Prince Blueblood took a seat on the bench in the corner of the last train car. He looked around carefully to make sure that, as he hoped, he was the only pony in that train car. When he was sure he was alone he threw down a pile of newspapers and magazines he had slowly acquired while walking from Rarity's boutique to the train station.

Ever since the first article had gained circulation, more like it had popped up. Each of them starting with a variation of the same sentence. And the prince would know best, because since he left Rarity's boutique, he had bought every newspaper and magazine he came across between her boutique and the Ponyville train station. There was no escaping it, nor was there any escape from the death glares he was getting from the residents while trotting through town.

He read bits and pieces of the articles. The tabloids focused primarily on the fact that he had a secret child and (according to a few of those trusted sources) a whole secret life in Ponyville. A couple of the tabloids even ran photos of him and Rarity in Manehattan from the previous day when they had gone out shopping as proof of this so-called secret life, citing his fake mustache as a flimsy disguise.

Worst of all, one tabloid he picked up had a whole side bar dedicated to asking readers if they knew if the "most eligible bachelor" had any other secret children.

It disgusted him and left him with a pit in his stomach.

The newspapers were slightly better. Sure they implied that if he was keeping information about a foal secret. Then they just wondered what else he could be keeping from the public, but unlike the tabloids, they didn't make him out to be the scourge of Equestria. The newspapers just annoyed him as most of the records were publicly available. There was nothing that he, or anypony else, for that matter, could hide. Princess Celestia had always made sure of that.

Regardless, he had bought as many copies of every newspaper and magazine he could in hopes that it would stop the spread of information, if that was even possible at this point.

Even if it wasn't possible to stop the information, it gave him some entertainment for the train ride back to Canterlot.

“Hello, sir, can I get you anything?”

The prince jumped, unaware that another pony had even entered the empty car he had claimed. He looked up from the pile of newspapers that surrounded him at the young blue-coated unicorn mare carrying a tray of drinks and snacks.

“I shouldn't." He hesitated. "But you would not believe the day I had... or past few days, actually. I could use a drink...”

He nodded in the direction of his favorite scotch. She smiled and used her magic to pour a bit of the drink into the glass before levitating it over to him. He grabbed it quickly and immediately took a sip of the amber liquid, sighing with relief.

“Thank you,” he said.

The light blue unicorn gave the prince a small smile while he poured through the print in front of him. At first he blocked her out, too concerned with trying to keep himself occupied to worry about anything else, but every once in a while his eyes would wander over to the server who continued to stand over him expectantly.

"Can I help you with something?" Blueblood asked with an edge of annoyance in his voice.

“No, it's just... You look really sad.”

He sighed in frustration. “Well... my biggest secret just got leaked in the papers for all of Equestria to see, I know that ponies are looking at me and talking about me...”

“And your daughter was taken," she added quietly.

Prince Blueblood looked at the mare, slack jawed. She continued to look at him with the same shy smile she had kept on her face since she first offered the drink, just with a tint of added blush from surprising her customer.

He looked down at the papers in front of him, then back up at her, trying to register what she said before he finally composed himself enough to ask, “How... how did you know that?”

"Oh, well...”

"I know I haven't gone through every publication in Equestria yet,” he interrupted, eyeing her suspiciously, “but I haven't seen that mentioned in any of the ones I have."

“You don't recognize me?" she asked, slightly crestfallen.

Blueblood put down the newspaper he had been looking at and focused on her. She stood there nervously as he tried to figure out if he had seen her before, but after several moments of unsuccessful brainstorming he just shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you..."

“I guess a prince like you wouldn't remember a servant like me. You have other things to worry about."

"You work at the castle?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. “Yes, my other job is at the castle. Actually... I was working the afternoon after she was taken.”

“Oh?" he responded, still glaring at her intently.

“I offered you tea that day.”

“Hello, sir, can I get you anything to calm your nerves?” a servant girl asked levitating a cup of tea towards him.

“Nothing will help,” he said as he turned his head away from her in refusal.

