Rarity and Blueblood's Adventures in Parenting

“Are you sure you don't need me to watch Lacey while you're gone?” Twilight asked.

With the date of Rarity's planned excursion with Fancypants quickly approaching, Twilight had offered to come by to keep an eye on Ivory Lace while her friend was running around her room trying to get everything together so she could leave for Canterlot that night.

“Thank you again for the offer, Twilight, but I simply cannot ask you to watch her for that long. It's too big of a job,” Rarity responded as she levitated a bottle over to the filly sitting on the floor of the boutique. “This family friend of mine has no problems taking care of her and would have plenty of help. Besides I don't think Spike would enjoy having Lacey around for so long, he hasn't exactly had a chance to get used to her.”

Twilght nodded, she knew that Spike had yet to warm up to the filly, but she had a nagging feeling that she should be trying harder to help her friend out. After all, she and the girls were all worried. They all knew that Rarity was keeping something from them. They just weren't sure what it was or how they should approach it.

“Are you sure you don't need any help? I mean, I'm from Canterlot; it wouldn't be too hard for me to just pop in for a visit. I'm sure my parents would appreciate the visit from me too.”

Rarity stopped short, secretly glad she was facing away from Twilight when she dropped that bomb because the white unicorn was sure that the truth about her situation was written all over her face. As much as she loved her friends, truly she did, she did not want them poking their heads into her secret, especially not this week. She tried not to let it faze her. Instead she continued to pack up her wardrobe to bring on her excursion as if there was nothing bothering her.

“Oh Twilight, that's sweet, but it won't be necessary. Trust me. My family and I have known this mare for a long time, she's a dear and I've placed my full confidence in her.”

“If you're sure...” Twilight said trailing off as she looked down at the filly giggling loudly on the floor with one of her toys. “Look Rarity...” Rarity turned around, still focusing her magic on the objects she was packing, “the girls and I are worried about you.”

“Why?” She asked, not fully paying attention.

“It's about Ivory Lace's father... you've never mentioned him and... well, we're worried that he may have hurt you.”

Rarity stopped cold, she lost control of the dress she had just folded and watched as the magic surrounding it disappeared and the garment slowly fell to the floor. She wished she could just explain to her friends once and for all that it wasn't that Ivory Lace's father had hurt her, but that for her reputation's sake, she just could not say who he was. Rarity and Blueblood had promised each other early on in the pregnancy that this information stays within a very small group of ponies.

Unfortunately, that small group did not include her friends.

“Are you OK?” Twilight asked noticing her friend's mistake.

“No... I mean yes. I'm okay, but no her father never hurt me. I just cannot for the life of me remember his name,” The lie flowed off her tongue so easily. At this point she had used it so many times to explain to other ponies who asked. Rarity shook her head and smiled at the purple unicorn. “Well it's no matter, he is off living his life and I'm living mine.”

“You know with my magic we could probably find out...”

“Twilight, please. Just drop it. It's not worth it.” Rarity snapped as she loudly zipped up another bag and put it on the floor next to the slowly accumulating pile of luggage. “There is no use for her father around here anyway, nor will there ever be. When I get married, I assure you it will not be to her father. I would prefer that her father be a stallion who can actually take care of Lacey and I. Like Fancypants for example. He is somepony who would actually take care of us and treat us with respect.”

“When are you going to tell Fancypants about Ivory Lace?”

“Maybe during our trip, depending on how well it goes.” She paused. “At least that's the plan, telling you five was difficult enough, but this is somepony who is showing an interest in me. He might not feel the same way about me when I tell him the truth.”

“Is that why it took so long for you to tell us? Did you think we were going to hate you?”

“Not at all, darling. It wasn't like that at all, I was just a tad bit ashamed. It wasn't exactly my finest moment,” She looked over at her daughter and smiled, “It's all water under the bridge now. I don't know where I would be if it weren't for her and what I would be doing without the help of you and the girls.”

“It really hasn't been a problem,” Twilight beamed, “Lacey is the sweetest. Her father really is missing out, you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

* * *

Blueblood sat at the table with his mother who was fervently explaining to him how he should behave once Rarity and his daughter enter the palace. If it was up to him, she would know nothing about this, but there was no way he could easily explain to his mother why he was babysitting a filly for a whole week. Not to mention his so-called trusted servant Jeeves, told her.

He lost track of what his mother was talking about several minutes in. She started out by ranting about how disappointed in him she was for not telling her sooner and the responsibilities he was going to have this week. He knew exactly what she was probably saying anyway and knew well enough that this advice should not come from somepony who left him to be raised by servants and nannies. Obviously she was somepony who knew less than he did about raising foals.

