh," she sarcastically hummed while nodding her head.

When she returned to sitting down, Twilight gave a look that meant an apology before she sat down as well, leaving Blueblood and Lyra to dine together once more. Blueblood looked to his drink, and Lyra watched as he swallowed the entire thing much like she did while she calmly asked, "Ex?"

Blueblood coughed slightly at the faint burn of the alcohol in his stomach before replying with a weak smile, "Oh not even, we barely made it through the night before she suddenly started hating... I mean... before the way I was behaving had gone too far."

She had been working with Blueblood only for a short while, but she could assume that she had witnessed the first time Blueblood admitted he was at fault instead of blaming someone else. She gave him a reassuring smile, "Hey, at least you've changed right?"

The stallion nodded, "Yeah, at least now somepony is here to date the new and improved Prince Blueblood." She watched as he raised his glass after filling both halfway with wine, requesting she join him in toast.

Giggling, Lyra used her magic as well to lift her wineglass and meet his halfway.

Suddenly, a noise pierced the ears of the turquoise unicorn, a high pitched shriek of disgust and surprise that came from the young couple across the restaurant, "Waiter, waiter!" The mare exclaimed in shock, urging the nearby stallion to approach her before continuing. Lyra watched as the pony raised her plate to the waiter as she shouted, "There is a bug in my salad!"

Lyra then looked towards Blueblood as he sighed, a look of unease on his face as he muttered, "I'll go check it out, I'll pay for her meal." Impressed with his generosity, Blueblood stood up to face the now ocean of watching eyes before making his way to the ecstatic mare and her date, leaving Lyra to her self.

*****

Blueblood approached the table, a sinking feeling in his stomach after seeing such disgusted looks on the faces of the customers.

"We were told that this food would be cleaned before being retrieved from the forest, why is there a bug in my salad?"

Blueblood decided to step in, hoping to help as he said, "Ma'am, if it means anything, I will pay for your meal."

The earth-pony gave a look of disgust, her bright yellow eyes matching her hair only made her gaze pierce his soul even more as she scoffed, "Well at least somepony can do something right," she pointed her hooves towards the bug and continued, "I almost ate it if it weren't for its blinking light."

Blueblood followed her hooves direction towards a small black shell, it remained motionless on top of her fork as a faint red light began to flicker. Curious, Blueblood decided to get a closer look at it, "Hold on..." he used his magic to bring the insect closer to his face. On the top was a clear shell that flickered with red light, its legs were of a sort of gold and copper mix that extended half a centimetre out and remained motionless. As he inspected the small creature, he noticed something off about its behaviour, he couldn't help but notice the time between the flash of lights grew shorter and shorter between, the flickering quickly speeding up after every flash.

Suddenly, he realized they weren't staring at an insect, they were staring at something much worse.

As the waiter, the two ponies at the table, and the prince stared at the small object, he quietly muttered, "Wait a second..."

The sound of breaking windows shattered the peaceful silence of the night, the horrified screams of multiple ponies were heard followed by the sound of a heavy object tumbling onto the ground. Blueblood turned his head towards the source of the commotion only to be blinded by a bright flash of light and a loud pop that rang in his ears. The combination disoriented him, causing him to fall over onto the table. Despite the painful ringing inside his head, he could hear another sound of beeping that quickened with every second. Before he could do anything about it, everything went dark as he lost consciousness.

Chapter 16

There was blackness, a loud ringing pierced his ears, he was spinning, the world was on a spinning top to him. He could feel pins and needles throughout his body, his consciousness returning to him ever so slowly as his breathing remained at a slow pace. He tried opening his eyes, but to him they felt as though there were heavier than barbells.

"Got to remain calm," he thought to himself, "I am still alive, and conscious, so thats a step in the right direction." It wasn't for another few seconds before he could feel his awareness returning to him completely, remembering the last things he saw before everything went black, "You were talking to the waiter and the young couple, then suddenly the bug started flashing... was it a bug? It doesn't matter now, Blueblood, you need to make sure everypony else is fine."

He tried to open his eyes again, but his strength was no better than a newborn's, unable to to move his own weight made him panic slightly. He continued to breath through his nose, "I... I can't even move," his thoughts were the only voice he could hear amongst the sound of glass falling and breaking around him, "I think I'm still in the restaurant."

It took a few seconds of breathing, waiting for life to return to the rest of his body before beginning to muster the strength to open his eyes. The prince focused all of his power he had in him towards simply moving his eyelids upwards, and he could feel them barely moving which gave him hope. Eventually, he had spent all of his energy on one small movement, it was quite pathetic to him that he had become this weak but his attempt was successful.

The prince's eyelids slowly moved open, the brightness of the room tempting him to shut them and return to the comfortable darkness but the prince pressed on. He continued to open his eyes, allowing the light to pour in and the ringing in his ears to continue. Suddenly, extremely muffled voices were heard behind him, causing him to freeze in fear.

To Blueblood, the voices were not of any creature he had heard before, and the language was beyond unrecognizable while his brain was still readjusting to reality.

"Mwwwm mwmmm mwommm mmmmwmm," was all that the deep thunderous voice was saying at first, but as time carried on, the mumbling slowly began to turn to words. Although the language wasn't hoovian, the prince decided to remember as best as he could what the mysterious voice behind him was saying, almost as though he were recording it, "Ubi est ille?"

The voice haunted Blueblood, either he was scared to the bone by the voice or his spine was beginning to regain sensation, a chill traveled down the unicorn's back as the ominous voice continued, "Mawak to avi, sav omadi. Tes drovocati yun en ty, brador. Mos erit vordi."

As the voice spoke, it became apparent that Blueblood, along with what he assumed to be everypony else, had been paralyzed by a spell he had never encountered before. His eyes continued to readjust to the piece of glass that lay propped against the table in front of him, looking at the reflected image of a destroyed wall with a large dark figure standing in front. He studied the figure, memorizing all the details in case he was questioned later.

The creature appeared to stand at three times the height of a normal pony, and at twice the height of Princess Celestia. Its body was black from head to toe, but showed slight resemblance to Anthro, the only difference was in the bulkiness of its limbs and lack of pigmentation.

Through the reflection he continued to watch it, the unknown beast turned around as it held a pony in its arms only to have it dropped like a rag doll. Its face struck fear in Blueblood's heart, because unlike Anthro this creature had only one glowing red eyes on a face as smooth as glass and as black as obsidian.

The creature turned its piercing gaze towards the open hole in the wall as it silently rumbled in its thunderous voice, "Redia yo, amaniona, queo prapre sim. Dia Gami."

Suddenly, it was impossible for the prince to keep his eyes open, his body weakened as he watched the creature pull out a small greyish ball that hummed loudly. Before he knew it, he had fallen unconscious once more.

Author's Note

Edit: There I changed the language to gibberish.
So this chapter was extremely short but it was meant to be an experiment in creating dialogue for a language that we aren't supposed to understand. Anyways prepare your anuses for when the sh*t really hits the fan.

You can keep up with me by hitting the "Watch" button right on my page, don't forget to click favourite and give thumbs up.
If you want to keep up with me and chat in real time, you can add me on Xbox Live (You'll have to message me with your account name as well since I don't trust some people on here that much)
You can add me on steam at carlosspicyweiner702
you can even message me and I'll give you a link to add me on Facebook.

See you guys later,
Love,
Dark-Castle
XXOOXOXOOXOO

Chapter 17

A loud ringing pierced Lyra's ears as blackness filled her vision, it felt as though she had suddenly woken up from a dream to the noise of a crime scene. Her head hurt as though she had jumped from a diving board into an empty pool, her body felt as though it gained several hundred pounds as she was unable to move a single limb. "Alright, Lyra, stay calm." She spoke to herself to reassure that she was in fact alive, "Let's just figure out what's going on..."

Lyra made her first attempt to open her eyes, but was met with nothing. Her eyelids weighed more than her, it seemed, like a limb that had been slept on and had no circulation. Breathing calmly, she made her second attempt to open here eyes, this time with a little success.

As she cracked her eyelids open, the blinding light that filled her gaze tempted her to give up, the blurriness of her vision made it less rewarding to her. Slowly, though, her vision began adjusting as her eyes opened wider and wider, slowly taking in what was going on around her.

After what felt like too long, the unicorn finally had her eyes open and was staring at the wreckage in front of her. Piles of rubble had fallen around her, the dust causing her to choke slightly. She tried moving her head, but a sudden shock of pain swept through her and forced her to lay back down. She took another calm breath, "Okay so it looks like I'm caught in a bit of wreckage. At least I'm alive, thank goodness. Lyra scanned the area around her, looking up to see the large chunk of wall that must have been knocked to the ground as well as a small fleet of royal guards that cautiously hovered at a distance.

Lyra watched as they hovered, making no move to come closer and look for survivors, she wanted to scream, but all she could muster was a faint, "H...Help!" She could barely feel tears welling in her eyes, she had a strong doubt in her mind that she would ever be heard. To her, it appeared as though they had already swept the area and she wasn't rescued.

It seemed her luck had turned for the better, though, for one of the guards must have heard her. She watched with hope as the guard turned to the others as he exclaimed, "I think I heard another survivor!"

"Eclipse! No!" Another larger pegasus barked as the first pegasus began flying in her direction. Confused as to why a superior would deny the rescuing of a survivor, she watched in hopeful joy as the smaller pegasus ignored his order for the greater good as he flew to rescue her.

Suddenly, her heart sank as he passed beyond the crumbled walls, she watched as he somehow lost the ability to fly and crashed near her. She could hear him shout back to his commanding officer, "I can't move, sir. I'm paralyzed!"

Another voice rang out from elsewhere, "How are we going to get out of this?" To Lyra, the voice sounded familiar, it sounded like Rainbow Dash's.

It became clear to Lyra what had taken place, "Okay, stay calm, what probably happened was an attack from the changelings. They probably cast a spell that disables movement, I think magic as well.

Lyra listened as Twilight spoke up nearby, "If my guess is correct, this spell only affects ponies. Spike, are you there?"

The small purple dragon exclaimed, "I tried saving Rarity but she's... she's..."

"She's not dead," Twilight began, "she's just unconscious. Spike... can you move?"

The young dragon coughed, "Yeah... yeah I can!"

"Good, follow my voice!"

It took a couple of seconds before Spike found her, "Okay," he began, "now what?"

Twilight coughed hard, it sounded like she was trying to get rid of her lungs, "I need you to find all the survivors in here, move them away from the building. The spell seems to have a proximity that matches the restaurant, if you can"

Another voice interrupted Twilight, the voice was that of Blueblood's as he shouted for the dragon's attention, "Oh great! Dragon, come here!"

Applejack shouted back, "Hey! Y'all aren't more important than us, just bec"

"JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Blueblood barked in anger. When silence had filled the room for a solid five seconds, Lyra listened as Blueblood spoke in a calmer voice, "Spike... I need you to come here, there is a small silver ball that is causing this. Pick it up, and move it elsewhere. Throw it into the forest actually. Once that is done, we'll regain our ability to walk."

Silence once again filled the room, Lyra calmly waited as Spike walked over to where Blueblood was, she listened to the sound of the small dragon picking up an object before running out of the restaurant. The ear-piercing ring slowly began to fade away with the purple dragon as he ran further into the forest.

As Lyra lay in the rubble, she wondered how far Spike would need to run before she could regain her ability to move, if what the Prince said was true. Something seemed off though, because she could hear the sound of others getting up and groaning in pain as they helped others up.

Lyra once again made an attempt to move her arms, but felt nothing, she could only move her neck. Taking a deep breath, she turned to look behind her only to begin crying. As she lay in the rubble, and as others regained their ability to walk, she remained stuck as her heart sank. A tear slowly trickled down her cheek as she shouted in a shaky voice, "Someone... anyone... for the love of peace help me!"

She cried, she was stuck, she couldn't move, it seemed fate was mocking her by letting all the others go but her. She shouted again, "Help me!" Her voice pained her, but considering her situation she would rather feel pain than nothing at all.

Suddenly, a fleet of guards and nurses began to hurry into the scene, running to all the others that were stuck like her. One nurse finally made eye contact with her, and tears began filling her eyes as she called out to the guards, "I need an air lift. This one's in bad condition."

A couple of big, muscular pegasi flew to the nurse's side as she ordered, and pointed to behind Lyra, "Help her out!"

Lyra began to stammer, "What's... am.... are you... am I going to live?"

The nurse, shaken up by the night, reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small gas tank and breathing mask as she said, "Just breath slowly, everything is going to be fine."

The mouthpiece was incredibly cold on her cheeks, it was clear to her that the gas that she began breathing was definitely not oxygen as her vision began to fade once more. Sounds slowly began to muffle out as her vision narrowed, and the last thing she could hear clearly was the nurse shouting, "Get that support beam off her spine..." She didn't hear the last part, and she didn't need to.

Author's Note

Sorry about the wait, college is a busy life for me these days. If you go to Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, try and find me and say hi.

Chapter 18

Hunter lay peacefully in his hammock, his eyes looking up towards the stars as he swung slowly. He breathed softly as he spoke to himself, "I hope you're having a great night." His heart still felt as though it were cramping up with every time he thought of the unicorn that had bonded with him over the past week. He knew what the right thing to do was, but he didn't know the right time.

As he lay there, conversing with himself, a loud thud was heard beyond the nearby trees. A thud that sounded too heavy for a pegasus to make and too distinguished for a falling tree to make.

Hunter lifted himself from the bed, brushing the long hair from his eyes and looking around to find the source of the noise. After a few seconds of silence he scratched his beard and said to himself, "Must be my imagination," before leaning back in his bed to resume his peaceful daze.

A deep voice came from the bushes, "How about you explain this?" The voice was so different from the ponies he had been with throughout the week that Hunter had almost forgotten who was speaking.

Startled, Hunter tumbled out of his bed and onto the ground, landing on his shoulder that was still somewhat sore from being dislocated. The pain shook him up even worse, causing him to loudly groan in pain before grunting, "What the hell!" As he lay there, he watched as the bushes began to rustle, his heart quickened when he began to realize who it was that was behind them. When the large black body began to emerge, his heart began to sink, he had always been intimidated by Pinn's physique considering he was almost twice his height and strong enough to lift three times his own weight. Hunter began to panic as he backed up towards the tree trunk, knowing that Pinn could easily flatten him if he wanted to.

The large glossy body emerged from behind the shrubs, standing at almost 11 feet tall, and looking like he was ready to obliterate his own friend in anger. Pinn growled, "I'm gonna be honest, you had me fooled, Hunter, I thought you were in a densely populated area at risk of ruining everything. Instead, you led me to nothing but this," As Pinn stood inches away from Hunter, he stuck out his hand to reveal the blinking communications device, "you know this is illegal, right?"

Shaking in fear, Hunter gulped and stammered, "Y-yes I know..." he did his best to avoid looking at Pinn out of shame and terror. He felt as Pinn's other large hand wrapped around his torso, picking him up off the ground, "I-I can explain everything I swear!"

Pinn continued to lift him with ease, holding him in the air like it was nothing, "The council would like to hear this, then. Your father's gonna be pissed."

Hunter could feel the grip tightening around his rib cages, causing him to exhale in pain, "Please just hear me out, that thing was ripped from my neck."

Pinn growled from behind his mask, "I highly doubt it. Its a shame you had to go like this, Hunter, cause we needed you."

Gasping for air, Hunter let out a faint, "What about my knowledge, huh? What about all the vital and important things I learned." when that wasn't enough to break Pinn's grip, he looked beyond the shiny mask and said softly, "What about us? Remember, friends for life?"

There was a pause, Hunter could feel his friend's grip getting looser and looser, "I... I'm so sorry," Pinn sounded as though he had realized what was going on and his adrenaline fuelled rage had finished, slowly letting his friend down now that he had calmed down.

Hunter, now free from the boa grip, gasped for air as he coughed up his lungs before saying, "First of all, screw you for nearly killing me, second, let me explain what happened."

*****

Hunter and his friend sat against the wall of the cottage, the two of them had been talking about the events that had taken place in the passed week.

Hunter took another deep breath, "Yeah... so I threw myself off the edge of the waterfall with the Barker in my arms, and used the water to break the binding of the joints."

Pinn slowly laughed at the name, "Dude... what did they call it again?"

"Timber Wolves." Hunter chuckled.

Pinn sat himself upright and sighed, "So you damn-near killed yourself so you could save some horse?"

Hunter shook his head, he had a smile on his face now that he was picturing her in his mind, "She's not some horse, man, she's a unicorn. While lots of the other horses seemed hostile towards me, I guess I can understand why, but this one immediately attached to me and cared for me."