“How about your marefriend?” the mare asked, incredibly certain that somepony would have use of her services right that moment. That kind of upbeat personality was not what the stallion wanted to deal with at that moment; not when he was in such a bad mood.

“No, she is occupied right now and I would prefer that you just leave both of us alone,” the prince snapped.

“Of course, your highness,” the mare whispered as she scampered off in the opposite direction.

“Right. Yes. I do remember that,” he admitted sheepishly. “I admit that I wasn't in a good mood at the time, although I shouldn't have been quite so snippy with you.”

“You were in the middle of a crisis, so I understand your tension, sir.”

“Well, I apologize nonetheless.”

“I'm sure I would react the same, given the situation. All of the staff of the castle was informed of what happened. We were told that we would be receiving updates, but as of my last shift, we hadn't heard anything.”

“Yes, well, it appears there are no updates to give. Nopony is any closer to finding her than they were a week ago.” He sighed, taking another sip of the drink he had in front of him. He frowned and put the drink to the side, pushing it as far away from him as he could. “I'm sorry, what brand did you say this was? It tastes a bit... different.”

“Oh, I'm not sure. It's just what we have in stock,” she replied, waving off this concerns. “You know, everypony at the palace feels horribly about what happened, and how it must have affected you. It must be really difficult for you to go through, finally meeting your child and then losing her so quickly...”

Prince Blueblood motioned for her to sit down, she obliged and placed her tray down on the seat next to her. He looked around the train car nervously, then back at his new found travel companion.

“I'm not going to get you in trouble for not doing your job, am I?”

“No, of course not,” she responded cheerily. “It's pretty empty this evening. Don't worry about me; how are you holding up, sir?”

“It's been a rough couple of days.”

“I can imagine. Must be really difficult to sleep knowing that there are ponies out there like that.”

“It doesn't make things easier, that's for sure.” Blueblood looked down at the ground. He chuckled and looked back up at the hostess. “You work at the castle, right?” She nodded. “Were you there the week I had her? Did you see her?”

“Uh, yes. Actually, I was one of the ponies tasked with helping to do the dirty work the day she was dropped off.”

“Oh. Right. It took some time for me to figure out what I needed to do, but I am glad that somepony was able to help get her settled in the castle.” He smiled.

“Of course. That is my job, after all.” She beamed. “Speaking of, we have been working on fixing up the nursery. By the time she returns, you would never be able to tell that there had been a fire.”

“Right... the castle. It feels like years since the last time I was there. I suppose when I find her again, it would be a while before she returned there. I doubt her mother would feel comfortable with that and I don't blame her. I feel this incredible, crushing guilt for leaving her alone in the nursery. I even blame myself for having her in the castle to begin with.”

“I'm sorry.”

“There are just some ponies out there who aren't satisfied until they hold the most power. I would be lying if I said I was never like that once. I would never go as far as stealing another ponies child of course, but...” He trailed off. “I just think it's crazy that my five month old daughter is missing and all anypony cares about is that they didn't know about her sooner.”

“I'm sure if they knew about that, things would be different.”

“I doubt it, but it's a nice sentiment. Thank you.”

The blue unicorn mare smiled and looked up at the door, then blushed. “Oh, that's my boss,” she mumbled as she slipped off the bench and picked up her tray. “I'd better get back to work. Enjoy your drink, sir,” she said as she walked towards the car door.

Clunk

She looked over her shoulder with a wry smile. Prince Blueblood was out cold, head resting up against the wall. She continued walking towards the car door, opening it wide enough for several hooded ponies to come in. They surrounded the prince and lifted him, carrying him out of the room as she cleaned up the mess he had left behind.

By the time they left the car it was as if nopony had been there to begin with.

* * *

In the days following Prince Blueblood's sudden departure, Rarity struggled to keep busy. Ponniquins were strewn across her inspiration room in various states of undress with rolls of fabric lying at their base.