Blueblood's mother slipped a small box across the table catching his attention, he looked up at his mother who was smiling smugly and took the box, opening it slowly. He peeked inside, groaned and quickly closed it again, giving it a slight nudge away from him.

“Mother, why did you give me the engagement ring father gave you?” He knew the answer, but he was avidly hoping that he was mistaken.

“When that mare gets here, I want you to propose to her. Believe it or not, it is the right thing to do.”

“Absolutely not! I refuse to marry her.”

“Your publicist and I have been talking and we've both come to the conclusion that this could do great things for your image. Marrying a common mare from an obscure town is a sure way to get more ponies to like you.”

“I find that I am well liked already.”

“I mean by the common ponies,” His mother responded. “Besides, I think your father would have appreciated it if you stepped up to take responsibility for once.” Blueblood frowned, she knew he was going to try and guilt him into this, but he didn't think she would do so by mentioning his father. “Your publicist and I already have the story planned out to send to the presses.”

“Please do tell what you and Positive Publicity have come up with,” Blueblood rolled his eyes already bored with the conversation. He just hoped she would give up on the idea, it was a lost cause anyway.

“You and...”

“Rarity.”

“You and Rarity had been secretly dating for months because you were afraid of the negative publicity she could get if the relationship went public. Then, once you two found out that you were expecting Blue Belle, the two of you decided to make the relationship official. You both quickly realized that there was so much hype surrounding your cousin Cadance's wedding, so instead you decided to get married in a small ceremony and have an exquisite wedding later. It's a flawless plan!”

“Certainly,” Blueblood said flatly. “Mother you do know that she is here to drop off our daughter so she can go off gallivanting with Mr. Fancypants, right?”

“Bluey, dear, you know it won't last.” She was probably right, but he did wish it would work out for them. He wasn't exactly a fan of knowing that she would become a bigger part of Canterlot society, of course he figured that by that point they would know better than to go anywhere near each other. His mother passed the ring over to him again, “At least try proposing to her. At least you can say that you tried, if only for the sake of Blue Belle.”

The ring became shrouded in the soft silver glow of his magic as he placed it in his jacket pocket. His mother smiled and left the room, leaving Blueblood in blissful silence for the last time before his daughter got here.

He spent the last week preparing himself for this day, but in reality he wasn't ready in the slightest. Sure there was a nursery down the hall from him all set up in pastel colors and there were enough supplies around the castle to take care of a baby for months, but he wasn't ready to meet her.

The original plan had been that they would give the filly up for adoption. Once she was born, he and Rarity planned to give her to a couple who actually wanted a baby. He wasn't sure what happened, but a few weeks before their daughter was born she sent him a letter telling him she changed her mind and planned to keep her.

“So like a mare, always so indecisive.” He had thought when he saw that letter. The stallion had not agreed with her initially, but after a series of angry letters back and forth, he finally acquiesced. He made it clear early on though that he wanted no part in raising her.

Sir?” a voice came from behind him, Blueblood turned around. “The uh... mare is here to see you.”

“Very well” Blueblood said to his servant as he stepped down from his seat.

The palace was huge, even just the Blueblood family wing of the palace was bigger than some houses in Canterlot. Still, Blueblood thought that the length to the front door of his wing of the castle was not long enough.

He opened the door to see Rarity and a pure white filly with violet hair seated in a carrier on her side.

He looked at his daughter for the first time. The first thing he noticed was her eyes, they were exactly the same shade of blue as his. It was the same with her coat, while Rarity had a slight tinge of gray in hers, his daughter had the same pure white shade he did.

How in Equestria, where genetics could be so crazy, did he end up with a filly that looked so much like him?

“Hello, Miss Rarity.”

“Hello, Blueblood. Sorry it took so long, I had a little problem with luggage.” Blueblood peered out the door, there were at least four bags on the ground.

“Is there a reason you brought your luggage up here too?”

“These are just Lacey's, my bags are still in the cab. It took a few tries to fit it all in the cab, but it all worked out in the end,” she said with a large smile as she trotted through the doorway. “Do you mind holding Ivory Lace while I bring her stuff in?”

“No, not at all,” he lied.

Rarity smiled and lifted the filly out of carrier and handed her over to Blueblood who gingerly took her in his hooves.

He looked down at her confused, what was the big hoopla? He didn't understand what his servant meant when he said that the prince would have an instant connection with his daughter the moment he first held her. Obviously, this was not one of those cases.