"So she took care of you when you were sick?"

"Yeah," Hunter began, looking back at how it all began with him naked and covered in his own fecal matter in a glass chamber, "when I came to, I was in a cold chamber and the virus had gotten worse when it moved to my bowels. Despite how I was, crying, vomiting, and shitting like a baby, she cleaned me up."

Pinn turned his head to face Hunter, "So... she really cares for you?"

"Yeah, I mean like a mother would care for me. I never had a mom so I assume this is what it feels like to be needed."

"We need you, Hunter," Pinn began as he rested his giant hand on Hunter's knee, "your name was changed to Hunter for a specific reason, remember?"

Calmly nudging his friend's hand away, Hunter stood up, "I know, but how many names to I have now back at home? I have Hunter, Jungle-Boy, Mystery Kid, and Phoenix..." Hunter could feel his tears falling down his cheeks as he spoke, "but none of those names really matter, I don't know my real name. I don't know where I'm from and neither do any of you, I don't have a real family either." Hunter turned around to face his friend and show his emotions, "You know what name has stuck to me here? If I'm right, I am called Anthro here, and that name fits... I feel... right. Like I belong here."

Pinn slowly got to his feet too, walking closer to his friend to hold him against his cold armour, "You belong back home with us."

Struck with emotions, Hunter broke free of Pinn's embrace as he said tearfully, "I was being suffocated at home, I couldn't move, I was kept in the dark my entire life from this world. When I'm here, though, I feel free, like I can move. Every time you guys would send me to gather a few things, I felt like I was coming home."

Pinn began to approach Hunter, but this time he didn't want to hug him, "You saw it yourself, this place is dangerous, we aren't ready yet."

Hunter shouted in anger, "YOU AREN'T READY FOR THIS PLACE YET! YOU'RE TOO SCARED TO COME HERE, EATING UP WHAT EVERYONE SAYS ABOUT THIS PLACE! I DECIDED TO QUESTION IT AND I'M HAPPY!"

Hunter began to hear something from under Pinn's mask, it was a soft whimper, "I don't want to lose you... you're my best friend."

For their entire lives, Hunter always looked up to Pinn as the symbol of strength, nothing could ever hurt such a huge beast. This, though, was the first time he ever heard him cry.

Pinn didn't make a move to get closer to him, "What happened to friends for life?"

Hunter wiped the tears from his own eyes, "If you were my friend, you would be telling our superiors right now that I died."

Pinn stood there in complete silence, "I'm not going home without you."

Hunter shook his head, "Yes... you are."

He could hear Pinn's voice slowly changing from his fragile sadness to anger, "You're coming with me."

The boy began to back away from Pinn, he began to feel fear in his stomach as the massive man began to walk towards him, "Its either dead or alive, you know the protocol."

Hunter quickly turned and began to run for the nearest tree as he shouted, "No!"

Pinn chased after him, being the bigger one, he was obviously faster than him too as he growled loudly before shouting in his deep voice, "You know we can't have anyone here for too long. Its for both your safety and our duty!" Pinn tackled Hunter, and being the heavier and stronger one he quickly pinned him to the ground as he growled in anger, "I'm not going home without you!"

The boy began to panic, his mind had begun to race for a solution as he looked in every direction for something to get out of the situation. He could feel Pinn's grip tightening on his ribs again, this time with no sign of stopping. As the death grip tightened and began to crack his ribs, Hunter looked to the side to see a broken tree branch. With his quick thinking and as his vision began to fade, he grabbed the club in his hand and swung as hard as he could.

Having no idea where it was going to land, Hunter only hoped that this swing wouldn't be his last. To his luck, he felt the hardened branch connect with a glass body combined with the sound of glass shattering and Pinn shouting in pure rage. The grip around Hunter's ribs was released, making him see stars and his head hurt with the sudden influx of oxygen. The injured boy made his way to the closest tree as fast as possible, hoping that he could stay conscious long enough to survive. As soon as he felt his hands gripping the thick branch suspended above him, his instincts kicked in and he began to swing himself higher and father away from his attacker.

When he had reached a comfortable distance, Hunter sat himself down and began to cough in pain, a small amount of blood coming out onto his hands as he covered his mouth. As he sat on the tree branch, he could hear Pinn shout in anger, "You little scum! I'll be back, and the next time you're coming home dead! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

As Hunter's vision began to face, and as the sounds of running grew farther and farther, the last thing he did before falling out cold was raise all four of his hands, sticking up the middle finger on all of them.

Author's Note

So hey, new chapter, yeah that's cool I guess. I really have to get you guys a drawing of what Anthro looks like asap.

Also if you could click the watch button, that way you get access to all my newer stories in the future as well as some mildly entertaining blogs.

Share this story around and If you could help me with adding this to other groups that this could apply to that would be wonderful!

Chapter 19

Lyra gasped for air, shaking her head back into consciousness as light filled her blurry vision. She took a few seconds to breathe, all she remembered was the feeling of pins and needles all over her body before blacking out from the medical team. She took a deep breath, her ears began to let in sound as mumbling and muffled speech slowly became clearer. She listened carefully, her vision was still blurry and filled with stars but she could hear somepony say, "Ms. Heartstrings, Ms. Heartstrings, are you awake?"

Lyra took a deep breath, she wasn't sure if she had the strength to breathe yet, so she moved her lips in the motion as to say, "Yes I am awake."

Her vision was still blurry and very sensitive to light, but her hearing had returned fully to the sound of machines beeping and pumps pumping, the mystery pony continued, "Ms. Heartstrings, we have some... very unfortunate news."

Lyra simply sat in the bed, her vision was beginning to return, and with every blink it became sharper. She began to take in her surroundings, realizing that she was in a hospital bed. She looked to her side to see a heart monitor tracking her beating heart, she saw the wires that sprouted from the machines and entered her body. She looked towards the end of her simple metal bed-frame to see a doctor with a clipboard hovering in front of him, a look of sadness only made her worry more. Lyra cleared her throat and barely managed to say cohesively, "W.... w-what is... it?"

The doctor had a very light brown coat and a black mane, his hazel eyes stood out from the rest of him, he walked to the side of her bed and sat down on the chair next to her, placing a hoof on hers. It was then she noticed she couldn't feel his hoof, she tried wrapping hers around his, but no matter how hard she tried her hooves remained flat. Her eyes darted up to meet his sad gaze as he spoke, "Ms. Heartstrings... you have suffered a severe spinal injury that affects everything below your lungs and heart," the doctor pointed towards her chest, and she could still not feel anything, "you... you're a quadriplegic."

If she could feel it, her heart was probably sinking, her eyes watered up and tears began to roll down her cheeks, the news began to send thoughts through her mind at a million miles an hour. She could feel her breathing quickening up, her lips began to quiver and curl as her jaw began to chatter and shake. She violently shook her hear as she croaked through phlegm, "No... no you're wrong! I just have a dislocation!"

"No... we did our best to fix your spine but due to the injury, your nervous system has been cut off from your stomach down." The doctor showed her a small diagram, but through her tears all she could see was blobs on a black background. The doctor continued, "I'm sorry, but you'll never walk again."

Lyra felt the emotions inside her, she could feel it bubbling inside her as it rose up her throat into a scream, Lyra shouted in rage, her eyes tightly shut as her teeth clamped almost hard enough to break them. As she shouted, her emotions changed from rage to despair as her scream became a loud moan of numbed pain. She wanted to cover her eyes, but it was just her luck that she would have to sit there in plain view of the doctor as her emotions poured out. Suddenly, her emotions changed back to rage, the thought of how everypony but her had gone free enraged her to the point where she began banging her head against the bed-frame as she continued screaming. She threw her head harder and harder, feeling the pain reach the neck before cutting off as she hoped that maybe she would fix herself with the same luck that broke her.

The doctor, now worried she might injure herself more, quickly used his magic to hold her head down, preventing her from slamming something with the only limb she could use. She felt as though somepony else was controlling her, cause in her fit of rage she could see the doctor tearing up as well as he tried to bite back his emotions.

Once her fit of anger had calmed, the unicorn began to loudly sob, she stammered, "W-what about my magic?"

The doctor sighed, once again placing his hoof on hers, "You still have magic," Lyra watched as he wrapped around hers and lifted her hoof up, "but you can't use it to move limbs, that much concentration could kill you."

Lyra resumed her crying, she had her fair share of hopes being dashed, but never before had she been told that she had to give up on her dreams. It was as if she had been ripped from a dream of peace and calmness into a world of hate and evil. She had been lied to as a foal when her parents would say, "You can follow your dreams." Since she was young, she thought the world would be fair, destiny did not favour more than others. She never thought such things because she always believed a higher power did not exist. She believed in science's ability to rule all, to break anything and be able to fix it. If science had the ability to put her in this bed forever, then there was a way to fix her.

She remembered the time when she fell from the play-structure as a young foal, how she broke her leg on impact. It wasn't some religious magic that fixed her, it was knowledge and practice that put her leg in a cast until it had healed. Or the time when she had the pony-pox, the doctor never sprinkled water onto her while chanting rhymes over and over. She was given medicine that was perfected by scientists. To her, science has always been the answer and the solution to everything in life. To her, her only hope was the power of science and technology to get her moving again.

Lyra, shaking with the turmoil and sudden stress, blinked the tears from her eyes and struggled to lift her head to look back at the doctor, "Is there any way you can fix me?"

The doctor sighed, breathing in slowly as he prepared to deny her once again. "I'm sorry... but we don't have the knowledge or the technology yet... we can't undo what has been done."

Now that science had abandoned her, she realized how alone she really was. It was as though her last hope was like a single candle in a dark cavern had been extinguished. There was no hope for her, she was told she was forced to give up.

Lyra looked towards the end of her bed, the tears beginning to roll up into her eyes, her soul had been crushed once more by the cold hoof of despair and reality. She felt as though her stomach was ready to reject the news she had been given like a foal with a flu made of cruelty and darkness. She shook her head violently and cried, hoping that her screams could be heard through the hallways by the ears of those who still held the privilege to move. She hoped that her screams would resonate through the hallways that were filled with the silence of the sick, with the hope that someone or something with the power to fix her would hear her plea for help.

Her screaming, loud like the sound of thunder, hurt her lungs like a cold claw of death had clenched her from the inside. The doctor simply watched her, knowing that he was unable to do anything, yet forced to lie to her face and tell her of the fake benefits like it were some sort of deal she had made but never agreed to. She could see the doctor himself was in an emotional struggle to keep calm and do his best, he looked tempted to just tell her that she was a living corpse with no hopes for anything more in life.

Through her crying of painless suffering, the doctor simply got to his hooves and quietly spoke, "When you are finished, you have some guests waiting for you. Remember you still have loved ones." With nothing to say, no lies to spew in hope that she would believe him, he simply exited the room and left Lyra to her lonesome. Lying in her bed, numb, and better off dead, was a mare who had the incredible luck of no longer being able to walk or move. Lyra was for the first time, alone with nopony to relate to.

Her tears streamed down her eyes, she wanted to wipe her cheeks to rid the tears but her hooves ignored her. It was as though some higher power had chosen to make her life hard, like a foal with a magnifying glass and an ant hill, singling out her from the rest for no better reason than entertainment. She stared at the moon, maybe the deities had punished her for not believing in them.

Author's Note

Sorry if this was an awkward chapter, I'm just really busy with a shit-ton of other things in life that are more important (I'm sorry but writing stories about a children's show is not higher than getting a job)

If you guys hate this chapter, then I will rewrite it. I just need to publish something or I will feel really guilty.

Chapter 20

The wooden cart stopped abruptly at his cottage, but he might as well be at the gates of tartarus with how shaken up his night was. Blueblood scanned his eyes from right to left, but wasn't registering what he saw, he felt like he was doing mindless tasks as he stepped out and thanked the driver. His night had gone from bad to worse in seconds, and his night was close to ending if he just walked inside the doors. Instead, he simply stood before them, staring into nothingness with a blank look on his face. Something felt as though it were missing, to the dazed prince, something important. He didn't let it bother him for much longer, when a small white pegasus of the royal guard landed close to him and in an exhausted gasp said, "Sir... sir..."

The unicorn didn't register what he heard, but instinctively turned his head to the direction of the sound. It was like he had become a puppet and was having his strings tugged by the world around him, unable to react to what happened around him. The words of the messenger were muffled sounds to his numbed ears like an explosion happened right next to his skull. As the words made nothing more to him than echoing sounds down a long hallway of madness, four words suddenly struck him as clear as a light at the end of the insane tunnel, "Lyra's in the hospital..."

His hooves began to shake, his subconscious was trying to tell him something important, yet his conscious was still disconnected to the point he was in autopilot. He could feel his heart sink, yet he couldn't understand why. His lips quivering, he raised a shaky hoof to his mouth. It was like he had been asleep in a carriage until a violent crash, torn away from his daze into reality. His mind suddenly kicked in, and he demanded from the white pegasus, "Tell me what hospital, now!"

The pegasus shook his head, ignoring his command and stepping in front of him to keep him from moving, "You need to stay here, sir. By order of the princess and your mother, you must remain here until the city has been released from lockdown."

Blueblood stared into the eyes of the pegasus, realizing he was slightly taller and larger than the colt, he growled, "Who gave the orders to lock the city down." His heart was racing, on the outside he seemed to remain calm but in his mind he worried of Lyra's health. It was the first time he worried for someone other than him, it was a feeling similar to losing a valuable possession but without the ability to replace it. He tried to step around the pegasus, but he continued to step in his way and block him. Blueblood, his breath shaking and short, begged to the guard, "Please, let me through?"

The pegasus shook his head, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the captain of the royal guard, have both ordered a city-wide lockdown and pony-hunt for the attacker. All citizens of importance must remain indoors and under supervision until further orders have been given."

"I am a prince," the stallion shouted back, "all orders must pass through every member of the royal house before a decision is made."

"I'm sorry, your highness," the pegasus replied, "but you are in a state of shock and therefore could not give proper consent, and in times of emergency the majority vote counts with or without all members attending."

Blueblood began to tear up, he could see the poor mare battered and injured in her hospital bed all alone, he wanted to comfort her, he wanted to keep her safe and therefore keep himself safe. No matter how much he desired to get to the hospital for Lyra, the pegasus continued to stand before him. Taking a deep breath and swallowing back his tears, "When can I visit her at the earliest?"

The pegasus shrugged, "By tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, sir."

The prince took another deep breath, shaking closer to crying, "Can... can you at least promise me to keep the hospitals safe..."

The pegasus looked confused, looking into Blueblood's eyes with curiosity, "I... I promise?"

Blueblood nodded, a tear dropping down his cheek as he whispered, "Thank you."

With nothing more to say, the young guard bowed to the prince and took off, leaving the prince to himself. Blueblood took a longer breath, his heart calming down to a slower pace now that Lyra was ensured safety. He listened to the silence of the forest only broken by the distant siren of the city, the wind passing through the trees making them whisper amongst each other. Blueblood looked behind him, his house only lit at the front door. The distraught prince sighed to himself, "She'll be fine, she's in the hands of the deities now."

Suddenly a voice not of his broke the silence, like a rock dropped into calm waters, "You little scum! I'll be back, and the next time you're coming home dead! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!" The voice was alien to Blueblood, it sounded so deep and filled with rage, like it was from a body much larger than a pony's. The prince, curious and drawn to the source out of fear, made his way around the house towards the garden out back where it had originated. He moved slowly, not wanting to alarm what was on the other side, yet hoping to be there in time to know what was happening.

As he approached the corner of the building, his hear rate resumed its quick rhythm, his eyes became dry from not blinking. He slowly peered around the corner only to find nothing, whatever or whomever had shouted must have escaped. The prince's eyes scanned the area, inspecting the area for whoever had been shouting at him such terrible threats, and eventually found a small body high up against a tree branch. It appeared to be Anthro, resting as it looked towards the sunset.

Blueblood immediately noticed a resemblance to the figure he vaguely witnessed in his haze of paralysis, only Anthro was much smaller. A terrible thought passed through his mind, "Could Anthro have done this?" He shook some sense back into his head, "No he couldn't have, it's clear that he cares for her, but maybe he knows what had happened."

Blueblood looked towards the creature and cleared his throat, not realizing how shaky and upset he still sounded, "A-Anthro... Anthro could you come down here?"