A few of the lucky designs to have actually been finished sat proudly in the window, serving to not only show off Rarity's elegant handiwork, but also to keep prying eyes from seeing into the shop. Ponies seemed to be very interested, as of late, in hearing about the latest scoop from the horse's mouth.

Consequently, it had been a while since Carousel Boutique had sported the 'open' sign.

Despite this, her friends were constantly checking up on her, so when there was a knock at her door, Rarity was hardly surprised. Until she opened it to see Fancypants standing there with a bouquet of flowers hovering next to him, held up by his golden aura.

“I hope I am not disturbing you, Miss Rarity, but I was worried. I've been trying to reach out to you since you disappeared from Manehattan, with no luck.”

“I left you a note,” she responded innocently, hoof still on the door, ready to close it.

“Yes, I know. I saw it. I just wanted to see for myself if you were okay. With everything that has been happening, it would eat away at me if I never at least checked up on you.”

“I'm fine," she responded. “Thanks.” She started to close the door but he put his forehoof forward to stop the door from closing completely.

“I was hoping we could talk. May I come in?"

Rarity nodded and opened the door for him to enter her home. He obliged and sat down on the couch. Rarity sat down opposite him.

"Miss Rarity, I know that you are upset with me. I understand that you feel lied to, but sometimes we all need to fib a little to get where we want to be. I am sure you, of all ponies, can understand that.”

“It is very different to fib about where I am from than it is for you to go through my things, steal my letters, learn my secret and then make me feel like manure when I try to explain,” she fumed, shaking her head sadly. "I thought you were better than that."

“I understand how you feel...”

“I feel like my whole world has come crashing down on top of me. I am so confused, and angry.”

“Miss Rarity...”

“It feels so unfair for her and me to be punished for his mistakes. And then, on top of that, I don't even know who I can trust anymore. I've been on this wild goose chase and yet here I am back in Ponyville with nothing to show for it.”

“Miss Rarity, of all the ponies out there, you know you can trust me. After all I...”

“Fancypants, you told me that you knew where Blueblood and I were going after our argument,” she interrupted. “You said it was blatantly obvious to any pony paying attention.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then why didn't you stop me? I mean, I adore my daughter. She's amazing and beautiful and I couldn't have asked for a better foal nor could I even fathom losing her or living life without her, but... I just find it off putting that if you were interested in me at the time, you would let me go off with him when I was obviously inebriated.”

“Would you have listened to me?”

“Of course I would have listened to you! I would have done anything you asked of me, which is why it hurt that you were wary of my and Blueblood's relationship.”

“In my defense, I have known him for several years and I know how he can be.”

“I think we can both agree that I know him more... intimately than you do,” she started. He grimaced. “And while I'm sure you may have good intentions, he and I were a one-time thing, a mistake after a long night of drinking, and if you don't believe me then you can look at the evidence,” she stated as she motioned to the letters she hadn't yet put away.

He looked over at the letters and shook his head. “I know that you must feel hurt, but there is something that I really must...”

"Do you think that there is a problem between us?" she interrupted.

"What do you mean, Rarity? You mean the world to me."

"Then why haven't you taken a single opportunity to fix things? If you knew all about my daughter, including details that not even my closest friends knew about, why would you pretend you didn't know anything? I had myself worried sick over what you would think of me and when I finally told you, you said that you didn't want to see me anymore because you were uncomfortable. Then, a few days later you were fine with it and you wanted Blueblood to forfeit his custody in favor of you. So, please enlighten me, because I truly don't understand what is going on."

"I just want you and Ivory Lace to be safe, and that is it.”

“Then why have you been sneaking around and lying to me?”

“I have been trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

“It's complicated.”

“Well then uncomplicate it.”

“Rarity... I need you to trust me, I can't talk about it with you right now.” She glared at him, but kept quiet. He took a step towards her and smiled. “I have good news for you, though.”

“What could it possibly be?” She sighed.

“I know where Ivory Lace is.”

Author's Note

So I didn't mean to go over a year without an update. Whoops. Turns out I am an easily distracted person.
And thanks so much to Nyerguds for being really patient with me and helping me with edits.