The unicorn filly looked up at him with the same confused face he was giving her, then she started whimpering and within seconds, began to cry. Surprised to hear such a loud sound come out of something so small, Blueblood let go of her and jumped slightly, then caught her with his magic right before she hit the ground.

“Oops,” he said. Rarity rolled her eyes. “It's not like I planned it, I just wasn't expecting her to make a sound.”

“Please tell me you're joking.” Rarity said as she stole away the filly from him and tried to calm her down. Blueblood shook his head, she sighed. “Maybe I should just tell Fancypants I'm too sick to attend this week. You obviously cannot handle this task.”

“Good plan, you should tell him you are not able to attend. Tell him you have more pressing matters to attend to.”

“Yes, and then I would become an old mare and the only pony I would blame is you because you wouldn't even try acting like a father for Ivory Lace for just one measly week.”

The stallion sighed, knowing that he couldn't win in this situation anyway, he decided to make the situation worse and do what his mother wanted him to do. He took the ring out of his pocket and kicked it over to her. Rarity looked down at the ring, confused at first, but then was hit with a sudden realization. She glanced up at Blueblood, unsure of how to react.

“Is... is this what I think it is?” Rarity asked. The white unicorn nodded, his face stoic. “That was... the worst proposal I have ever seen. Now I am sure that your mother put you up to this, but you could have at least delivered it with a bit more tact instead of just throwing it to the ground.”

“All you had to do was say no,” Blueblood mumbled.

“There was nothing to say no to! Tha was abysmal and nopony in their right mind should acknowledge that as an actual act of love or even admiration,” she said holding her head high.

Blueblood ignored her dramatics, he was in no mood to deal with her today any more than he had to. He was frustrated enough that he already had to cancel some of his plans for the week just to stay in and take care of the filly he never wanted to meet in the first place.

“Look, just give Blue Belle back to me and...”

“Ivory Lace.”

“Just hand me my daughter, Rarity!” This didn't help ease the filly's crying, instead it just exacerbated it. The crying before was just whimpering compared to the all out screeching that the argument between the two unicorns led to.

“Now look what you have done! This has never happened with her before,” Rarity said as she tried to console her.

“Me? If you had just trusted me with her in the first place...”

“I did trust you! You dropped her! How am I supposed to trust you after that?”

“I told you I wasn't expecting her to make a sound!”

Several of the prince's servants came over to the pair and took the screaming Ivory Lace off to the nursery Blueblood's servants had set up. Blueblood hoped that they would have better luck with her than he was having so far, in fact this introduction had done nothing but remind him how glad he was to have left so early on. Rarity watched nervously as the prince's servants carried the foal away from the duo then looked back at Blueblood and shook her head.

“This isn't going to work, is it? I should have known better than to ask you, you can't do anything I ask you to do.”

“Are you saying Miss Rarity, that I am a failure?”

“That is exactly what I'm saying.”

“I said I would do this for you and as long as you keep up your end of the bargain and leave me alone after this week, then I will do it. So go off and screw your so-called 'knight in shining armor' before your little illusion wears off.”

“Watch your language! Even if you don't act very princely, you still are one and you're a father too. Do not use that kind of language around my daughter.”

“Blueblood, darling!” He groaned inwardly. Of course his mother would come and interrupt them now and make things even worse than they already were. She always had to stick her nose into situations she wasn't part of. “And this must be your lovely fiancee!”

“Oh no, no no no no. We are just two ponies with a baby,” Rarity quickly interjected.

“Mother this is Rarity and Rarity this is my mother.”

“Charmed to meet you, dear,” His mother said. “I hear you are going on an airship with Mr. Fancypants.”

“Yes...”

“Darling, have you realized that he is a little too old to keep up with a filly like yours?” Rarity just stared back at the mare in shock, then her gaze migrated over towards the prince who just stood there silently.

“No, but thank you for pointing that out. I will take that into consideration,” she answered.

“Well, mother thank you for that lovely... thing. But now it's time for Miss Rarity to leave.”

“Oh Bluey, she can't leave before I show her around. I'm sure she would be interested to see where Blue Belle will be living for the next week.”

“Actually, it's Ivo...” Rarity began.

“Why don't you let me give her the grand tour of this wing of the castle? I would love to get to know her a little more,” the prince's mother interrupted. Neither Blueblood nor Rarity knew how to respond to this, but his mother took the silence as an agreement and led Rarity off down the hall towards the nursery.

Blueblood took that opportunity to mix himself a stiff drink. If this was how the day was starting out, he was going to need something to keep him going. He could hear the faint sounds of a one-sided 'polite' argument from where he stood and took a long sip.