It took a few seconds, but Anthro slowly turned to look down at the prince, replying, "Yes, be patient." He started to climb down the tree, the sound of violent coughing could be heard from a distance with every time the creature took a break out of exhaustion. Eventually, Anthro had planted himself on solid ground, and after violently coughing some more, asked the prince, "Yes?"

The prince looked down at the ground behind Anthro, small shards of glass could be seen reflecting the light slightly above the grass. Curious, Blueblood asked the hairless creature, "What happened here? There's broken glass everywhere and I could here somepony shouting."

Anthro paused, jerking his head around to follow the stallion's line of sight, he watched as Anthro's eyes grew wide with worry before he responded with hesitation, "I-It was not bad, no problems."

Blueblood saw right through his small lie, looking him in the eyes he spoke with a stern look, "Then why would anyone say they want you dead, of all things?"

It was as though Anthro had been caught like a foal caught in the act of stealing candy, his small brown eyes darted from right to left as he stammered, "I...uh... it was me... I have a very low talk sometimes. When I get unhappy."

Blueblood slowly nodded, "Yeah, sure." There was a moment of silence, the two stood before one another without speaking, Blueblood began to feel his stomach turning into a knot as he took a deep breath, "Anthro... There's something more important I need to tell you about."

The creature began to slouch its shoulders, "What is wrong?" He seemed to notice the emotions in his master's voice.

Blueblood took another deep breath, "Lyra... she's... she's in the hospital."

It was like Anthro had been stolen of his childhood innocence, like a foal witnessing a horrific accident and being introduced to the harsh reality of life, his lips began to quiver and tears streamed down his face, "No... No... Why?"

Blueblood watched as Anthro, who was once thought to be an emotionless monster, dropped to its knees and begin to sob. The prince saw its arms stretch out towards him, to grab him and ruin his coat of fur, but after such an ordeal a hug might actually be a welcome idea. Blueblood closed his eyes and allowed the shaking hands of a distraught creature to wrap themselves around his shoulders and pull him in, expecting to be crushed and uncomfortably doused in awful smells. To his surprise, though, he did not feel forced into it, he simply felt Anthro's arms gently resting around him. The hug began to feel different, he never had a hug from his mother when he was a foal, but he assumed that this is what one felt like. He could feel the tender care in Anthro's grip, his shaking breathing as he cried against him, and the emotions of a creature that cared unlike an savage. Blueblood kept his eyes closed, and before he knew it, he had let himself go and began to hug Anthro back, feeling his own royal tears trickle down his face with mixed feelings of pain and love.

Blueblood could feel Anthro rocking back and forth, his tears staining his tuxedo as he whimpered, "I... is she..."

"She's not dead," He interrupted, "at least I hope she isn't."

Author's Note

Sorry for taking so long on this chapter, college is pretty hectic at the moment but rest assured that I am cranking out drawings ever fucking day in my program.

Sorry but I feel like I need to vent and since you guys are already here I figured this is the perfect place to do so, I am so happy that I got into the program I wanted, and its incredible how I'm one two other people in my generation of my family to actually make it to post-sec and plan to stay. Everyone else has either dropped out or didn't bother to go at all, and either way they ended up at the family business, not that its a bad thing, I'm just really pumped to be an animator soon!

Chapter 21

Silent mumbling could be heard around his head, they spoke in deep hush voices and in quick bursts. His eyes stayed shut, fearing that opening them would wake him to a bitter reality like waking from a dream of false utopia to real life. The voices seemed to pause every time he moved his eyes beneath his lids, like they were caught off guard by the corpse that suddenly came to life. To him, he might as well be dead, the enemy had already won, the last thing he remembered was a bright flash of light before being engulfed in this cold darkness. His chest began to pound on his ribs like a prisoner wanting out, it felt like he was flattening himself before he realized he needed to breath again. He tried to inhale, but he remained still like the corpse he was. His thoughts began to race, wondering what was going on and why he's alive yet cannot breathe. As he struggled, thrashing within his dead body, he could hear the fading muffles of worried voices began to quicken. He began to feel plates that were as cold as ice touch his breasts, a loud muffle was heard followed by the most painful jolt he could imagine. It wasn't hurting him like a broken bone or a punch, it was like all the muscles imaginable began to shrink while his bones stayed the same size, crushing him within before letting him go.

His mind, panicking and beginning to accept death, tried its best to get him breathing again, but to no avail. Suddenly, on the second jolt of crushing contractions, he could feel a powerful warmth course through his body, like his veins had been filled with fiery hot blood to warm and tingle his body. The voices began to clear from a muffled white noise to a mumble of indecipherable chatter, a small beeping noise was heard as well which began to give this corpse a sense of what was going on. At first, he thought he was captured by the enemies, but in reality, he was being saved by strangers that had somehow survived. He could feel his heart beginning to beat once more, like an old engine being fired up after a long winter of solitude.

As the hot blood of life coursed through his body, his limbs began to tingle like small knives were poking every inch of his body. He began to feel again, the sensation of an ice cold bench against his back only made it more probable that he was in a hospital. He could feel each individual hair on his head, and the tightness of his skin around his feet and hands.

As his mind cleared and his body restored itself to life, the voices were crystal clear, "Subject is showing steady sings, doctor."

"Good job," one voice spoke with authority, "he's alive and well."

Another smaller voice chimed in, "It was incredible how he survived that."

"It isn't that impossible," the first voice responded, "he was perfectly fine and was easy to save, what's incredible are the odds that everything happened so perfectly well... for us anyways. Can't say much for him, though."

After listening to the voices long enough, our hero opened his eyes and gasped, "What's going on," he managed to speak through his choking, "where am I?"

He looked around, but there was no light, everything was darker than when he had his eyes closed. The voices around him sounded as though they were circling him, "You were out for quite a while, we found you no more than thirty minutes ago and have been trying our best to revive you. Obviously it was a success, we have finally brought back someone from a true death."

"What do you mean 'true death'?"

"True death means that you have been dead and your blood has stopped circulating long enough for you to be considered impossible to revive. There are many cases where patients are briefly dead but this is not one of them. You have been dead for quite a while, kid."

He hated being called "kid", yet in these circumstances he wasn't going to let it bother him considering he was just brought back to life because of them. After finally managing to breathe, he spoke to the doctors, "So what are you going to do?"

"We're going to run some tests," the smaller female doctor spoke, "but don't worry, they're harmless. Just to test out your brain activity."

"Ok."

"First," the third doctor began, "tell us if you feel the following and describe it to us."

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pinch in his arm, a small tap on his knee, and a gentle hand run up his back. He described them in the order that they happened.

The doctor continued after a short pause, "We are going to test out your eyes now, please do your best to keep them open for this." A bright light exploded into the newly undead's face, making him wish he hadn't opened his eyes in the first place. After staring at the light for a few seconds, the doctor spoke to himself, "Eyes are perfectly functioning, limbs are working fine, communication, and auditory senses are intact as well.... Alright now we're going to test out your memory."

"Okay." He was ready for anything.

"Please," the female doctor asked, "tell us your name."

There was a long pause, he didn't speak, searching his mind from corner to corner as though he had lost something in an empty room. He stuttered, but never answered, he couldn't remember. He began to panic on the inside as he answered slowly, "I... I don't know."

It dawned on him that the only memory he had was him standing in a large circle, five others were with him as a large flash of light blinded them. The five of them stared into the centre where two small creatures sat, like they were worshiping gods that were about to smite them for their sins. Everything was fuzzy, but the last words he remembered were from the small creatures, "They have won," the first one spoke, "the enemies have won," the second continued in its other's place.

The doctors took a pause, like they were watching our hero try to replay the last memory before one of them spoke, "We uh... we have some bad news to tell you."

"What is it?"

"We will tell you that later," the female doctor interrupted, "but first we will give you a pseudo-name. You have no memories of your real name so this will be the one we give you until you either regain your memories or until you find a suitable name for yourself."

The three doctors remained in silence, hiding behind the darkness as they examined him, finally one of the doctors spoke, "You are the messiah."

"No," the second doctor interjected, "we will not call him that, he has not taught us anything and he does not fit the prophecy."

"How about Phoenix?" The leader of the doctors spoke.

It didn't take long for all three to agree to this pseudo-name. To our hero, it seemed to fit. He had been brought back from death, and was to rise again. It wouldn't be for a long time before he understood the true meaning behind his name and why he was mistaken for a "Messiah."

Author's Note

Yes, this is part of the story.
No, this wasn't a mistake.

Chapter 22

The silence killed her, the emptiness was drowning her in an ocean of loneliness. The ticking of the clock to her right was the only thing that kept her in reality, the noise sounded like cannons compared to the engulfing quietness of the world around her. Even if the silence truly was killing her, she wouldn't feel it, she wouldn't care. It seemed as though it were pure and painful irony that the only thing she felt was the tears that stained her cheeks like a reminder of her unfortunate "luck".

As she lay there, numb, and slowly slipping away from sanity, she looked to her bedside table where a small scalpel lay. The reflections tempted her, the gleaming of its finely cleansed blade taunted her like a carrot at the end of a rope. To others, it was a knife fresh from disinfection, ready to save another life or ruin it only more, but to her it was the key to freedom. To Lyra, this knife was a key, and her heart was the lock, her body was the cage that could not be moved. As she lay there, tempted to free herself from this imprisonment of flesh and blood, the only thing keeping her from escaping to nothingness was the thought of her friends beyond the hospital doors.

The thought of her friends hearing the news that she had taken her own life was what forced her back into her cage. These "friends" didn't understand what she was facing alone, if they truly were her friends they would be here by her side.

While the clock may be ticking, counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds that went by, to her it might as well be limbo. Her life would be the same every day, stuck in a lifeless corpse while the others moved on. Her cage was an undeserved punishment, forcing her onto the lives of others as their responsibilities, she wouldn't be able to live alone any more.

As time went on, it became clearer to her that might as well relieve the entire world of her burden as well as free her from her life-sentence. She could escape, be free from everything, and everything be free from her.

A knock was heard on the door, pulling her out of the darkening hole to the sound of a doctor's voice, "Lyra… Lyra are you there?" It wasn't any doctor, it was one that cared for her beyond the simple act in order to be paid. Her eyes seemed to remain stuck, like rocks grinding against each-other.

She forced to her greatest capabilities to croak, her voice barely making past the phlegm, "Come in…"

The door opened, a splash of colour entered the room. It may not be bright or vibrant like purple or yellow, but anything aside from cyan and cream was a welcome change for sore eyes. A splash of brown entered the room, his dark chocolate fur and his black mane were almost forgotten to the turquoise unicorn.

Dr. Whooves slowly entered the room, his eyes immediately locking on the poor patient that lay motionless, his eyes began to water. As his lips slowly started to quiver, he trembled towards the bed as he whimpered, "Oh Celestia… Lyra."

The doctor fell to the side of her bed, crying and clinging to her blankets, he burrowed his face into her side. He was like a child that had his whole world shattered before his eyes, crying and clinging to what remained as the truth.

To Lyra, these cries seemed to warm her, she could feel a slight smile breaking on her face. Although it was sad to witness her greatest friend cry for her, she felt relief sweep over her. Her eyes slowly looked towards the knife at her bedside table, and it began to look less like a key and more like a tool for incision. As her friend lay crying by her side, she spoke and heard her voice for the first time in what felt like forever, "You… you came for me."

"I tried my best, but I wasn't allowed." His voice was quite clearly shaking.

"What do you mean?"

"The city… it's been on lockdown," he began, "I've been trying to visit you since yesterday but the royal guards have invoked a strict curfew on us."

To Lyra, it was like having a rock thrown at her head while she was daydreaming, the sudden violent awakening to reality stunned her, "So… no one has been able to leave?"

"You're on everyone's mind, Lyra," said the doctor, "we're all worried about you."

"So… none of you abandoned me?"

"No..." the doctor began, tears gently making their way down his face, "we'd never abandon you."

*****

The day had slipped by quicker than usual, time spent with those she cared about made her blissfully unaware of the setting sun as it painted shades of the spectrum on the large canvas they called the sky. As their shadows drew longer and longer, and the sky began to turn from red to a deep purple, Lyra began to tire herself. Her smile had been stuck on her face for the whole day and she wouldn't have asked for it any different, feeling the love and joy of her friends kept her in the reality she craved.

Yet with all good things, they must always end, and her company was no different. A nurse poked her head through the doorway, her silky smooth rose mane hung low to the ground and swayed in the gentle summer-night's breeze from the window. She batted her eyelashes to tease her ocean blue eyes as she spoke to the silent group of ponies, "Visiting time is ending, I'm sorry but you'll all have to say your goodbyes."

The crowd hushed immediately as though her words casted a spell, unanimously looking towards the clock to realize they had spent their entire days in her company. The synchronized feeling of slight dread could be felt by all, their eyes slowly turning to Lyra.

"Well... you heard her," she began, doing her best to lie about her mood to everyone and herself, "you can always visit tomorrow." To Lyra, it was as though she were a prisoner, being told by the warden to return to her cell where she would spend another night of solitude and inner pain.

The group of ponies continued to look at her, it was clear they hesitated to leave her alone despite doctor's suggestions.

"I really wish we could stay for the night," Twilight began to speak, trying to break the silence that had engulfed them, "it just seems so lonely here."

Lyra forced a gentle and fake laugh, hoping to just ease the pain and get it over with for everypony, "It's alright, like I said, there is always tomorrow."

From her bed, Lyra watched as the group nodded towards each other, giving each-other unsure looks before the white prince spoke, "I hope this is what you want, and you aren't saying this to end our pain."

Instead of speaking, she simply nodded her head, holding the truth down as best as she could. Choking back the tears and hiding them by rolling her head in her pillow, she cracked a fake smile as though she were a depressed performer with makeup to hide her emotions. Finally the group began to leave, one by one they slowly passed out the door and returned to their own lives, returning to a place where they wouldn't have to lie about everything being okay.

As the group of heroes who had saved Equestria many times over finally left, Blueblood was the only one to remain. He stared down at her, no longer hiding his emotions as he whimpered, "I... I..." he couldn't speak, his words hesitated to be heard like a shy foal hesitating to go on stage. The words held back in Blueblood's throat, his eyes widened like he had discovered an incredible truth about himself and slowly uttered the words he so troubled to speak, "I... I wish... I wish I had taken your place."

Lyra was shocked, her heart had stopped. "Did he actually say that," she thought to herself in awe, "is he... really that selfless?"

Blueblood let a tear fall from his eye, this was the first time he had ever shown such a deep emotion and desire for anypony but himself. To Lyra, this was a milestone for a pony that was once thought to be a stone-cold and selfish colt.

They continued to stare into each other's eyes, realizing that something had changed to them over this past month of craziness. Lyra laughed on the inside for the first time in what felt like forever, she realized that this month resembled a telltale romantic comedy. She smiled at the prince, not because of his pain he felt for her, but because she felt different around him now.

She quietly whispered, watching him as he wrapped his hooves into a hug she would have otherwise not felt, "Canterlot needs the face of a hero now, not a royal travesty. You need to walk the path of a great prince more than I need to walk in general."

With nothing more to be said, Blueblood continued to embrace her, all she could feel was his muzzle against the nape of her neck as his shaking breaths warmed her. Finally he released her, and began to walk out of the room but watched as the nurse entered to shift Lyra's position. From her peripheral vision, she could see Blueblood stay at the doorway and watch in silence as the nurse gently rolled Lyra on her side to look out the window for the night.

The gently flowing summer breeze soothed Lyra's senses, and her eyes began to flutter as her mid drifted away. After a few moments of silence, Lyra had her eyes closed and she began to drift asleep when she felt something press against the base of her neck. She could feel warmth as lips quietly kissed her neck, probably hoping she wouldn't feel it. She could feel the lips of the Prince press against her gently before they broke away, causing a tear to form in her eye as she listened to him finally leave her for the night.

She continued to look out the window, the feeling of the warm kiss still fresh in her mind as though it were still happening. Despite being alone like she hated, she smiled.

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay in this chapter, holy hell it's almost been a month since my last posting. Jesus fuck I need to hurry my ass up.

The main reason why there's such a huge delay is because I'm hanging around some pretty popular people in the brony fandom. No not omnipony (but i did beatbox for him or at least tried and he didn't hear me... fuckin' Skype) or Living Tombstone (turns out his favourite colour of ice cream is white as I asked him over skype) instead I was hanging out with people from Berrytube, and the entire crew for Brony Aerospace. Yes, you heard that right, a fucking pony space company. That's fucking awesome. So check them out, they will be uploading an indiegogo starter or a kickstarter fund pretty soon so go send money to them when you can and help us make history.

