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!