This was the reason he didn't want his mother to find out about Rarity or Blue Belle.

Within minutes, Rarity was storming out of the suite, a loud slam following her departure. While the stallion was curious to know exactly what happened between his mother and her, now that she was gone he could finally relax. The hard part was over, at this point all he had to do was get through the week without any problems.

His servants had been able to calm down his daughter, so he decided to try his hoof at holding her again. He peered into the nursery, the filly was wide awake and was clearly enjoying playing with the toys that had been left out for her. Despite how nervous and unsure he was about this week he was at least glad that those toys got some use out of them, better than letting them gather dust in a closet.

The prince stepped into the nursery and scooped up the baby unicorn, once again she looked up at him confused and started sniffling. Blueblood closed his eyes, “Celestia please, don't let her start crying again.”

The unicorn foal started whining, it was quieter than it had been before, but it was still as heart breaking as it was when Blueblood heard it before. Her father scampered about the nursery in confusion trying to figure out what it was she wanted, and ended up corralling his servant, Jeeves into helping him when his initial suggestions didn't work out.

The stallion tried feeding her, but she snubbed the bottle and the baby food. He convinced Jeeves to change her diaper, but it was empty. Blueblood was starting to get frustrated, what else could a tiny filly possibly want?

“Perhaps sir, she wants her mother,” Jeeves suggested after they tried to set her down for a nap.

“Why? I'm here! I'm her father, is that not just as good as her mother?”

“Sir, she doesn't know that. If anything, she knows that you are the one who almost dropped her and yelled at her mother. Remember, she has never seen you before.”

The white unicorn handed the foal off to another servant and walked off exasperated. He really had tried, but maybe Rarity had been right. He hadn't been raised by his parents so how was he supposed to know how to be a parent to his daughter? It was unnerving just thinking about having to take care of her for the whole week.

For months he was able to push her out of his mind, forgetting she even existed at some points. It wasn't possible to push her out of his mind anymore, not when she would be sleeping down the hall from him.

Taking a deep breath he went back into the nursery and decided he would try his hoof at taking care of her again. He shooed Jeeves out and picked up one of the toys she had been playing with earlier.

“Let's try this again,” he murmured to himself.

The following morning, the prince was sitting at the table trying desperately to stay awake while attempting to feed his daughter who was more enthusiastic about the morning than he was. The prince had spent the whole night doing whatever he could to get the foal to stop crying, but he felt like all he accomplished was jokes for his staff to make about him and two hours of sleep. He needed help with the simplest of tasks and had often become frustrated with the filly.

He knew it was bad when his mother had to step in at one point.

“Good morning dear, how are you?” His mother asked walking into the kitchen and grabbed the mug of coffee Jeeves had just set out for her.

“I've been better,” the stallion responded as he tried to send the spoon full of baby food into her mouth. The filly wanted nothing to do with the food this morning though and refused to cooperate. “I swear sometimes I think that her mother did something to make her hate me, she's just so difficult.”

“Oh I'm sure it isn't that bad, Bluey.”

“She won't even let me feed her! I'm treated like some kind of stranger! I am her father!”

“She probably has both of her parent's stubborn attitude, neither you nor that purple maned thing are the easiest to get along with,” his mother replied.

“I suppose.” He sighed. “By the way, what exactly did you say to her yesterday?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” she responded innocently. “You know, you really should fight harder for custody of Blue Belle. Her mother seems to be a sensitive little thing and really Blue Belle should be raised among the elite of Canterlot not some backward little Earth pony town.”

“Mother please, just no. The filly hates me enough already why drag this torture out for longer than a week?” She didn't respond to him, just walked out of the room while Blueblood went back to trying to feed the unwilling filly. “Why don't you like me?” Blueblood asked, whispering in pure frustration, “why make this week more difficult than it has to be?”

“Mama?” The filly asked innocently.

“Your mother isn't here, please just work with me this week? You will never have to see me again after this week. Okay, Blue Belle?”

“Mama.”

“Can you say dada?” The foal made a face at him, Blueblood huffed. “I didn't think so.”

The morning dragged on with the prince trying everything he could to keep her happy, he was glad to note that she had at least stopped crying at the sight of him. By the time he put her down for a nap, all he wanted to do was sleep, but instead of running to his bed to take a well-deserved nap, he sat down at his desk and penned a letter.

It was only a few lines and he didn't bother look it over before he sent it out, he didn't even care if the recipient got it, just writing everything down helped him. He called in a servant to send out the letter and once he was certain it was in good hooves, he started to nod off.