Chapter 23

It was that blank face, that black glossy emptiness that struck fear in her as it stared into her soul. She rested in the pile of rubble, watching as the destruction took place around her. The walls crumbled around her and caused the ponies to run in panic, only to fall to the ground like her in paralyzation. She turned her head to see the large dark figure stare at her and whisper in its deep demonic voice a tongue she had never heard before, it sounded almost alien.

As she lay there, frozen in fear, she heard something. Something that sounded like tapping on glass, but no matter where her eyes looked she could not find the source. The tapping's echo grew louder around her, causing her surroundings to shake until they began to vanish. As the tapping continued, the images began to swirl into the black emptiness around her until her eyes cracked open. There she lay, paralyzed, with a breathing tube forcing air down into her lungs. The cold sensation of a tear on her cheek was all that she registered until the tapping started again.

Her ear twitched to the noise, it came from the window to her side. It was probably a bird that wanted to remind her she had met with a terrible fate, that she was to remain frozen inside her body until she died. Slowly looking to her left, her heart skipped a beat when she saw what was resting on the tree branch was not a bird but something else.

"Lyra," he struggled to whisper, "I have coming to aid." It was Anthro, resting on the branch outside her window as he forced a smile on his face.

It was at that moment that Lyra felt like herself again, like she could jump out of bed to hug Anthro as tightly as she could. Yet there she lay, unable to unlock the window for him and let him in. In a faint whisper, Lyra spoke to him for the first time in what felt like forever, "I can't let you in. I… I'm paralyzed."

She waited for Anthro to simply lose hope of getting through, seeing as the window was locked from the inside, but he motioned his head to the door opposite of the window which gave her an idea.

Lyra rolled her head over to the right, where a small button lay beside her pillow. Using her magic, she picked it up and pressed the small red button to call for a nurse, a faint beep emanated from the device and surely enough a nurse walked through.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Heartstrings?" The small pony walked through the door, she had white fur with a red cross as her cutie mark and a candy-pink mane that bobbed with each step.

"Yeah," Lyra motioned her eyes towards the window, "it's getting a bit warm in here, do you mind opening the window for me please? My magic isn't able to turn knobs yet."

The small pony nodded her head, "Sure, hold on a second." She walked over to the other side of the room and used her hoof to lightly tap on the handle and push the windows open, letting in the cool summer breeze of the night that sent a chill down Lyra's neck. When she and put herself back on all four hooves, the nurse looked at Lyra with her sky-blue eyes as she asked, "Is there anything else?"

The unicorn shook her head, "No, that's… good thank you."

The nurse began to walk out into the hallway when she turned back and said, "Alright, well you need to get some sleep, you're going to be let out tomorrow afternoon." With nothing more to say, the mare closed the door behind her and walked out of the hallway.

Lyra waited for a few seconds, listening to the sound of her hoof-steps getting more distant before she rolled towards the window and said, "Alright, come on in."

What Lyra expected was to see Anthro poke his head out like a meerkat to inspect the room, instead she witnessed a great ball of naked creature barrel through the open window into the room, causing a loud thump as his rump smacked against the cold hard floor.

Lyra winced at the loudness, and her heart began to race when she heard voices from down the hall speaking urgently, "Ms. Heartstrings fell out of her bed, we need some help."

The unicorn looked at her hairless friend with a panicked look in her eyes as she whispered, "Hide somewhere." She watched as Anthro looked around the simply empty room, looking for a place to hide as the voices got closer and closer to the door. Hoping that Anthro would react fast enough and hide, Lyra rolled her head opposite of the door and closed her eyes as though she pretended to sleep.

Suddenly, a large burly stallion burst through the door as he spoke in a serious tone, "Get her… in bed?" To his surprise as well as backup's, they found that Lyra was back in her bed and still tucked comfortably.

She looked over to them with a confused look on her face, "Is something wrong?" Her eyes scanned the group with a look of slight panic.

There was a short pause broken only by the sound of her breathing apparatus, the group of doctors and nurses looked around the room in confusion and curiosity as the white nurse from before asked the bedridden Lyra, "We… we heard something… or some pony… hit the ground and we needed to make sure everything is okay."

Lyra's eyes shifted from right to left, "No, no, no, everything's A-okay in here."

Lyra didn't break eye contact with the group, worrying that they might call her bluff. Eventually one of the larger colts spoke, his grey fur and muscular physique intimidated the poor pony as he spoke in a deep rumble, "There aren't any visitors sneaking through, are there?"

Lyra, beginning to panic, darted her eyes back and forth again as she gave a nervous and drawn out chuckle, "No… why would you think that? Just uh… a nightmare."

The large stallion didn't believe her, he began to inspect the room from top to bottom, making his way closer to her bed which only made her panic even more. Eventually, he looked her dead in the eyes as he said, "Who's under the bed?"

"N-no pony at all."

The guard narrowed his eyes on her as he lowered himself to check, Lyra's heart racing as he slowly made his way to the bottom of the bed. There was a pause as the pony lifted up her sheets to look under, eventually he got back up as he said, "Strange, couldn't find anyone, she was right."

Lyra looked around the room, even she was surprised to hear that come from him, after all there was only the bed and behind the door that could make good hiding spots. She scanned her eyes around the room herself to see where he'd be, and he wasn't even hanging outside the window.

Eventually the group of nurses began to leave the room, the white coated nurse apologized to Lyra, "Sorry for disturbing you, must have been just a weird coincidence that we all heard the same thing. Have a good night."

Lyra quickly replied, "Yeah… don't worry, no illegal aliens here…" She bit her tongue at the immediate regret of her saying that when the nurse popped her head back in the doorway with a confused look on her face, the look on her face made it clear that it was extremely unusual for her to have said that. Using her quick thinking, Lyra giggled nervously as she continued, "You know… from the book called Teenagers that Glimmer in the Sun?"

The nurse gave her an even more confused look before rolling her eyes and saying as she walked down the hall, "Must be one of those stupid teen books."

Finally the room descended into silence, Lyra waited for her heart to slow down before she whispered into the empty room, "Alright, come on out." She was quite curious as to where he had hidden himself in such an empty room, her eyes looked everywhere for him to pop out.

Suddenly, a faint noise came from the wooden bedside that rested to the right of her bed, she looked over as the drawer that was no thicker than a book began to wiggle outwards. She watched in morbid fascination as Anthro's head popped out of the drawer and looked around the room. It was almost hilarious how Anthro managed to fit himself into such a small hiding spot yet didn't seem phased in the slightest about it as he slowly pulled his arms out and eventually his entire body. As he climbed out, she noticed that the books were still inside the drawer, making it even less possible to understand how he fit in there.

Lyra simply shook her head and quickly forgot about it, she looked towards Anthro as they finally had a moment together and she said in a faint whisper, "Anthro… I'm so glad to see you."

He smiled, showing his large white teeth as he said back with a tear in his eye, "I'm so happy to see you again." He gently hugged her, making sure not to bother her breathing tubes as he picked her up.

To Lyra, it was the first time that she had been hugged like this, and it was almost ecstasy to her to feel Anthro's hands run through her hair as he breathed against her fur. He whispered in a shaking voice that was on the brink of tears, "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you."

Lyra rubbed her cheek against his, since it was the only way she could show affection, as she hushed him, "It's okay, I guess this happened for a reason, the doctors said that there isn't a way to fix this anyway."

There was a pause, Anthro continued to hold her head but his hand stopped stroking her hair, she felt it slowly descend down her neck before venturing into the affected area of her spine. Anthro quietly mumbled, "Stop a minute…"

She couldn't feel anything, but she knew he was searching for the damaged area to which she slowly whispered into his ear, "There's no point, the doctor's said they couldn't understand why it was damaged like it is. They said they haven't experienced a case of paralysis like"

Anthro interrupted her thought, "Shh… hurt?"

Lyra felt his hand, "Yes, you're on my neck." She could feel his hand pressing on her spine right above the damaged area.

His hand moved a little lower, but still not on the paralyzed part as he asked her again while pressing hard on her neck, "This?"

Lyra nodded her head, "A little lower," she began to realize how hard it would be to describe her injury and the area of the neck to an exact point considering she had no feelings which could mean there was more than one damaged spinal disk.

Anthro moved his hand even lower, eventually leaving her neck and venturing into the numbed area as he whispered to her, "Feel?"

Lyra sighed, she felt bad for Anthro doing his best to help her, "Anthro, buddy, there's nothing you can do. The doctors themselves don't even understand why I'm"

Her thought was interrupted by the sensation of pins and needles that shot up her neck and pounded against her head like a migraine from the underworld before coursing back down her spine to her tail. The pain caused Lyra to wince as she grunted, "Ouch, stop that." before pushing him away.

That's when it hit her, like a train heading at full speed right into her, the realization of what had just happened caused time to seemingly freeze around her as she lifted her hooves again.

Lyra gasped, covering her mouth to hide the scream that was to follow. Her eyes looking into Anthro's before she was blinded with tears of pain and joy. She may be feeling the most painful sensation ever, but she was feeling and moving again. She looked down at her hooves under the covers as she began to kick and move the sheets around, feeling the sweat that had been caught up in the sheets bugged her as it stuck to her back. It was like waking up from a dream as her body finally began to work again on its own, causing her to cry in both pain and incredible joy.

Anthro smiled from the corner to corner as he asked quietly, "Does this hurt?"

In confusion, Lyra simply nodded her head and sniffled back the tears before embracing him as tightly as she could. Her joints were stiff and sore from being immobile for so long but it was a pain that she would be happy to feel the rest of her life if it meant that this was really happening. She could feel his warm breath, his hand stroking her mane as the other pressed against her back to the point where it hurt. She moved her hoof down to move it, but he simply shook his head.

Lyra asked in a loud whisper, "How… how did you?" It was almost impossible for her to imagine that this would happen, let alone with a creature that was so unfamiliar with this world. Somehow a creature that was so unaccustomed to the ways of Equestiria was capable of bringing her body back to life in one simple gesture, it was almost as though he were… divine.

Anthro shook his head, putting his free hand to her lips to silence her before putting it around her hind legs and lifting her out of the bed. Slowly, Anthro placed her onto the cold floor as he whispered, "Move... not fast."

Lyra complied, she did her best to stand on her own, feeling the light headedness come on as she took her first steps in what felt like forever. Despite her clearly being able to move, Anthro continued to press hard between the shoulder blades. It didn't matter though, she was finally able to move again and she was going to head straight out the front door in glory and triumph.

Before she could take no more than three steps, Anthro placed a hand in front of her and shook his head, to which Lyra begged to know, "Why can't we leave, somehow you fixed me."

There was a pause, Anthro began to look towards the ground like he was hoping not to reach this subject. Instead of answering, Lyra was picked up again by Anthro and placed back into her bed. The mare fidgeted against his grip on her, hoping her would at least let go of her back to stop the pounding aching it caused her. When she was put back in her bed, Anthro said silently, "You stay, because this."

Anthro let go of her back, and just as quickly as her sensations came, they left. Her body went cold, and her limbs flopped onto the bed like a rag doll as the paralysis returned her to her numbed state.

Lyra's eyes grew wide with shock, Anthro somehow was able to give her back her body and was able to take it away just as quick. Her body had become paralyzed again, but the joy of being able to walk once more still warmed her heart and made her smile. She looked up at her friend as he raised his hand that had been pressed against her as he whispered, "Me able."

Lyra was dumbfounded by this experience, she already knew Anthro was more than a hairless monkey, but now all she could see was something far beyond her expectations. She tried looking for the experiment that sat beside her, but all she saw was the adder.

As Lyra stared into Anthro's eyes, she listened to him speak in almost a whisper too quiet for her to hear, "Ego sum."

She was confused, that didn't make sense at all, let alone have anything to do with the conversation. She was slightly let down by what he said, "Ego sum? I don't…"

Anthro shook his head, placing a finger on her lips as he said once more, "Ego… sum." He then left her in her bed and climbed out the window, only looking back at her one more time.

It was for that brief moment, where Anthro stood outside the window as he rested on the branch before leaving her, that Lyra could swear she saw him flicker with magic. Anthro jumped away, leaving her to her lonesome and confused self. Lyra lay in her bed, the fresh memories of feeling once again were still in her mind as she spoke to herself in confusion, "Ego… sum."

Author's Note

Hey guys, thanks for being so patient, I was thinking of releasing this on the day of Season 4's release but I'm not a dickless arsehole so I figured it'd be best you guys got your fix before a whole other month went by without another chapter. Jeez I'm turning into Jontron here, it's almost like I'm busy with another story.

Also if you understand the subtext in this chapter, please don't immediately blurt it out, I'd like to lie to myself and think that I'm too awesome and deep for you guys to understand. I would also like to keep people from spoiling things because that's just a dick move, it's fun to play detective some times.

Chapter 24

A bit of Dubstep would go good with this background.

Actual Story

Hunter jumped carefully across the rooftops of the Equine city, knowing that the lives of the unaware citizens sleep beneath him. The moon's light shined upon the tiled roofs and lit the path back towards the forest, the deep blue tint of the night matched the chilled midnight winds. As Anthro leapt from one building across the street to the next, he spoke beneath his breath, "Pinn, I swear on my life that you'll regret this."

Eventually, Hunter had made it to the outskirts of the city, narrowly dodging the sight of some passers-by. He kept to the shadows and moved just as quietly, holding his breath until he was out of earshot. Once the small group of wandering equines had passed around a street corner, Hunter turned to the forest behind him and began to run. The large forest casted deeper shadows and made it only harder for him to see, the branches delivering small scratches across his body. The image of his caretaker's face when he relieved her of her paralysis was still fresh in his memory, the look of pure bewilderment. In her eyes, he probably seemed like a witch-doctor, able to cure with a magic touch, and it might as well have been given the type of paralysis she suffered.

He quickly reached a clearing in the woods, not too far from where the prince's cottage was. The small open area was brightly lit by the moon, with no rocks or bushes, just a bed of long uncut grass and flowers. Hunter stood there, taking deep breaths as he tried to regain his stamina, as nimble as he was, moving as swiftly as that was a rarity for him let alone in such an open space. He remembered his training where he was seen as the most agile of his peers, able to dodge attacks and traverse an obstacle course like water around a rock. Yet he never had a field operation go for as long as this, and he was never prepared for what he had gotten himself into.

Suddenly, a deep and familiar voice was heard behind him, "Well if it isn't the Canterlot Devil."

Hunter spun around on his heels, whipping his head towards the direction of the noise to see the Draquonequs known as Discord floating casually above the grass. Hunter narrowed his eyes as he growled, "What do you want?"

Discord, somewhat put off by his friend's rudeness, raised his paws as he mockingly apologized, "Sorry to anger you, don't want you breaking my neck." Discord gave the angered Hunter a grin, as if to taunt him and edge him further.

He paused, looking into the yellow and red eyes of the creature before turning around as he mumbled, "If this is about what happened this evening don't"

"What happened this evening was more than a travesty," Discord interrupted Hunter's thoughts and shot him a stern look as he circled around him, "it was a sign that I need to denounce my position as the master of Chaos." Hunter continued to avoid eye contact, which only made Discord continue to get in his face, "While I have to consciously chose to bring forth Chaos, you can't help but cause it wherever you go. You ruined a good friendship you had for as long as you can remember, you are now a wanted fugitive, and you took away your caretaker's mobility."

Hunter began to clench his fists as he growled through gritted teeth, "Stop it."

"She'll never be able to feel the grass beneath her hooves,"

"Stop it, I'm warning you." Hunter turned around to face his adversary, looking him dead in the eyes as he approached him.

"She can never live the life she wanted, all because you were so selfish."

Hunter had enough of Discord's antagonizing, leaping with his arms wide open to grasp around Discord's neck as they connected. Letting out the sound of teeth grinding in pure anger, Hunter wrapped his arm around the neck of the Draquonequs and began to squeeze his hardest.

As he chocked Discord, he watched as he squirmed and gasped for air and cackled, "See what I mean?"

There was a pause, a moment of silence where Hunter's grip around Discord's throat was almost at its tightest, he realized that the creature hadn't used its abilities to escape him. He simply remained in his grip as though he wanted to be choked. Hunter quickly released Discord's throat and dropped him to the ground to which he began to violently couch and gag, the poor emotionally-struck boy collapsed onto the ground as well and began to cry to himself.

It wasn't long before Discord was back up again and pacing around Hunter as he spoke, "I know you're not in the best state, but its time to realize that the choice you made to stay was the wrong one. You chose to be selfish, lying to yourself with the thought that you'd please a few others as well and call it the greater good." Discord kneeled down to get close to Hunter's face, "You had a family back home, you had a place there where you were probably welcomed, maybe even needed. Here, however, you're nothing more than a trophy in the prince's cabinet and a threat to the safety of everyone else involved."

