It took all of Rarity's will not to punch the wall closest to her. Not only did he have the nerve to speak to her like that in front of other ponies, but she couldn't believe that some of the suggestions he brought up rang true. It would pain her to admit it, especially in front of Blueblood, but she had to agree; something wasn't quite right.

Fancypants walked up to Rarity and put his foreleg around her, but she was still too furious at Blueblood to respond to Fancy's calming touch. Finally, he spoke up.

“It is not out of the ordinary for the prince to just walk away when things don't go his way.”

“I know,” Rarity huffed, still refusing to tear her gaze away from the door.

“Why don't we adjourn back to the party? I think that after all this, you need a drink more than anypony.”

Rarity shook her head and turned away from the doors to face her companion. She bit her lip to keep from breaking down in front of anypony. With a situation that kept spiraling down around her, she refused to let it show.

“No,” she said, louder than she intended. “Actually, I... I think I need a moment. Excuse me.”

She stepped out of the small room where a few ponies were still lingering, trying to hear what exactly had been going on in the room earlier. Rarity smoothed out the nonexistent creases in her silver dress, and with her head held high, began to walk out of the party, ignoring the whispers coming from other partygoers who had stationed themselves outside the door.

The moment the fresh air from the outside hit her she took a deep breath. She blinked a few times to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

“Look, I know you and I do not always get along with each other, but I just don't want her to grow up without a father in her life.”

He had laughed at the notion then, surprised she would ever even think to ask him to even look in their daughter's direction.

At the time, she had been upset that he thought this way.

At the time she wanted him to step up and take on some responsibility.

How quickly things changed. One tidbit of new information and the last thing on her mind was what she had originally wanted out of him. Now, she just wanted Ivory Lace to be returned to her, with no fear of losing her to some club with bad intentions.

Even if that meant signing away Blueblood's rights. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures, and there was no way they would be able to follow through with any other possible routes. Not without causing more problems.

“Rarity?”

Fancypants' voice was unmistakable, especially on the empty Manehattan street. She instantly straightened up and turned around to face him. Neither one of them said anything as he pulled her into an embrace.

“Everything will work out,” he said quietly.

She nodded, giving him a weak smile.

“I... I think I would like to return to the hotel,” Rarity responded. “I'm not exactly in the mood to make any more appearances at the party.”

“Of course, my dear.”

The couple began to walk back to the hotel, with Fancypants telling Rarity a thrilling tale about the party as it was before it was interrupted, but Rarity's attention to the conversation had ceased. Aside from nodding her head or asking the occasional question when the timing seemed appropriate, she kept quiet.

“Think about everything that has happened in the past few weeks. Every letter, every conversation, every piece of information, and then tell me that you would rather he be the one to raise her. Really think about it, Rarity.”

She had wanted to be with Fancypants for months now, since they began to get to know one another. This was what she wanted. Not only would she be with somepony who obviously cared about her and her daughter, but he would also be her ticket to be accepted into the elite of Canterlot.

Yet, despite all of this, she was not able to get rid of that feeling of dread.

There is nothing to worry about, Rarity, she tried to assure herself. You are overreacting because of something silly he said just to get back at you. Everything is fine.

It wasn't working.

Instead of relaxing, all she could do was mull over previous conversations she and Fancypants had. She wondered if he had ever made mention of him knowing, even in passing, about the foal she so desperately tried to keep secret.

She thought she had done a great job of hiding her secret. Illusion spells hid what she didn't want seen, alibis hid her trips to Canterlot Castle, and a locked room hid all the evidence for months. Not even her closest friends knew the truth until she told them. And even though Fancypants had been by the boutique a few times before Ivory Lace was born, and she had visited his place a few times during her short visits to Canterlot, she had done nor said anything that would have tipped him off.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing that she had said before Ivory Lace was born that would have tipped him off, and she hadn't seen Fancypants very often until the wedding, and even on their trip together they didn't have a chance to spend a lot of time together.

And yet he knew long enough to have new custody papers written up for them.

“How old is she?”

