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.