Hunter got to his feet, his knees shaking from the adrenaline passing through him, he whimpered as he wiped the tears away, "You don't know that, they care for me."

"A dog would say the same thing until it's put up for adoption because it isn't wanted anymore. Face it, things are only going to get worse if you stay here, the attacks will become more frequent until either you or the entire world of Equestria burns to the ground."

Before Hunter could object, Discord raised his claw to stop him, "I know what you are all capable of. One way or another, you're going to blow your cover to the entire world, and they will all see the true monstrosity that is written between the lines. My best tip is to sacrifice yourself now, give up what you love for the safety of all those involved and we will make best with what we still have before it is all taken away."

Hunter looked towards the moon as it slowly began to touch the peak of the mountains in the distance, "You pretend as though you've witnessed it before."

Discord promptly replied in a somber voice, "And you pretend as though you haven't."

A long, painfully quiet pause ensued, they both stood before each other, Discord had his hand pointed towards the moon as he said, "If you are the real hero, you will return now and forever hold my respect."

Hunter shook his head, "I know it is the wrong choice, but I have faith in my kind as well as the inhabitants of this world that the right choice will be made. I will fix what I have started, and be gone forever."

"You must lie to them," Discord began, "for you are already knowingly cursing us all, at least keep those around you unaware of their impending doom." With nothing more to say, Discord began to flap his wings and flew away into the distance, leaving Anthro alone once more in the middle of the clearing. The sun had begun to rise, and he could feel the warmth slightly burn his skin after being kept in the cold.

Author's Note

Oh me oh my, such drama.

Chapter 25

As Blueblood stood alone in his silent home, empty of any other life after dismissing his entire platoon of servants, he spoke to himself in the silence, "Dawn is almost here, and I have no plan on what to say to these people."

He began to walk around his living room, surrounded by the statues of past knights like empty husks that once held brave souls, he scanned the tall paintings of his heroic portraits. The fantastic paintings of his acts of bravery, courage, and sacrifice to become the hero that Canterlot knows of. To him, these were all mockeries of his true self, lies that he created to claim the fame he once desired. His mouth filled with a bitter taste, the idea of the public coming to him as the only one with a solution scared him for he had no plan. In his eyes, the ponies of Canterlot might be without a hero, Lyra might be without a hero.

He approached a mirror, while others may see themselves, Blueblood stared at the god from the paintings. He looked into the fake eyes of bravery, his soul crushed more with every second he thought of his eventual blunder, as he spoke to the mirror, "What are you going to do, Blueblood."

"You must face them," said the reflection, "you must amount to what you have portrayed yourself as or become the enemy from within."

Blueblood turned his head, breaking eye contact with his reflection, "They can't see me, I'm just as scared as they'll be."

"The true hero is not the one who fights bravely," the reflection spoke slowly, the voice seemingly echoing through the empty house eternally, "the hero is the one who waits and thinks of a solution. The real victor is the one who knows what move to make at the last second."

Suddenly, the sound of the kitchen door being barged through rang into Blueblood's skull, ripping him from the conversation and to once again see his reflection as he truly was. Blueblood turned his head towards the large doors to the kitchen at the opposite end of the dining room, the sound of pots and pans tumbling and crashing caused slight panic and curiosity in the prince as he slowly crept towards the large wooden doors. His heart raced with anticipation at what may lie beyond, maybe it was the answer to his dilemma.

Blueblood pushed one of the tall doors open to see Anthro sitting on the large marble counter, collecting pans and pots that hung from the overhead vent. By his side was a pile of sticks and muddy prints from his tracks, leading from the kitchen's exit to the garden and traversing nearly the entire floor.

Blueblood shouted in confusion, "Anthro," to which caused the hairless creature to freeze with their eyes locked on each other, "what are you doing tracking mud in the house? I thought I specifically asked you to remain outside."

The creature's attention quickly switched to the muddy prints, and looking like a foal caught stealing cookies he sheepishly climbed back down onto the ground as he said in his slow tone, "Helping you."

Blueblood rushed over to the pile of cooking items and began to put them away with his magic as he sighed, "You aren't helping by making a mess, Anthro. You would be helping me by cleaning up the mess you made, filthy thing."

It was unclear wether Anthro disregarded that remark, or did not understand it, the creature pointed outside as he replied, "I… want… ables."

Blueblood followed the direction of Anthro's pointing, following it to the number of blooming zap apples. Blueblood shook his head as he exclaimed, "No! Those are very rare apples and tampering with them could damage them. It's hard to come by trees like that outside the everfree forest, you need to be experienced with picking those."

Anthro motioned his pointing in a firm manner once again as he said with furrowed brows and pursed lips, "I… need it."

Blueblood had a look of confusion on his face, he had never seen Anthro act so strangely before, then again there wasn't a confirmed norm for this creature's behaviour yet. Confused, he asked Anthro, "What are you going to do with these pans and pots?"

Anthro lowered his hand, not needing to point anywhere he looked the confused unicorn in the eyes as he spoke with a look of 100% certainty and confidence, "Cooking."

Now Blueblood was curious, apparently Anthro, who probably has no experience in any sort of sophisticated practises, wanted to cook premature zap apples. He quickly gave into his curiosity and said to his companion, "Okay… fine. You can cook only one zap apple as long as you can get it off the tree at this stage in development. Only because of my morbid curiosity to what you're planning."

Anthro smiled from ear to ear in excitement and rushed out the door. He ran to the base of the trunk, staring at the leaves that surrounded the colourless apples.

Blueblood chuckled as he watched, he knew Anthro was going to hurt himself doing this but it was the only way to learn. Besides, after all he had been through in recent times he wasn't going to put up a fight over apples.

He watched as Anthro began to climb the tree, the magical electricity coursing through his body but only enough to cause his hair to stand up, and Anthro pressed on. Blueblood watched as the creature climbed the tree with ease until he had reached the closes branch with apples. What the prince expected was for Anthro to grab the apple and receive a hilarious shock, but what he witnessed somewhat shocked him instead. He watched, to his surprise, as Anthro plucked a leaf from the tree and begin to use it as though it were a knife against the apple's stem. In a few short seconds, the apple tumbled off the tree and landed on the ground before Anthro jumped the distance back on the ground as well.

He watched in awe as Anthro rushed his freshly plucked zap apple back into the house as he exclaimed, "Move please, move, move, move."

Blueblood's eyes were wide with awe, he had never seen anyone use the leaves to pluck the apples early, let alone without being electrocuted. To him, Anthro had done something impressive.

The hairless creature grabbed one of the smaller ceramic soup-bowls from the counter and placed the grey apple in it, making sure it was in the direct centre as he instructed Blueblood to move back a step, "Not sure this work properly."

Anthro watched the apple closely as it began to harden, losing its moisture and turning hard like a golf-ball. After about thirty seconds, the transformation was complete and Anthro picked it up, quickly beginning to juggle it in his hands as he exclaimed, "Pass pan!"

Blueblood quickly obeyed orders, and used his magic to float a pan to Anthro's side to which the creature said while retaining the juggling act, "Watch…"

Anthro placed the dehydrated zap apple in the pan, and nothing happened. Blueblood waited a few seconds, switching his attention from the pan to Anthro as he asked him, "What's uh… what am I looking at?"

The creature had a smirk on his face as he said, "Touch it…"

Blueblood's confusion didn't let up as he quickly brought his hoof towards the apple, then he felt it. He hadn't even made contact yet and he could already feel heat of the magical apple, hot like a fire as Anthro put it under the sink and poured water on it with a quick, "Hold breath."

As soon as the water made contact with the zap apple, steam filled the room. Blueblood backed away quickly and watched from a distance as the situation unfolded, the sound of boiling water was loud and his face already hurt from the intense heat of the water-vapor.

Anthro continued his work, letting all the steam escape through the window until he was left with a slightly soggy and bubbling zap-apple. Anthro took the bowl and poured the liquid and apple into a tray before placing it in the oven and turning it on, the creature's eyes were locked on the window of the humming machine. As the situation unfolded, and once the steam had gone completely, Blueblood approached Anthro's side as he asked him, "What exactly are you doing?"

Anthro shrugged, "Cooking," was all he said in return.

After a few minutes, Anthro put on some protective gloves he found in the kitchen and opened the oven's door. The heat of the machine caused a knee-jerk reaction in the poor creature as he whipped his head away from the direction of the heat to take a deep breath. In one quick sweep, Anthro thrusted his hands into the oven and quickly pulled out the tray with a pile of bubbling goo and placed it on the elements on top. Once he had closed the oven doors, he turned to the prince and asked him to pass a pot to pour it into. Blueblood quickly came to his aid and began passing him what he needed before returning to watch on the sidelines. He watched as Anthro poured the goo into the pot, it had the viscosity of tomato soup and smelled awful. The creature took the leaves from the stem that he had collected and began to crumple them up in his hand until they were small flakes before pouring them in and stirring it up.

Over following few hours that this happened, it didn't occur to Blueblood to check the time as dawn began to approach and change the colour of the sky. He turned to Anthro as he said, "How much longer will this be, you can't be here with this freaky project when my staff returns."

Anthro raised his hand to signal that he only needed a few more moments as he said, "Almost… done." As soon as he said that, the mixing spoon that Anthro was using became stuck in the mix and would no longer move. With one strong tug, the sound of cracking was heard and the alien chef pulled out and tossed the spoon away before dumping the final product on the table. It was flakes and crusty pieces similar to a failed delicacy, Blueblood was not impressed as he raised an eyebrow in impatience.

Blueblood had a bitter taste in his mouth, he had just wasted a few precious hours of his life watching as Anthro wasted a precious zap apple on this failure of a home-economics project. The prince looked the sham-chef in the eyes and grumbled, "Is this what you wanted me to see? That you can almost cook something similar to a meal?"

Anthro had a smile on his face as he said, "No… it good. I cooked." He began to crush up the crusty pieces onto a plate and filled it with yellowish-grey crumbs until it formed a small pile on it, a look of pride was on the creature's face which was even more confusing to the prince.

The prince had enough, he gently ushered Anthro out the door as he said with impatience, "I'm really sorry this didn't work out, maybe next time you'll get better results. You better hide that… stuff… with you before my employees get here." With no chance for Anthro to respond, Blueblood frustratingly pushed Anthro out the doors and slammed them behind him. Once alone to himself again, Blueblood growled to himself in frustration, "I can't believe I wasted my time thinking that he had a solution."

*****

After Hunter was pushed out by the prince, he stumbled a little in the grass before having the door slammed on him. One second Hunter was showing his masterpiece to the prince and the next he was getting tossed out while being told something he didn't quite catch, leaving him and his plate of small crumbs to himself as he said, "Dick… oh well more for me."

Hunter placed the plate on a nearby rock and kneeled beside it, bending his torso over to get his face close to the plate. He then began to inhale it into his nose with a loud snort, closing the other nostril to make sure he remains safe as he says to himself, "Here goes."

The reaction was immediate, once the powder had been snorted, Hunter threw his head back and clutched his skull tightly as the pounding headache began to take effect. During this intense pain and throbbing he managed to grunt out a, "Oh yeah… here we go." He could feel it in his head, going down his throat and into his lungs numbing his chest with pins and needles sensation. The migraine headache was quickly over and he could feel the dust in his lungs seeping into his blood, he could feel it inside him now.

"Hopefully this works with the premature apples too." He quickly realized that he was correct, for as he exhaled a large cloud of purple and grey smoke billowed out of his mouth and nose and twinkled in the rising sunlight. Taking no time to pause and enjoy the sensations, Hunter spoke to himself as he got up, "Note to self, effects wear off instantly when you sniff it early."

Author's Note

I've been writing this entire chapter drunk.

Also, yeah I have no idea what I was thinking when I added that, but I feel like it could be badass.

Chapter 26 Author's Note

I am very sorry for not writing chapters. I have been busy with studying in college. Because there are so many things that are on the line this semester, I don't think I'll be uploading that many chapters until all of the work is done. Sorry but I'm too busy with all of my schoolwork maintaining friendships and the such. So for what it's worth, have fun, you crazy fucks.

Chapter 26

Blueblood approached the podium, silence filled the room. There were no flashes, or exclamations for attention and questions, just the silence of a thousand curious and scared citizens of Canterlot.

As he stood behind his large wooden podium, the microphone at his mouth and ready to voice his words, he paused to think. This was the very first time in his life as a prince, as an icon of leadership, where he has had to make a statement that could seriously change the way he and every pony lived around him. To him, it felt as though the world was resting upon his back, and Atlas had the fate of everyone he cared for balancing on this one speech. He looked into the eyes of one mare, her bright green eyes, her small complexity, she was scared and curious. In her eyes, she watched as the stallion with all the right ideas prepared to make his next big speech. In Blueblood's mind, he was as scared as her, if not more.

Blueblood cleared his throat, looking at the rest of the crowd as he spoke in monotone, "Fillies and Gentlecolts, as many of you are aware, terrorists attacked the Royal Diner last night, causing a great deal in damage to the building. As of now, there are no fatalities that were caused by this event but there have been reported injuries."

The crowd of reporters began to roar with questions, all begging the attention of the Prince before he raised his hoof to silence them. As the crowd quickly dulled down the volume, Blueblood resumed, "For now, all residents must remain indoors until the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, make a decision later today."

Once again, the sea of ponies began to shout out their questions, the prince picked one of the colts at the front of the crowd who immediately asked, "Some witnesses say that you were injured in this attack, is this true?"

Blueblood simply shook his head, "I stand before you, I am not hurt at all."

Another mare asked the prince, "While the princesses have ideas and plans of their own, what do you suggest we do?"

Blueblood was prepared to answer, but stopped before he could say anything. He was stumped, he had no plan. His eyes began to dart around the audience before focusing on a tree where something peculiar rested on one of the branches. It was Anthro, watching over the prince as he made his speech, all he did was nod towards the prince as though to signal something. Blueblood could see hope in Anthro's eyes, as though he were encouraging him without making noise, pushing him to do the right thing for once.

So for the first time in Blueblood's career in the public, he spoke his heart, "I don't have a plan," the crowd immediately began to roar in confusion, fear, and hundreds of questions before he resumed, "I don't have a plan, and I am scared. But that doesn't mean I am without hope, without faith in the dawn coming after the darkest of the night. Whether we are in the darkest of the night now, or the worst is yet to come, the dawn always comes eventually. A special pony, one that I keep close to my heart, was the one pony to suffer severe injuries. She's out there, listening to me, just like all of you and I will do whatever I can to bring forth the dawn. This attacker wanted to put fear in our hearts, but what this terrorist doesn't know is that the love we here in Canterlot feel burns strong, and together we will overcome anything. Lyra, if you're listening, have hope. Pray, dear fillies and gentle colts, for the future may turn for the worst. Until then and forever more, I stand without fear, and so should all of you."

Blueblood simply stepped back from the podium, refusing to answer further questions. As he made his way off the stage, he looked towards the trees to see that Anthro had disappeared.

Chapter 27

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 28 Author's Note

Hopefully you haven't abandoned this story yet, for those that have, I can't blame ya. For those that haven't, thank you for being loyal. Things have just been really difficult in my life lately, for one thing I'm balancing College at Algonquin, I might be getting a job at a marketing firm for my animations, and I have a ton of other things to worry about. I know there are a few of you that want me to write more, so I will try my best to find time in between homework assignments and interviews. As a reward for being loyal, you'll finally get to see what Anthro looks like. I apologize in advance for how crude the style is, but I like it. Anyways, enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 28

Lyra had finally been allowed back home, painfully awkward didn't even begin to describe how her life felt now that Bon-Bon, the pony she had been friends with since she was young, had finally got to see her friend only to find her paralyzed. Incredibly, within a heartbeat, Bon-Bon volunteered to be a caretaker for her seeing as she had weak magic. Lyra's first day home was depressing, she worried about Bon-Bon's friendship would suffer due to the new stress. How was she supposed to take care of Lyra while she was living in Ponyville and only visiting?

"Well I might as well move back here," said the cream-coloured pony with no second thought, "besides, Ponyville is getting boring."

"Bon-Bon," Lyra began, her eyes looking up at her friend with concern as she mumbled, "you don't have to do this."

"You're my friend," she replied, "and I care about you."