“She just turned five months old last week. Her name is Ivory Lace.”

“The... week you were in Canterlot?”

Those words kept going through her mind. It was bad enough that it was true, that he was keeping something from her, but admitting that Blueblood might be right? That may have been even more frustrating. She wanted to ignore the feeling; after all, Fancypants had already admitted to knowing.

Yet something wasn't quite right.

She just didn't understand why he couldn't tell her the truth, after all these months. He knew her secret. He knew and wanted to help her. A heavy burden would have been lifted from her if he had only told her earlier and didn't just abandon her when she finally admitted it to him.

Rarity couldn't rid herself of the feeling of dread, and those negative thoughts just kept niggling at her. There was too much that didn't make sense for her. Too much that she just unknowingly overlooked before.

Rarity stopped short in the middle of the quiet Manehattan street. Her date stopped and turned around soon after when he noticed his companion was no longer beside him.

“Is everything alright?” he asked her. He was so sincere it hurt for her to have to admit what was really on her mind.

She considered, for a brief moment, lying to him, saying everything was okay and then moving on, but she couldn't. She was far past okay. Her daughter was taken, and her coltfriend was scheming behind her back to create a new custody order.

“No, I am most certainly not alright!” she nearly shouted.

An abundance of thoughts ran through her mind. Some telling her to save face and regroup, but others telling her to keep going; she had only scratched the surface of the emotions that were weighing her down. She had kept so much hidden for so long, pretending that the only tears she had shed happened within the confines of the castle. And as much as she wanted to continue to put on a brave face, to pretend that her biggest problem was Blueblood interrupting an important conversation, the truth of the matter was she couldn't lie to herself anymore. And she most certainly could not lie to everypony else anymore either.

“...You knew exactly when she was conceived,” Rarity finally said, in a voice hardly above a whisper.

“Excuse me?” Fancypants asked, leaning in to hear her better.

“When I told you she just turned five months, you were able to quickly and accurately tell me that she was conceived during my week long stay in Canterlot,” she explained, louder. She looked down at her hooves, before whispering, “that isn't possible.”

Her companion tried to catch her eye, but she refused to lift her head.

“She was early.”

“I am sorry.”

She ignored his attempts at comforting her, batting his hoof away.

“I never even told the girls that. They had simply assumed she was conceived before I went to Canterlot. So how did you know?”

“My dear, you left one of your letters out when I came to visit,” he responded calmly, ignoring her frantic outbursts. “I am sorry for the invasion of your privacy.”

“When did you find out?”

“A few months ago, while I was visiting you...” He trailed off as if trying to decide whether or not to continue. “And of course, while not publicized, anypony who was at the airship party knew what happened to you two after you had that fight. After all, you both went off in the same direction. Everypony made their assumptions.”

Rarity winced slightly.

“Fancypants, why didn't you tell me that you knew?”

Her companion went silent.

She looked up at him, finally catching his gaze, her eyes brimming with tears. “Fancy, why couldn't you tell me you knew about her? All of that time on the ship away from me, you were scheming behind my back, weren't you?”

“I would hardly call it scheming,” Fancypants scoffed. “I obtained those papers to help you. Despite his claims, he would never be able to help raise a foal who is completely dependent on him.”

“He was out of the picture for months,” she reminded him. “All you had to do was tell me earlier, give me the papers earlier, and communicate with me. Now I just feel bad for suggesting that he is not good enough for the filly he cares about.”

“I couldn't talk to you about it earlier.”

“And why not?” Rarity demanded.

“As I mentioned before, your relationship with the prince was in the way. I wanted to give you space to think about it.”

“Relationship? What relationship? You may have noticed, but we couldn't even stand to spend this much time around each other.”

“Then look me in the eyes and tell me that,” Fancypants responded calmly. “In the past few days, the two of you have gone off together for private conversations where nopony can see you several times; out in the orchard and out shopping together being the two prime examples.”

“Our conversations are nothing more than discussions about our daughter or arguments.”

“Then tell me that you have never and will never think of him as anything more than the sperm donor that gave you your daughter.”