The majority of the day was spent inside Lyra's room, where she stared at her cat from her wheelchair, wishing she could pet him, "Oh Darwin," she sighed, "if only you or any pony else could understand how I felt right now."

As she sat in her chair, staring blankly at the sleeping cat while her friend prepared food, there was a knock on the door.

Lyra's ears perked at the sound of his voice, "Ms. Lyra?"

The unicorn did her best to listen to the silent conversation happening at the doorway, "P-p-p-prince Blueblood," stammered the stunned friend of Lyra, "what an honour to be in your presence."

"You don't need to kneel before me," replied the prince, "and please… just call me Blueblood." There was a short pause, the sound of hoof-steps entering the house. Their voices, especially the prince's, showed little excitement and instead had a tone of sorrow, "Where's Lyra?"

There was a brief moment of silence before the sound of a door opening behind the crippled unicorn was heard, she suddenly felt her chair swivel around to face the doorway to her room only to find a prince without his usual clothing on him. Prince Blueblood was wearing what appeared to be a nice buttoned shirt, and properly combed hair, an incredible difference from his usual look.

Lyra could feel her cheeks bunching up into a smile on their own as she spoke, "Oh, Blueblood, what are you doing here?"

The prince took a few more steps towards her as he asked, "I was on my way to the weekend gathering, it's sort of a ritual for Faustism, we do prayers and we sing, and there's free snacks afterwards. What I'm asking is, would you like to join me for this?"

Almost as though Bon-Bon had forgotten Lyra was still able to speak for herself, Bon-Bon chimed in, "Erm… Lyra isn't really"

Before she could finish her sentence, The chair-bound pony interrupted, "I'd love to."

Bon-Bon turned her head towards her best friend, the pony she knew her entire life, and had a look of surprise and borderline shock on her face. Lyra had much the same feeling, it was as though something else spoke through her instead of her own mind, something urged her to say yes without thought. She looked towards Bon-Bon with her brows raised and asked her, "Would you like to join us?"

It took a few seconds, but Bon-Bon eventually shrugged as she rambled, "Well… I'm not religious either, and I wasn't really ready for this, but if you're going I might as well too, as long as the Prince here is okay with it."

The prince's eyes brightened up with joy as he nodded, "Absolutely," he began, "the temple is always looking for new ponies to join. Don't worry about dressing nice, this was sort of last minute."

*****

Blueblood, Bon-Bon, and Lyra made their way through the park, ponies from every direction had their eyes focused on her. After all, it wasn't often there was a serious case such as hers where she was bound motionless for life. The constant staring gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach, she felt uneasy being looked at like a creature not from Equestria. Yet for some reason, she also felt a glimmer of joy, like she was needing something that was finally being given to her. As they strolled through town towards the large stone building ironically placed across from Canterlot Institute of Science and Technology, Lyra thought to herself as to why she had agreed to come with Blueblood to some silly cult gathering. Perhaps, subconsciously, she realized she had a lot of extra time on her hands with being let go by Blueblood's research team, and a hobby was probably good for her mentality. That, to Lyra, seemed to be the most logical answer, but something didn't quite feel right with her.

Eventually they turned around the corner of the street to find a large stone cathedral, built around the time Canterlot was founded, being flooded with ponies from town as the weekend gathering began. She took a nervous sigh, looking up at Bon-Bon as she nervously joked, "Let's make the best of this."

She then turned her attention to Blueblood, who continued pushing her chair, and she suddenly felt a lot less nervous. It was strange to her, but this was the first time where she felt entirely comfortable around the pony who paid her. She listened as the prince spoke to the two of them, "Hopefully you mares are okay with this, I wouldn't want to impose on you."

Bon-Bon and Lyra both shook their heads, to which Blueblood joyously responded, "Well, girls, welcome to the Temple of Faustism." Blueblood then used his magic to push the doors open, revealing a massive room that took up the entire building. The ceiling had beautiful paintings within them, depicting ponies in the clouds, where none of them were anything but alicorns. The large stained-glass windows shined a beautiful spectrum of warm lights into the room, flooding the place with reds, greens, yellows, blues, oranges, and whites. Upon the windows were paintings of times before the two sisters existed, images of larger-than-life creatures looming over the barren and untouched land of Equestria. It showed images of two Equines as they stood before an apple tree with the sole apple on it being a zap-apple.

Both Lyra and her best friend were left breathless, they had never been to a place so beautiful and with such incredible art. What captured their attention the most was the statue at the very front of the room, an Alicorn standing triumphantly over a pile of stones. The alicorn, who appeared to have wings and a horn bigger than all the princesses combined, appeared to also be much taller than all of them as she wore a large silk gown and a crown above her head that added extra height to her overall.

Lyra had completely forgotten that Blueblood was still moving them along the long benches towards a row with a few empty seats, although in the centre where Lyra wouldn't be able to reach with her chair. When the three of them approached the row, Lyra expected the ponies to either move out of the way, or give Blueblood some flack. Yet, to the surprise of the two mares, they watched as Blueblood leaned over to the family of ponies and whispered, "Excuse me, Mr Silkthread, my friend isn't able to reach the spot all the way down there, could you and your family perhaps scoot over a little?"

The colt, who appeared to be focusing on the book floating before him, gave a look towards Blueblood and then towards Lyra before smiling, "Absolutely," he whispered back while motioning his family to make room, "here you go."

The prince nodded towards the stallion with a smile, "Thank you, sir." He then proceeded to allow Bon-Bon to sit first, it was like he was no longer a prince. Once Bon-Bon was seated on the wooden bench, Blueblood, turned towards Lyra as he asked her with a look of concern, "Would you like to be seated next to Bon-Bon or are you okay in your seat."

With no hesitation, Lyra nodded, "I need to get out of this chair, I'm sure my rump could use some air." She then noticed Blueblood's eyes dart from right to left to the ponies that heard her, their heads turned to look at her with looks of offence, only causing Lyra to blush.

Blueblood got close to her ear and whispered, "You might want to be a bit more formal, some words just aren't appropriate in this house of Deities." It didn't matter though, Blueblood was already using his magic to try and lift her up, but it quickly became apparent that Lyra was still to heavy. Before the prince's magic slipped, causing Lyra to fall into a crippled heap on the carpeted floor, another pony from the other side of the building rushed to Blueblood's aid.

The stallion looked up at the prince without that familiar look ponies give to royalty, "Let me help you, madam and sir."

To Lyra, this was painfully embarrassing to need two ponies to pick her up and place her next to her friend, but it seemed Blueblood welcomed the helping hoof as he promptly thanked him before sitting down next to her.

Eventually, the pony assigned to lead the ritual, also known as the priestess, walked up to the podium, her long white gown trailing behind her. She cleared her throat before speaking in a booming voice, perhaps caused by the dimensions of the room, "Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome. Please turn to your neighbour's right and greet them, for they are your equals." Immediately, the room began to fill with murmurs, mostly repeated greetings that were directed to ponies to each one's right side.

Lyra heard Blueblood speak to her in a smooth and calming voice, "Hello, neighbour." It suddenly became clear to her why the prince seemed to behave so differently, it was because he was no longer a prince under this roof but instead just another pony like everyone else.

Then the priestess spoke again, her voice echoing through the room, "Now, turn to your left and greet your family, for we are all children of the deities."

*****

It seemed to last forever, story, after story, after story. All of them seemed no more than fairytales to Lyra and Bon-Bon, for they were all stories of great and powerful ponies conquering and defeating incredible beasts. Lyra would look to her side, or as best as she could, to see Bon-Bon nodding away like a filly would after a bedtime story. The words began to numb Lyra's ears, going from crisp and clear to a fuzzy mumble as her focused changed to the incredible at within the building. Suddenly, the priestess announced in her incredible voice, "Now, we must pray, for we are grateful for our gifts."

As though on command, everypony in the room bowed their heads and closed their eyes as they began to pray. Lyra tried her best to remember what a prayer was from her younger days in a religious daycare, it was a time where you pretended to talk to the deities so you could feel good.

Not wanting to be odd one out, Lyra bowed her head and closed her eyes… nothing. She never quite understood how to properly pray to the deities, and how to know if one was doing so properly. She spoke in her mind to the empty blackness, "Hello?" The silence was her answer, like every other time she was forced to pray. She rolled her eyes inside her head, once again she was proven that there was probably no such thing as the deities. Yet something pushed her to wait a little longer, like waiting for a letter in the mail to arrive, so she kept her eyes closed. After waiting another few minutes, all she was greeted with was silence and the feeling of emptiness.

Finally, the priestess exclaimed, "Brothers, sisters, raise your heads. Our day together has ended, but your days alone await. Be thankful for the time together, and pray for those that do not have this time."

Lyra wanted to chuckle as she thought of a witty comeback to the priestess, "Yeah, I think we are good on our own."

Once every pony had gotten out of their seats and began to converse with one another, and Lyra had been placed back in her chair. The three of them stuck together as the prince asked, "So how was that?" He gave a hearty chuckle as he jokingly continued, "Feel enlightened at all?" This seemed so odd to Lyra, then again everything Blueblood has been doing lately has been incredibly odd, but the fact Blueblood was okay knowing that Bon-Bon and her were not convinced by this religion was so weird.

"Not yet," Bon-Bon began, "unless you count losing weight from hunger then yes I was enlightened by a few pounds." The three of them had a good laugh, slowly moving down the hallway towards the exit.

Blueblood once more turned to Lyra, focusing his sky-blue eyes on her as he asked her, "How about you? Feel different at all?"

"Not really… you seem to be okay with that though."

"Of course, I was taught that it's okay to believe what you want, even if it's not to believe. The fact that you wanted to join me shows that you respect that, and you accept it."

Lyra prepared a counter argument for the sake of debate, but the familiar voice of the priestess called out, "Excuse me, Mr. Blueblood?"

The crowd of ponies split in half to show the stunningly beautiful mare trotting towards the three of them with a look of concern on her face as she continued, "I couldn't help but notice you have brought some guests today."

Blueblood nodded his head and chuckled, "Yes I did, sister Heartfire, they decided to accompany me today, I didn't have to nag them at all."

The mare gave a soft laugh, her voice sounded so beautiful and smooth when she wasn't trying to move mountains with it. She lifted her long gown to reveal a book, a small circle was engraved on it with bronze and the book was bound in a silver binding. She used her hoof to bring it towards Lyra as she softly cooed, "I couldn't help but notice your situation, and I'd like you to know that I as well as every pony here will pray for your recovery. I'd like you to have a copy of the Good Book if you don't already have one."

Lyra stared at the beautifully crafted book, her eyes switching from a nodding Blueblood, to an unsure Bon-Bon, to a concerned priestess, back to the book. She eventually gave in to the pressure as she nodded with a forced smile, "Thank you, sister." She had knots in her stomach, it seemed so awkward to be given a book about something you don't even believe in. Similar to the time her aunt gave her an ugly sweater for Hearth's Warming Eve, she can't say no and have them take it back cause that makes it awkward for everyone. Besides, the book would look nice on the shelf in her room.

Chapter 30

Hunter rested against the trunk of the tree, his hair flowing gently in the wind as his back kept warm from the sunset. With the last few seconds of sunlight dropping behind the mountains, he watched from afar as the large white alicorn dropped from the sky towards the large white castle. Along her descent, she passed by the black and blue alicorn, most likely her sister.

Hunter watched as the next alicorn took off into the empty sky, her horn glimmering with magic as bright as the stars that twinkled in the night sky. He watched as the bright white moon slowly began to rise from the horizon opposite of the sun, slowly rising towards the bright night sky and bathing the world in the light of the new night.

Puzzled, Hunter tilted his head as he said to himself, "Since when is that the way it worked." His pondering did not last long though, for he noticed as the citizens of the city below began to turn out their lights. Soon enough, Hunter was watching as all of the ponies fell asleep in their beds, not aware of the true dangers that surrounded their precious little world. The boy waited, standing in silence as he watched the city sleep, making sure he would be safe from all the ponies that still walked in the night.

After waiting what he felt was long enough, Hunter took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped. The wind began to fill his ears, the deafening sound of wind passing by was almost soothing to the acrobat, it put him in a state of harmony. With timed precision, Hunter sprung his hands open and grabbed one of the hanging vines, turning his quick descent into a graceful swing. He felt gravity tug on his legs, prying him away from safety as he tried his best to hang on. He kept his grip, though, and followed through before letting go at the desired angle which sent him soaring through the air above the trees.

From one vine to another, Hunter swung like the monkeys he closely resembled, he always knew this was what he would be best at. Such quick means of travel wouldn't last long, for the edge of the forest grew near, leaving way to the sprawling royal city of Canterlot. Hunter prepared himself for this, and let to when his body was ready, using the gravity to pull him towards the ground where he would do his best to slow down himself. As soon as he touched ground, though, he remembered that physics weren't on his side. He quickly rolled like a rag doll across the ground before flopping off an edge into the small bushes below.

It was nearly flawless, and Hunter was no longer in the forest, but now he need to worry about the citizens that would raise alarms at the mere sight of him. Hunter shook his head rid of the stars, standing up to quickly regain his balance and orientation.

"If I remember correctly, my caretaker's house should be southeast a couple hundred meters." Hunter monologued, looking around the corners to see where exactly some of the monuments were.

Taking no moment to rest, Hunter was back to climbing and jumping, the city's rooftops offered a completely different challenge from trees, but it was fun nonetheless. The free-running boy jumped, ducked, and rolled across the rooftops and between walls. The texture of the shingles made it so much easier for Hunter to grip, especially compared to that of the tree branches. To Hunter, this was a breeze, he ran across the roofs flawlessly and smoothly, until his luck wore out. Hunter unfortunately underestimated the height of the drop in front of him, and did not jump far enough, causing him to clothesline his stomach on the roof before tumbling down to the alleyway below him.

*****

The five ponies gathered around in a circle, their dark hoods cloaking their visages. As they approached each other, in the safety of the alleyway invisible to the rest of the streets around them, they pulled small various objects from their cloaks.

One unicorn turned to the other as he said with a hush, "Did you get the feathers?"

The earth pony to his right whispered back, "Yeah, I got it this time, just like the book says."

Slowly, the ponies gathered a little closer in a circle, planting candles around them in silence and lighting them to bring a faint glow to their surroundings. The black cloaks hid them from the night's watchful eyes as the largest of the ponies began to draw a star in the centre, all five tips pointing to each five ponies as they planted their various objects before them. The leader, pulling back his cloak to reveal his face, whispered in a hiss, "The scale of a dragon, the feather of a griffon, the venom of the manticore, the tears of an orphaned foal, and the book of Faustism. With these five pieces we can complete the recipe, and on this night of a full moon we read from our book of truths."

The leader turned opposite of the candle-lit star, pulling a larger black book from his saddlebag, the word, "Equinomicon" carved into the very face of the cover. He slowly pulled the book open, the spine cracking under its old age as the leader began to whisper the words of the book, "From below you stand, to above you rise, return oh demons, with"

Before he could finish, one of the smaller ponies whispered quickly, "Hey, Leafgreen, can we hurry up a bit, my mom might find me gone soon."

The leader, known as Leafgreen, pulled back his cloak in frustration, his green hair covering his right eye while his left eye looked at him through the black makeup, "Dude, just shut up, or we'll all get in trouble."

One of the other ponies piped in as well, "Leaf, it's a school night tonight, my dad is gonna ground me for real this time if he finds out."

Leafgreen turned his angry eye towards him, blowing his hair from his face before whispering with a tone of impatience, "Dude if you guys just shut up we can get this over with, cancel school tomorrow so we don't have to take that test, and be done with it."

"Oh man, Ms. Crabtree is gonna probably cancel school for the week if we summon this demon," one of the thicker foals whispered, "I'm gonna spend tomorrow playing video games with my friend down in Ponyville, eating cheese puffs, and"

"Just shut up," Leafgreen snapped at the fat one, "your extra chins flapping are making more noise than you, if we get caught my mom is gonna ground me for a week." Before long, there was silence once more, and Leafgreen restarted his spell, "From below you stand, to above you rise, return oh demons, with vengeance in thy eyes."

There was a pause, the foals waited for something to happen, but nothing came. Leafgreen sighed, "I can't believe this book of demons didn't work, I wanted to be so edgy and cool. Well… better clean this pla"

His thought was cut short when a voice from above made a strange noise, and a body fell before them. The colts jumped back in fear, realizing what had just happened. They watched in horror as the demon from the book, exactly like the ones from both the book of Faustism and Equinomicon, rose up before them.

The creature turned to face them as it grunted and in its demon tongue it spoke, likely casting a curse upon the demon-summoners.