“That isn't exactly fair. Of course there was once a time, however brief it may have been, that I honestly thought we could be a family,” Rarity said. Fancypants glared at her. “Oh don't give me that look, darling!” she continued with a deep sigh. “Things were different then.”

“How could you possibly think that somepony who has publicly insulted you, both at the gala and at the airship launch, would change?

“I had no idea what I was doing,” she admitted. “It was silly and childish, I know, but I kept hoping that, for once, he would pull through for Ivory Lace and I. He and I... we made an agreement that we wouldn't speak of it, and for the longest time I thought it would be easy to keep to that agreement. I... she looked a lot like him, more than I wished she would, and sometimes her mannerisms reminded me of him. He didn't want to be a part of her life for the longest time, and it hurt, just like it hurt to lie to my friends and you.”

Rarity paused, looking up at Fancypants. “I never thought we would be a family, but I didn't want him to abandon us forever. I was never sure what I wanted from him, even now that he has changed a bit... I still don't know what I want.”

“Rarity, you of all ponies should know that he will never be able to keep this up in the long run, especially from a different city. Eventually his attention would shift to something else. I was protecting you and Ivory Lace!”

“Fancy, darling, I understand you don't like him – I don't feel any particularly grand feelings toward him either – but he has proven in the past few days that he does care about her. And I, for one, think that if he wants to be her father, and is willing to do it, then he can.”

“He doesn't care, though,” Fancy replied, exasperated. “He did this because he had no other choices. Deep down, you know it's true.”

“Is it? I suppose it could be, but I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt. I care about you dearly, Fancy, and thank you for offering to help us, but I don't want to force him to give her up unless there are absolutely no other ways. He was right, it isn't fair.”

“But...”

“If you would excuse me, Fancy, I think I would like to be alone with my thoughts for a little while.”

She excused herself from their conversation and walked away, noting that this time he didn't try to come after her.

* * *

The tiny bar tucked away in the grand hotel they were staying in was usually full of ponies, but with the night getting later, it had begun to clear out. At one in the morning, on the dot, Rarity walked through the glass doors and sat down at the bar. Several moments later, a familiar figure came up behind her.

“You look miserable.”

Rarity looked up to see the prince standing behind her, drink in hoof. She turned back around.

“So do you.”

“What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off with your perfect stallion?”

“I couldn't tolerate a stallion who would lie to me like that and then abandon me for a short period of time when I finally told him what he wanted to hear. It reminded me far too much of somepony else I know.”

“Who, me?” Blueblood asked, Rarity nodded, prompting a sigh from the prince. “Rarity, that was a completely different situation.”

“How so?”

“Because I couldn't handle the pressure. While he was just looking for an excuse.”

She scoffed, but said nothing. He took the seat next to her.

“I'm sorry about how I acted earlier. Truly, I am. But Rarity, you were going to completely cut me out of the picture!”

“It wasn't my first choice, but like your proposal, it was what I was willing to do to keep my daughter safe.”

“I know. I suppose it didn't help my case that I never wanted to be her father until a week ago.”

“Nor were you able to manage a decent proposal.”

“Well that I would chalk up to being forced to rush into one. Give me a chance to wine and dine you and I'm sure I would surprise you.” Blueblood winked.

“And let's hope we never have to worry about that. You and I have done far more together than we should have.”

“I agree, but this is the easiest solution for the both of us, not to mention the best situation for... for Ivory Lace. It could be great having both of us to raise her, and I would be sure you would both be well taken care of.”

“How is it that you are able to promise us the world now, but five months ago, it was impossible? Why did you leave?”

Blueblood looked around the nearly empty bar. There were still a few patrons glancing over at them, as if trying to figure out their situation. Before she could say anything that he thought would embarrass them further, he ushered her into a booth. Rarity followed him without complaint.

“I know things were tense between us that day, and we always had our problems, but I thought you would have stuck around... at least for a little while,” she finally added defeatedly as they got comfortable in the booth.

“I was there when you needed me, but I was already staying far longer than I had anticipated...”

“What do you mean by 'needed?'” Rarity interrupted. “Do you realize how hard it was for me to take care of a newborn, alone? Did you ever think about how difficult it was for me to realize that you weren't coming back?”

“No, I didn't,” he admitted. “We had an agreement that claimed this was the way we preferred it.”

“Yes, I understood our agreement, but you have to understand, you weren't the only one who was terrified. I understand that it was my choice to do it alone, and I realized early on that it would not be an easy path, but Blueblood, I didn't understand how heartbreaking it would be to realize that you were never coming back for us. There weren't enough bits in Equestria to make up for that.”

“How was I supposed to know this, Rarity? I received one letter. One. Just a quick note from your mother two weeks after she was born saying both you and our daughter were fine. How was I supposed to know from that one letter that you needed help?”

“If I had sent you those letters, would you have come?” The prince looked hesitant. “I didn't think so. You were so quick to deny her existence, nothing would change that.”

“How would I have been of any help anyway? I had less of an idea of what I was supposed to do as a parent than you did!”

“Do you remember how we felt when Shining Armor came into the room to deliver the news? We were scared, but we found solace in each other... even if it was only for a few minutes. Just having you around, having somepony who understood there with me... even if it was just those first few days.”

“I'm sorry, I know it must have been difficult and I will fix things. I will make up for my past shortcomings by making sure that the two of you do not want for anything.”

“Do you really believe that marriage is the easiest option for us?”

“I do.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “For now, it may be, but weeks from now we would come to regret it, Blueblood. We are even arguing now.”

“I prefer to think of this more as a creative discussion about how we are going to deal with this.”

“I think that we should consider looking into other options.”

“Such as?”

She took a deep breath. “Is it possible she isn't your firstborn?”

Blueblood shifted in his seat and stared at the drink in front of him.

“That is a thought that has crossed my mind many times before,” he admitted. “There is no way to be completely sure unless I tracked down every single mare I've been with, to find out. I highly doubt it, though. While you were not the first mare to tell me you were with child, you were just the only one who wasn't lying to me in order to have a stake in my family's fortune, or force me into marriage for a title. I had been foolish in the past and I almost found myself attached to a mare who was lying to me about her unborn foal's paternity just for a chance at a title and a stake in my fortune. I planned never to make the same mistake again.”

“So what? You just cut off contact from everypony you sleep with to guarantee you never have to deal with possible children?”

“Obviously that does not work. I just believe there are always ulterior motives at play.”

Rarity shot him a look but didn't respond, choosing instead to continue with her original point.

“If you did have another foal, couldn't you marry that foal's mother, instead? That way you have a legal heir to the throne without signing away your rights as Lace's father or marrying me.”

“It's possible, yes, but it isn't something I want to look into. I am and have been a terrible stallion for a long time. Who knows what I could dig up? The family history I've found recently is bad enough.”

“Pardon?”

“While you spent every night doing Celestia knows what with that stallion, I used that time to reread some old books about my ancestry. During my studies, I realized that if what Celestia wrote in her letter rang true, why would ponies who have been out of power for years care about this? How many of them even know about their lineage at this point? The ponies who took our daughter are not looking for revenge, they are looking for political leverage.”

He took a sip of the amber drink in front of him as Rarity awaited more of an explanation out of him.

“The ponies who clearly care enough to want to take me out of power are the ones who know how Equestrian politics work. Most ponies just believe that the princesses run it all, that there is nopony else in Equestria that has a say in what happens both in Equestria and among neighboring nations. Those who know, are mainly part of the Canterlot elite, and they have the most reason to want to take me out of power.”

“And what reason would that be?” Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow. “What exactly do you do?”

“Princess Celesia has always relied on my family to help,” he said matter-of-factly. “The Bluebloods have been a part of the royal council for generations, assisting the princess with problems both at home and abroad. We have always been more than just pretty faces.”

“So why are they so upset with you? Even with your assistance, isn't the final decision reached by the princesses?”

“Recently, the council has brought up the hot button topic of the land North of Equestria and who will lay claim to that land. Many of the elite want the princesses to expand our borders to include it.”