Leafgreen, now shaking in his boots, turned tail and ran out the alleyway screaming, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The other foals soon joined him, running for their lives as a demon has now been brought to life to end the world.

*****

Hunter lifted himself from the pavement, his head was spinning and his entire body hurt from the fall. Just moments ago he slipped from the top of one of the houses and fell into an alleyway, falling flat on his stomach on the cold hard ground. Quickly, he regained awareness and looked at his surroundings, realizing that he had ultimately failed in his plans when he realized he had accidentally tumbled into some foal's party with his friends. They had set up candles, a few books, had soda, and various items all in a nicely drawn calk drawing, most likely some art project. Hunter did his best to reassure them as he groaned, "Don't worry little horses, I'm fine. Sorry I ruined your art project."

Strangely though, the foals simply screamed and ran away, leaving everything behind them like they were running for their lives from something. Hunter quickly dove behind one of the buildings, whispering to himself, "Oh crap, they spotted me, I'm in so much trouble now!"

Leaving no time to waste, Hunter climbed up the side of the nearest house and resumed his journey across town, hoping to avoid another situation like that. His mind panicked as he climbed the wall, he thought to himself, "What if they spread the word of my existence, what if others start looking for me, what will I do? Where will I go if this city isn't safe, cause home isn't safe any more…"

When the boy reached the top of the house, with the wind blowing through his hair again, he had a moment of clarity as he whispered, "Home…" With no time to lose, Hunter began to sprint towards his destination as fast as he could, a bright and brilliant idea had popped into his head.

Author's Note

So this chapter came out late for a few reasons:

A) I have less time
B) I'm in an art program at college, so I have less time
C) I have a wonderful girlfriend now (Wuvs Yuh Nami), so I have much less time
D) I have an addiction to masturbating and lying about excuses as to why things are late.

So enjoy this chapter and the next one to come out asap

Chapter 31

Lyra looked out through the window, her eyes fluttering to sleep, she kept the book the priestess had given her close to her side after reading a few sections of the beginning again. She listened to the noises of the house, Bon-Bon making food for the two of them, the radio playing some soothing music, and the crackling of the fire in the living room, it had been a few days since Bon-Bon and Lyra were back together. Lyra, however, felt that being in the state that she is, Bon-Bon should have stayed back in Ponyville.

Bon-Bon called from the kitchen, "Lyra, you're food is almost ready, I'll be helping you into your chair soon okay?"

There was silence, Lyra didn't want to answer her, she wanted to just look out that window and stare into the stars, but she couldn't pretend to be dead any more otherwise she'd look very convincing, so she let out a faint croak from her throat to break her silence, "Sure… okay…" Lyra could smell the food, the stir fry that her friend was preparing smelled delicious, but she didn't want to eat, she just wanted to lie in her bed.

It had taken her a bit of time, but after a while the unicorn realized why she was feeling this depressed, it was a mixture of feelings for her, some she couldn't explain. Lyra looked to her bedside table, the anti-depressants and the photo of Blueblood rested there staring back at her. Despite being back at home, and with her childhood friend, she felt strangely homesick and lonely.

Like a pebble dropped into a pond to disturb the peace, there was a tap on the window, a light tick at first like a pebble had been tossed. Lyra's ear twitched, probably the only muscles on her head that worked aside from her face, they twitched and turned her attention back to the window when another tap was heard. Suddenly, a very familiar face popped up from outside, his long curling hair covering his eyes as he smiled.

Lyra gasped, her eyes widening like saucers, as she gasped in surprise, "A-Anthro!"

He smiled back as he whispered through the window, "I come in, yes?"

Lyra's eyes darted from side to side, her head resting on its back giving her hardly any view of either side of the room, yet just enough to know that Bon-Bon was still making dinner and wouldn't be in soon. Lyra whispered back, "No… go away! You'll get caught!"

The boy pressed his ear against the window as he whispered, "I can not hear, I come in." Without any hesitation, he began to slide the window open slowly, letting in a cool night's breeze.

Lyra began shaking her head, whispering, "No, no go away, you're gonna get busted."

Anthro smiled as he hugged her and said, a little louder, "I'm in here now, safe here yes?"

Lyra began to raise her voice a little more, despite how happy she was to see such a familiar face, she was less than enthusiastic about her best friend finding out about this, "No, Anthro get away from here."

Anthro gave a small chuckle, brushing his curly hair from his eyes as he said even a little louder, "What could happen?"

It was almost as though it were triggered, like in every story Lyra had read, there was always that scene of perfect timing where the question, "What could go wrong?" is asked, and then something wrong indeed does go. But unlike books, Bon-Bon didn't walk in to witness what was otherwise seen as a demon standing over Lyra. Instead, Bon-Bon called from the kitchen, "Oh shoot! Hold on Ly, gonna need a few more minutes."

Both occupants of the bedroom looked towards the doorway, both seemed oddly perplexed at what they heard. For Lyra, it was the fact that nothing wrong actually did go, instead, something wright went. Anthro, however, was oddly perplexed to hear the voice of another pony outside the room, the voice sounding feminine. For some unrelated reason, Anthro had a feeling of being let down a little, like realizing he didn't fit the criteria for something he wanted.

Anthro looked back at the unicorn, a look on his face that showed a little confusion as he asked, "Who that?"

Lyra motioned her head towards the window as she whispered back, "Anthro, it's someone that will call the authorities if they see you here. I don't want you to get hurt."

Chuckling, the boy pointed towards the door as he whispered back, "Not like she walks in on us."

Strangely enough, again unlike books, Bon-Bon did not walk in to deliver proper irony to Anthro's statement, and to Lyra's surprise, Bon-Bon still hadn't walked in on them.

Lyra kept motioning her head to the window as she ordered her friend, "Anthro, if you don't leave this place, my friend is gonna walk in on us and freak out."

Anthro sighed, sagging his shoulders a little, it looked to Lyra as though he really wanted to stay, but alas the risk was too high. The boy began to tread towards the window, his head hung low as he murmured to her with pouting lips, "Okay, I want to say hi though, I like you."

Lyra let out a frustrated, "Shhh!" She watched as Anthro climbed back out the window and slightly closed it behind him.

Bon-Bon quickly opened the door as she said with concerned look, "Lyra, are you all right? Who's that?"

The bedridden mare looked around the empty room as she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Who's who?"

"There was another voice coming from here, thought a guest had snuck up to your room through the window."

"Nope," Lyra quickly responded, "no guests in here, heh heh."

"Well thats a shame," Bon-Bon began, "I don't mind guests. Unless it was a demon from a pre-historic area that could doom us all."

There was an awkward silence, Lyra looked around the room with an awkward look on her face before Bon-Bon laughed, "Don't worry Lyra, even if it was a demon or whatever is in that book, I wouldn't at all be surprised it exists in a world like this."

Just as Lyra was thinking the coast was clear, a regrettably familiar voice was heard from the window as it opened back up, "In that case, hi I Anthro."

The next thirty seconds were filled with Bon-Bon screaming at the top of her lungs, Anthro had the bright idea to simply walk in on Bon-Bon's sarcasm as though she were sincere, Bon-Bon screamed at the top of her lungs, and had attempted to use the nearly glowing-hot pan for the stir-fry as a weapon against the demon. All the time this happened, Lyra rolled her eyes as she said to herself, "And just like in books, the third time is always the charm."

A few minutes quickly went by, Bon-Bon was subdued and calmed down, Anthro had an Ice pack over the minor first degree burn on his arm, and Lyra was propped into her chair. The yellow mare shook with fear, her eyes locked on Anthro as she sat in the large chair across the room, Lyra sat next to her hairless friend as she explained the situation to Bon-Bon, "Long and the short of it, we don't know where he's from, or what he is, but we are helping him learn about us, to open him up and be more comfortable around us."

Bon-Bon took a deep breath as she shockingly stuttered, "So… so he's not dangerous."

Lyra nodded, looking at Anthro as she began, "Strangely enough, the Book of Faustism tells of creatures like this that are violent, corruptive, and can bring doom wherever they go. Anthro, however, is probably one of the sweetest… things… I've ever met."

Bon-Bon pointed to the chair her friend was bound to, "What about that," she began, "maybe that thing caused it?"

Lyra shook her head, "Don't be ridiculous, Anthro would never insult me much less paralyze me… in fact…"

Bon-Bon became curious, her eyebrow raised at Lyra tapering off, "In fact what?"

The unicorn looked at her friend, the look in her eye silently telling her friend what to do, "He can do… well… this."

As though she had commanded it, Lyra felt her friend's hand press against her back, then felt the jolt of sensation through her body as her limbs regained life and movement. WIth his palm on her spine, Lyra was slowly walking around the room, her knees buckling a little under the sudden use of movement but supporting herself nonetheless.

Bewildered by this display of a miracle, Bon-Bon's eyes grew wide in awe as she stuttered, "You… You can walk! But that… that's scientifically impossible!"

Lyra continued walking around the room, using her hooves to wash the empty plates from dinner as she spoke, "Yeah… yeah it is impossible. Maybe this isn't science though." Before long, Anthro guided the miracle-pony back to her seat to once again be bound by her paralyzing curse. She watched as Anthro sat down beside her, brushing the hair from her eyes as she said again, "Maybe this is more than science."

Unfortunately, her best friend wasn't ready to listen to logic like that as she shook her head, "No, no, no, no. This isn't some miracle cure, this isn't magic that unicorns can do, and this certainly is not something out of that religious book of yours."

"I'm not saying that all science is false, all I'm saying is that maybe there's a bit of truth in that book somewhere."

Bon-Bon got up from her seat, approaching her best friend and Anthro as she spoke with a hiss, "Lyra, you always believed in science, and this book that you're saying is true also said that we were all created in a matter of a day. You can't just believe in one thing and not in the other, that's complete bologna."

Lyra shook her head, "Maybe, Bons… maybe." She turned her attention to Anthro, simply sitting there awkwardly as she asks him, "Anthro, can you do anything else."

Anthro took a few minutes to think, looking at the two of them before nodding his head with a smile, "Yes," that nod, however, quickly changed to shaking his head as he continued, "but no."

Both Lyra and her friend looked in confusion as the unicorn asked her friend, "What do you mean 'yes, but no'?"

Anthro stood up, raising both his hands wide as he said silently, "Not ready, yet."

Bon-Bon began to grow impatient, she asked him quickly, "Who's not ready? You? Do you not trust us yet?"

Anthro shook his head, "No… you not ready yet, all you not ready yet."

Chapter 1

PLEASE NOTE THAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO CLOSER FOLLOW THE STORIES OF THE SUSPECTS

Lyra Heartstrings woke abruptly from her sleep when a loud knock was heard against her door, it sounded urgent judging by the loudness and speed of the knocking. The turquoise pony jerked herself upright in her bed, her eyes still half shut. She looked around the room, disoriented after waking up in the middle of a deep sleep, she had calculated her sleep pattern to the minute and hated it when others woke her up during the deep cycles. Lyra slowly turned herself to face her room, the blue light from the moon filled her room as a gentle cool breeze flowed in from her bedside window. She heard the knock again, this time it was more rapid. Lyra quietly mumbled in a tired slurr, "Okay I'm on my way, what is it?"

The pony on the other side sounded disturbed, his voice was shrill and worried as he responded, "There's an emergency at the facility, Lyra, I need your help."

"Why me?" Lyra said, still half asleep, "Can't you get somepony else to help you?"

"Only you are an expert on this subject, its urgent." The other pony had begun to pant, it seemed as though he was in such a rush that he forgot to breathe before bleating out his emergency.

Lyra yawned, it took a few seconds before she processed what the other pony had said, her brain was taking its time waking up. Lyra made her way to her door, looking at all the star patterns and drawings of ape anatomy on her walls as she walked up to the door. When she opened the door, standing in front of her was the white unicorn everypony knew as Prince Blueblood. Lyra quickly shook her head and bowed down before him as she said, "My apologies, your highness," she began, "I didn't know it was you."

Blueblood moved his hoof behind Lyra and swept her out the door as he said urgently, "There's no time to be bowing down, you need to be at the facility ASAP." Blueblood quickly galloped off in front of Lyra once they were out the door, the midnight sky was bright and lit up the silent Canterlot with a calming blue light that was polka-dotted with the yellow glow of the streetlights. Lyra quickly followed after him, she had woken up by now yet her hooves still felt stiff, her mane was a mess but judging by the looks of her boss there were more important things than brushing each others hair right now. Lyra galloped through the city and made her way to the Royal Archives where the facility had been set up beneath it, a few years after Twilight was crowned Princess, Blueblood turned to studying scientific anomalies, despite having no prior degrees in any field of study. Lots of ponies assumed it was for his political image, but the things they have figured out in the past years could testify otherwise. Lyra was quickly hired for her expertise in anthropomorphic creatures such as Spike, Discord, and primates. It wasn't often that creatures would need to walk on their hind legs and it was her dream to find out why only certain animals did so. Other ponies were accepted into the facility, each with a certain expertise in a specific field. The group remained exclusive and extremely secretive. Nopony was worried about what would happen if any secret was told outside the facility, because nopony dared disobey Blueblood's orders. Lyra felt like she preferred this job over her past job, which was playing the harp at parties, which she admitted sucked quite a bit. This job focused on finding out about something she always wondered herself, the existence of intelligent anthropomorphic primates.

It wasn't too long ago that ponies began to uncover remnants of older civilizations, such as rubber rings which were hollow on the inside and what appeared to be inflatable. Pieces of fabric were also dug up and looked as though they were designed to warm the legs of certain creatures, but they had a curve in them which signified that ponies weren't able to wear them. Lyra had taken an interest in these pieces of fossils, she believed that they would help uncover pieces of lost history and bring them closer to finding the origins of their existence.

As Lyra arrived at the Archives, she watched as Blueblood spun a shelf of books to reveal a staircase and rushed inside. A muffled noise could be heard inside as the white unicorn opened the door and said with his eyes darting from side to side, "Get in quick, ever since I found it, its been making noises and theres no way to turn it off." He looked from side to side to make sure nopony had noticed their activities before he pulled Lyra inside. Once inside, the royal stallion looked towards the basement floor and back at Lyra as he said with a look of wonder on her, "I think this is what you've been looking for for all those years."

Lyra's eyes widened with excitement, her heart began to race, her mouth went dry, and her mind began to race with millions of thoughts as to what it may look like. She wondered whether it had scales or not, the features it had that were similar and those that were different to a primate, all sorts of questions as she asked with her mouth curving into a smile, "Can I go see it?"

Blueblood nodded, "Remember," he began, "never tell anypony what you're about to witness." Blueblood's horn slowly lit up as the basement room lit up and the noises loudened. He motioned his head to quickly move into the basement before the whole town was woken up by the noises.

Lyra dashed through the door, her excitement caused her to wonder of all sorts of things as she trotted down the stairs with a smile across her face. What she saw next made her heart sink, she could almost feel it hit the floor when she made eye contact with the creature. Inside the large glass tube there was a pale pink skinned creature much like a primate but with no fur at all. It lay on the floor with one front paw under the opposite armpit and the other against the glass as it hollered once more as loud as it could, its voice cracked and he had trouble making noise. Lyra approached it, she could see the cheeks were stained with tears and the only fur it had was on its head was matted with sweat. She quickly looked over the creatures complexion, its mouth and jaw were more sunken in than an ape's and it had a much larger head and therefore a much larger brain. She looked over the body to see no breasts and had what appeared to be male reproductive organs between its legs. She watched as it shook rapidly and noticed the jaw quivered and chattered which told her that the creature was in terrible condition. Lyra noticed that the hind paws that were supporting the creature were extremely red and curled up, the little hair this creature had was not keeping it warm. Lyra raised a hoof to the glass to watch as the ape moved its hand to match hers.

Lyra called up to Blueblood as she said, "What's wrong with this thing?"

"I don't know," he said back, "it won't shut up that's for sure." Blueblood's voice was unnervingly calm considering he had a living creature that was near death in his studying facility, chances are if the creature dies the smell will attract authorities and Blueblood would ruin his political image. Nopony wants to be remembered as, "That stallion that harvested dead corpses in its basement for 'science'." But why was he not worrying about the creature's health, more importantly, why wasn't Lyra doing something about it yet?