“What good will that land do? Isn't it a frozen wasteland?”

“Ski resorts, new mansions, new jobs, et cetera,” he listed off automatically. “The land is not a complete wasteland, but no, it is not an ideal spot to live. Yet, ponies want it, even if it means going to war against the surrounding countries who are also interested in taking over the land.”

“That... that is terrible. A war? Why would anypony want that?”

“Yes, well, they wouldn't be fighting in it, now would they?”

“But what does this have anything to do with you? What could you do about it?”

“The princesses claim that the Northern lands were once inhabited by an empire of some sort and for some reason they haven't explained, it disappeared. Unfortunately, nopony else has been alive for as long as they have. Many ponies, and the residents of the countries that surround that land, do not believe it ever existed. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding proof that something once existed there. There are no references to it in any books, it is not shown on any maps from the past five hundred years, and the only ponies who seem to know about it are Celestia and Luna themselves, and they seem to be holding out for it to reappear.”

“The Canterlot elite have also looked to my family for help. My family has always brought up their issues to the princesses to see what can be done, as we are more likely to receive an audience with the princesses than they are. Recently, they have been coming to me asking my help in convincing the princesses that the land up North could be put to use, but I have always refused. In the past, refusals were usually taken with ease, but I am beginning to think that there is a lot more riding on this decision than they are letting on.”

“Do you really think something existed up North?”

“I don't know,” Blueblood admitted. “Although, I highly doubt the princesses would lie about something like this. And seeing as this has been a hot button topic recently, I wouldn't be surprised if the Silver Guard would take our daughter in order to use her guardian as a spokespony for the Canterlot elite. Not to mention, in a time of turmoil, even when she gets her cutie mark, it wouldn't be right for ponies to look up to a filly for answers. Her guardian would continue to be in charge, because after all, one of the Silver Guard would likely be taking full custody of her.”

Rarity looked over at him, “but...”

“It is quite possible they think that if one of the nobles vehemently disagrees, that enough ponies may begin to question the motives of the princesses,” he interrupted.

“Is it possible that ponies would actually question the princesses?”

“It isn't likely, but nothing is impossible.

“And what would happen if they succeed?”

Blueblood shook his head. “I'm not sure.”

“So, what do we do now?” she asked, sighing.

After a short silence, Blueblood replied, “Honestly, I believe the best course of action is to return to Ponyville.”

“What? Why?”

“Because we're exhausted and there is nothing here in Manehattan for us. It was all just a wild goose chase to get us further off the track. No doubt Fancypants planned it all along,” Blueblood said.

“Do not include him in this! He came all this way with us, was attacked several times, and offered assistance when we needed it. While I am upset with him, the only thing he is guilty of is knowing more than he is willing to admit. He is not a foalnapper!” Rarity snapped, Blueblood just glared at her, in obvious annoyance. “And goodness, Blueblood, we cannot just leave!”

“And why can't we?”

“Well, for one, we cannot just leave Twilight and Fancy here by themselves. And don't you dare try to tell me that Twilight had something to do with this as well.”

“Of course she didn't! And to suggest that I believe any of your friends would have any part in this offends me. Besides, Miss Sparkle trusts Princess Celestia's judgment more than anypony. I just have use for her here, rather than in Ponyville. And Fancypants? He will be fine without you, I'm sure. Trust me, I know what I am doing.”

Rarity was quiet as Blueblood went about explaining how their next few hours would go.

“I will leave them both a note letting them know of our whereabouts. You and I will board the next train to Ponyville and hide away until we are well rested enough to plot a new course of action.”

Rarity quietly nodded her head in agreement as the prince took the closest paper and began to write Twilight a note.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry for taking so long. I didn't mean to leave everybody hanging for so long, but I've been working two jobs and going to school full time, so I haven't had a lot of time.
Thanks so much for all the comments and for sticking by even when I hadn't updated in months, it always made me happy to see so many great responses.
And a special thanks to Nyerguds for working with me on edits for almost two months and not getting really frustrated with me.