Lyra looked around the creature, she watched as it breathed against the glass and began to make markings in it. It wasn't ponyglyph that it was writing in, it was strange makings that Lyra didn't recognize. She looked towards the panel that controlled the heating system of the tube and noticed it was at 20 fahrenheit. Lyra shouted back upstairs, "No offence, Prince, but you had the tube set to kill this creature." Lyra very quickly turned the temperature up to 80 degrees and watched as the shivering slowly stopped. The creature began to calm down and the noises it made were much quieter now, it appeared as though its body wasn't designed to withstand temperatures like a pony was capable of. Maybe that had relations to the fabrics that had been uncovered in the past years, who knows? Once the creature sat on its hind-quarts and began to show signs of calmness, Lyra called out to Blueblood, "So far this thing needs a controlled environment to keep itself heated much like a reptile yet showed signs of shivering which probably means that it can warm itself up."

Blueblood made his way down the stairs as he said, "Wow, you're quick to figure these things out, does it need to be pampered too? Oh look it's falling asleep." He pointed at the nodding creature, its eyes had begun to close as its head rocked back and forth in drowsiness.

"I think we should be going to bed as well," Lyra began, "I'll be back tomorrow to study it more and see how it behaves. Remember to keep the chamber at approximately 80 degrees fahrenheit. If there are any more problems please let me know."

Blueblood nodded his head before giving out a yawn, Lyra recognized that as a sign that she should go back to her house for some much needed sleep. Despite the time, Lyra wished she could stay, her mind was all over the place with questions. She would have to wait until this thing is awake once more before her studies continued. She just hoped that it shared a sleeping pattern of two hour intervals with her that way she wouldn't have one of these incidents again, cause now she knew she would only get five hours and twenty three minutes of sleep in total. Yeah she calculated that.

Author's Note

Please excuse the revision and changes in area and character. After SO MANY people pointed out that Twilight was... well kinda f*cked up, I figured we should start with a pony we already generally hate. So without further a due, I present ANTHRO, set beneath the Canterlot archives.

Chapter 9

"You named it Anthro?" Blueblood's voice was clearly showing frustration beneath his calm complexion, planting a hoof on his face to hopefully rid him of some of the negative energy of what Lyra had admitted. The three ponies that sat with Anthro only moments before were now upstairs in the dark and sealed off archive. The three had moved upstairs to discuss the mysterious creature's reason for existing when Lyra accidentally made it clear she gave him a name.

Lyra sighed, knowing she had goofed up one of Blueblood's most important rules when caring for the creature. "Since you changed your manner of caring for this creature to accommodate it and give it a desirable environment, wouldn't it be healthy to develop a bond with it?"

The doctor nodded in agreement, "As risky as it is to name a creature, Lyra is right in this case. To establish a basic relationship at the level of mere friendship you have to first know their name, seeing as Anthro cannot give his real name likely due to a language barrier it is impossible for us to know his real name so we instead name him. Besides, Anthro is kinda catchy."

Blueblood took a few steps back to take in all this information, the first few moments he becomes a lenient and nicer boss two of his faculty disobey him. Albeit it had first begun when he was still inconsiderate towards them the fact still remains that it was a very awkward moment for all of them. "Okay," he began after taking a moment to calm himself, "you two are probably right, he's going to need a name if we want to communicate with him. Lets get back to what I brought you all up here for in the first place."

Lyra immediately remembered Blueblood mentioning a closed off carriage for Anthro to bring him to his house mid-day, and Lyra quickly stated, "If we're going to take Anthro to your garden then we're doing it at night. He can't stay sealed off much longer, much less in a smaller more confining room where he cannot tell when the next bump is going to hit. I think we should get either an carriage where he can look out the windows or we walk there by hoof. Chances are Anthro might like the fresh air and exercise."

The three took a few minutes again to think about the plan a bit more, the problem was that Blueblood hated having to walk too much by hoof, Anthro being exposed to the risk of witnesses could result in dire consequences, and Anthro might take the opportunity to run away despite promising not to. The three eventually concluded with Anthro being escorted to Blueblood's house by some of the stronger special agents that stood outside and would be accompanied by Lyra and the Doctor while Blueblood went ahead of them to prevent any suspicious looking activities. When it was settled, Lyra and the three went downstairs to see that Anthro had already eaten through all the food Lyra provided.

Lyra knelt beside the messy eater as she said with a giggle, "Someone was a little hungry today."

"Yeah," Anthro began as he finished off the last doughnut courtesy of Doughnut Joe before continuing to pronounce every word strangely and slowly, "I was very hungry."

"We'll you won't have to be hungry for much longer, Blueblood will give you food right?" Lyra gave a simple smile to the white prince only to see him nod sheepishly with a weak smile of his own. Lyra turned back to her hairless angel as she said, "There will be trees, and water, and all sorts of little critters there so you can feel at home in the forest."

Anthro looked up, his eyes hinted at how his mind was gathering the information of another language before slowly repeating, "F-forestay," he made the shape of trees with his hands as he pronounced the word in a strange accent, nodding his head as he repeated the word quickly.

Lyra nodded her head as well, "Yes the forest! Trees, grass, water, and sky!"

"Forrestay, trays, grauss, wodder, skai." he would repeat with growing excitement each time. As Lyra pumped him up with energy and psyched him over getting out of this prison room he would begin to climb the walls and swing from the hanging long and thin lights. It was then that Lyra realized that the fabric that had been dug up that seemed to be used to warm these creatures would not fit Anthro's limbs. His hands and feet were like that of an ape's only he was capable of remaining bipedal indefinitely. She suddenly wanted to ask Anthro what the relation of the socks had with him but was unfortunately unable due to the still present language barrier.

As Anthro swung from the ceiling using his bottom set of hands he reached down and picked up the small mare with his upper hands and brought her in for another hug. The warmth that his body gave off comforted her, reminding her that what she had done over the past couple of days would not go to waste. It was pretty obvious that Anthro would not run away on the first opportunity if Lyra could continue persuading him. Before she knew it, Anthro had out her back onto the ground as to not dangle her any longer so he could continue celebrating in his own way. She watched in awe as he performed acrobatics like circus professionals, swiftly moving across the ceiling beams and backflipping between each swing without making a single mistake. He took full advantage of his lower hands in ways similar a monkey would.

Eventually the tall hairless creature brought itself to the ground once more to rest itself after burning out all its available energy, panting through his big whitish-yellow smile. As Lyra and the Doctor turned their attention back to Blueblood who had already begun to speak, "Also I would like to have a word with Lyra alone upstairs."

Lyra was caught off guard at this, a little confused but not too worried by it she simply replied, "Sure... okay." She would slowly follow the white prince as they trotted up the stairs into the dark and empty room, the light only leaking through the tiny spaces between the planks of wood that were nailed over the windows.

Blueblood took a few seconds, it looked to Lyra as though he was trying to muster up the courage to say something to her. His quick pacing back and forth told Lyra that he was somewhat nervous about the situation, but after a few seconds he finally managed, "Listen, Lyra..."

Her ears perked, "Yeah?"

I'm really sorry for who I was, for everything that I have done to you and Anthro," he seemed to pause before saying Anthro's name, almost as though he were resenting the idea of it being named, "it didn't seem right how I apologized before, so I decided to personally apologize to you instead."

Smiling, Lyra brushed her hair from her eyes with her hoof as she said sheepishly, "Yeah well... you have that whole religion thing where you believe he is the spawn of all evil and stuff. While its still wrong to hurt something based off a book it does shed some light on why you were like that." She gave a shy look up to her superior, it wasn't often that they would ever actually chat like regular ponies would, instead it was usually Lyra being bossed around by him and having her life be made miserable by him regularly. This kind of chatting seemed so awkward all of a sudden for her and probably Blueblood as well. As she replied she tried her best to make it obvious that he would have to give a sincere apology to Anthro before their relationship move any further, wherever that may be.

"That's right, you're an atheist aren't you?"

"I'm agnostic," her words were quick to correct Blueblood's as though it were insulting to be called an atheist in her mind, "atheist and agnostic are two different things."

"Well..." Blueblood struggled to understand, "what exactly are the differences?"

"Atheism is the outright denial of any god or gods existence, some say its believing in the lack of belief but that's besides the point. Agnosticism, however, is being unsure of the existence of deities and the such, not outright denying it but not accepting it at the same time. Agnostic is being somewhat in the middle."

Blueblood began to smile at the corner of his mouth for some reason, "How can you be at the centre, I thought you believed in science and evolution and all that science-fiction mumbo-jumbo."

Lyra gave a quiet laugh, again swaying her hair from her eyes as she retorted, "That mumbo-jumbo as you call it does seem a lot more likely than being created in a few days, but that doesn't mean that evolution wasn't the work of a higher power."

"So wait..." Blueblood was beginning to amuse Lyra with his struggles to understand her, "You believe in evolution may have been controlled by a god?"

"Exactly! Maybe a god did create everything around us but used an evolutionary tactic to let everything do the work themselves. Its like the seven days of creation in your religious books." Lyra was beginning to actually smile, she had never experienced a Blueblood that was open to how other people saw her view on life.

"Only instead of seven days it took a few million years or so right?" Blueblood chuckled a bit at the joke he made, a huge step from emulating the roaring laughter of a crowd and made him seem almost modest. Despite the fact he somewhat laughed at his own joke, Lyra laughed with him.

"Yeah it took just a little more time than expected huh?" Lyra finally showed her teeth in a large smile that was for the first time brought upon her by Blueblood and an actually okay joke he made.

The two laughed quietly before locking eyes, silence once more filled the room except this time it was a good silence. Lyra looked towards her hooves as Blueblood said with a sigh, "I'm trying my best to be a bit more modest here."

"You're doing good so far," she chuckled, "I can tell that whatever happened it really changed you."

The two returned to staring into each other's eyes, smiling like stupid young teens on their first date when a loud knock was heard on the door. The two snapped back into reality when a voice from the other side spoke in a deep tone, "Prince Blueblood, sir, your ride has arrived."

The two instantly remembered their plan to get Anthro back to Blueblood's garden, except that was supposed to happen at midnight. Blueblood turned to Lyra as he spoke once more, "So," he began awkwardly, "would you like to ride with me?"

Lyra paused, her eyes wide with surprise. Did he just ask me out? She spoke within the confines of her own head, asking herself all sorts of questions as to what had just happened and what will happen. She darted her eyes in every direction as she sought for the right answer, hoping it wouldn't result in any hurt feelings. After a few seconds, Lyra shrugged as she said, "Well... I wasn't expecting your carriage to arrive so early, and I was also planning on going up with Anthro in his buggy you know to give him company." Lyra watched as Blueblood's shoulders slouched in disappointment, slowly dragging his hooves across the dusty floor in defeat. Lyra suddenly, and for the very first time, actually felt bad for him as she watched him slouch his way to the door to leave. Before he could exit the building, she quickly trotted up next to him and put a hoof on her shoulder as she said, "Hey... I can see you tried your best to be different, and I liked it a lot, thanks."

What happened next confused the two of them, Lyra had no idea what her body was doing as she wrapped both of her hooves around his shoulders and back for a gentle hug. She suddenly imagined Blueblood having a meltdown over getting so much peasant on his nicely pressed suit, instead he just stood there. Lyra's eyes popped open and looked at how she was hugging him, taking a few extra seconds to finally come back to its senses and let go of him. She quickly unwrapped her hooves and began to blush while avoiding eye contact.

Stunned, Blueblood simply babbled, "Um... er... will you be here to be picked up at midnight-ish?" His face had gone completely pink around his cheeks which made him resemble his adolescent years once more, also trying to avoid looking Lyra in the eye.

"Yeah..." she awkwardly began, "see you at your place."

Before leaving, all he said in return was a quick, "Be sure to lock up when you're leaving here tonight and when you leave with Anthro."

"Sure thing, boss." Lyra gave a fast nod of her head before returning downstairs, leaving the prince alone to quietly celebrate to himself at how he was hugged. With nothing more to be said in the empty room, Blueblood opened the front door that had its wooden planks torn down and revealed the numerous black-suited stallions that awaited him outside.

*****

Lyra trotted down the stairs to see Anthro and the Doctor trying to communicate once more, it was then that Lyra looked to her saddlebag to see the unopened letter from Bon-Bon that she had somehow completely forgotten about. Lyra quickly made her way to the letter and avoided talking to the others as she pulled it from her white saddle bag. The letter was a plain envelope with her address printed on the front and Bon-Bon's signature in the top corner. The wax that sealed the letter had the candy cutie mark of her best friend pressed onto it.

Lyra did her best to open the letter while avoiding damaging the letter as Anthro and the Doctor continued to talk amongst each other. Pulling out the small 8x11 piece of folded paper, she read:

Dear Lyra,

It's been quite a while since we last spoke, I think almost a few months now. Why did the writing stop? Is your new job as the royal harp player really that busy that you can't write one simple note back to me every now and then? I'm just kidding you, anyways I'm just writing to let you know that I have finally made enough money to come and move in with you. I know we were planning otherwise but quite frankly Ponyville is just boring without you and if you can't come here then I'll just have to move my derriere in with you. I'll be visiting this weekend and hopefully then we can plan things out a bit better.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Yours,

Bon-Bon

Lyra's eyes widened, a mixture of excitement and worry swept over her as thoughts raced through her mind. What if Bon-Bon figures out I am caring for a bipedal sentient being? What will she do? Will she report it to Twilight? What if too many ponies find out? Her thoughts were quickly dismissed when Anthro approached Lyra with another drawing of him in the trees, hanging upside down from his lower set of hands while looking to the stars and struggled to say, "Do good yes?"

Lyra set aside her worries, taking the moment to care for Anthro's amazing artistic abilities, she began to think about how he would react when he is able to roam about the trees in Blueblood's private gardens and how happy he will be. Lyra tussled the long shaggy brown hair of Anthro as she said with a warm smile, "Yes, you do good, Anthro. Just wait until you are actually able to be a bit more free."

Author's Note

By the way, I was planning on doing an april fool's chapter where out of nowhere a deus ex machina appears and Anthro dies and the story ends but i figured that would be a tiny bit rushed.

Chapter 29

Lyra laid there in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her head was finally feeling a familiar pillow after so long, and she assumed her cat was cuddled right next to her, but something just didn't feel right to her. Something was keeping her awake, she wanted to open her eyes, climb out of bed, and go for a stroll, but she has established that that will be impossible unless Anthro does that magic thing again that temporarily gave her the ability to walk.

So there she was, the only sounds to break the silence were her breathing and the cat's purr. Bon-Bon told her she'd be back the next day at about 8 in the morning, meaning she'd probably wake up alone again.

She turned her head to the side, trying to find a comfy position for her head. Her eyes suddenly had the urge to open, and there laying at her bedside table was the book she was given by the priestess earlier that day. Lyra sighed, looking across the room to the bookshelf of other better things to read. Her shelf was twice her height, and nearly packed with books of science and documents as well as research papers. Lyra quickly narrowed her choice down to a study on the equine anatomy, maybe she could find something interesting about her paralysis in there. Her horn flickered into life, and the book began to move. Unfortunately, what isn't commonly addressed in pony society is how magic acts as a wavelength and spreads out as distance increases. This meant that as the book of her choice began to slowly slide out, so did every other book around it, until the entire row of book simply fell off the shelf and onto the ground causing a loud thud.

Lyra groaned, now she had nothing interesting to do, except read some fairy tales from a book written a few millennia ago. She turned her head and used her magic to float the surprisingly light book over to where she lay, slowly opening the book to its first page. She forced herself to read, and aloud she read, "In the beginning, there was not nothing, there was land, but in the beginning there was also evil. Evil was the only thing, and thus evil was good. The demons roamed the world, bringing misery to each other…"

TIme had passed, Lyra didn't realize it, but she had made it a quarter of the way through the massive book when she looked at her clock to see four hours had passed. It was nearing two in the morning, yet Lyra was surprised by how interesting these stories were. Sure they were not factual, and were covered with logical flaws, but she enjoyed reading them for their morals.

Then she flipped the page, and found a story that hit home. Throughout all these tales and passages, through all these verses and chapters, none of them described the ponies with flaws. This story she had found, however, was conveniently titled, "The Motionless."

By the end of the story, Lyra's eyes were wide with awe, this was the first time she had ever truly connected with a fairy tale. How this pony, who could not move much like her, had abandoned hope in curing himself and cast himself to the desert to end his life.

Lyra could feel something in her stomach, like a feeling of relief when spomepony you know reminds you they are there for you. She thought to herself, "Maybe… maybe I had it all wrong." Suddenly she realized what she had to do, this was the first time in her life where she wanted to pray. So could not hold her hooves together, but she closed her eyes and she spoke to herself, "Hello?"

There was a long pause, she began to lose hope when she suddenly heard a voice, "Yes, my child?"