Rarity and Blueblood's Adventures in Parenting

“I am truly sorry.”

Those four words had been echoing through Rarity's head as she walked up the stairs of the castle towards Blueblood's suite. They had been said to save face and make both of them look good in a public place, but that was all they were. They were just hollow words with no real meaning.

She knew that now, of course. If only she had realized it then.

Rarity trotted through the castle quickly, ignoring anything that wasn't in her path as she thought about what she was going to say when she saw Blueblood. She had decided that whatever it was, would have to be something he wouldn't argue with her about because she had no intentions of staying here long. She never dared stay at the castle longer than needed when she came to visit the prince. It was hard to want to stay when the stallion she was visiting was the biggest jerk she had ever had the misfortune of spending time with.

Her thoughts were stopped short when she noticed the door to the prince's wing of the castle was wide open. She stared at it with confusion, in the past few months every time she had visited him in the castle, he had always been one to make sure that the door was tightly closed and locked, no matter the occasion and had always vehemently opposed the idea of keeping your doors unlocked like Rarity was used to in Ponyville. One day she brought it up to him after having been locked out when he had promised to speak to her, Blueblood ended up spending an hour explaining to her that unlike the ponies who live in Ponyville, in Canterlot doors were locked for personal safety and privacy. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't spoken to her as if she were a child the whole time.

Seeing the door open like this was the complete opposite of everything he had ever told her and it was making her slightly nervous to find out what was in store for her inside that wing of the castle.

She stepped gingerly inside and looked around, the entire room seemed to have been flipped in such a state of disarray she wondered if the stallion had gone on some kind of rampage or something. She was not feeling very positive about the rapid change in décor.

“Oh my...” She said to herself.

Blueblood winced when he heard those words and stepped away with his conversation with the head of the royal guard. He walked slowly over to Rarity with a fake smile plastered on his face while she examined every nook and cranny of the room.

Once he caught her eye, the two ponies stared at each other for a moment trying to figure out how to start off a conversation without out rightly bringing up what was plaguing them just yet.

“Rarity, you're back early,” The prince finally said, he waited a beat and when she didn't respond he quickly added, “and you look lovely... very relaxed and well rested, must have been a nice vacation. Did you do something different with your hair? It looks great.”

He bit his tongue, he hadn't meant to ramble on like that, but he was so nervous about telling her what happened that he would do anything to make the truth less painful for her, even if that meant flattering her just a tad bit. Unfortunately for the stallion, her flat expression did not change.

“I figured I would relieve you of your... what was it that you called her? Oh yes, your biggest mistake. I decided it was time to let you go back to your life as it was before we came into it,” She responded coldly.

“Oh,” he responded, his voice sounding hurt.

“And not a moment too soon I see. Your home looks like a disaster hit it,” Blueblood bit his lip, she drew a short breath and then asked, “now, where is Ivory Lace?”

“Rarity...” the stallion started off as he looked down at the floor, suddenly immersed in his hooves, “she kind of... disappeared.” He looked back up at her and winced as if he was expecting some kind of pain to befall him. Instead the mare just smiled slyly.

“Did you check under her crib?” She asked.

“Excuse me?”

“The same thing happened when my friend Pinkie was foalsitting her one day. Ivory Lace had so much fun with the twins that live with Pinkie, that the three of them hid under the crib when I returned to pick her up. Pinkie and I ended up tearing apart Sugarcube Corner before finally finding them curled up under the cribs in the nursery with a few toys.”

“While that is a cute story, I do not think we are thinking of similar situations...”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don't you follow me to the nursery?” He said as he lead the confused unicorn down the hall and stops in front of the nursery.

He opened the door to the nursery without saying a word and let Rarity peer inside, when she saw the charred nursery, her face fell. She stepped inside and breathed in the smoky smell that had stayed with the room since the early hours of the morning and examined the blackened furniture and the charred remains of her daughter's possessions. With every step she took, she could feel her heart breaking, she tried to contain the tears that were prickling against her eyes, as she turned back towards the prince. So far she had been prided herself on saying and doing exactly what she had practiced in her head, but this had not been part of her plan.

“Is she... dead?” She asked, fearing the worst.

“I... nopony knows right now. The guards have been searching, but there hasn't been any news just yet.”

She didn't respond and the prince turned away from her, he didn't want to see her reaction. He hadn't realized how truly afraid to see her reaction he was, until she had arrived. He tried to focus on a picture on the wall in the hallway of his parents, but all he could think about was how disappointed his father would be in him if he were still alive. Blueblood felt like he should have anticipated this and that he should have been better prepared just in case, after all his father had once put his life on the line to keep his family safe, what made it so difficult for him to do the same?

His thoughts were cut short by the sound of a loud thud, he turned away from the picture and peered back into the nursery only to see an unconscious Rarity lying on the ground.

“This... was not what I expected to happen...”

The hours passed slowly as Prince Blueblood paced the hallway outside his bedroom asking every royal guard that passed in his direction if there were any updates. Every time he was answered with a resounding 'no' and no matter how many times he asked, no other ponies in the castle seemed to have the same sense of urgency that he had.

His prior conversation with Shining Armor had brought him no further to figuring out what had happened to his filly and since then every no he received from the other guards made him feel more and more anxious. It had gotten to the point that he didn't have to look in the mirror to know that he looked like an absolute mess. His usually well coiffed mane was scruffy and out of sorts because he had run his hooves through it every few minutes for the past few hours and his usually clean pressed suit was covered in the soot from the nursery after having spent so much time walking in and out of there searching for something that might give the guards a clue as to what was going on.

“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 mare friend?” 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.

Blueblood took a deep breath, he felt a twinge of guilt for yelling at the girl, but it was useless now, the damage had been done. Besides, he reasoned with himself, he had bigger things to worry about than the well being of some random servant.

He used this as a reason to take a break from his constant questioning of the passing guards and walked back into his bedroom. He sat down on the red velvet chair next to his bed and rubbed his forehead with his hooves, the lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him, but he refused to give in to it. He had more pressing matters to deal with.

“She is really gone isn't she?” Rarity asked quietly, her voice cutting through the silence in the room like a knife.

“Well... yes.” Rarity sighed and flipped over on the bed to face away from the prince. He quickly added, “I'm sure wherever she is, she is safe and I have no doubt in my mind that the guards will find her, they have been specially trained to keep Equestrians safe, no matter what.”

He heard her mumble a few words to herself and waited a beat before asking, “beg pardon?”

She sat up on the bed and glared at him, “Perhaps if you actually cared about her, things would have been different. Maybe if you had just acknowledged from the start that she was more than just a mistake you made...”

The prince blinked back in surprise, how was it that just a moment ago she knew he was just as upset about this as she was? This conversation was heading in a completely different direction now and he knew he shouldn't give in to her arguing but he was too tired to stay civil with her any longer.

“Excuse me? I will have you know that I do care about her, and I do not understand how acknowledging her as my daughter from the start would have done anything to help this situation except raise more eyebrows. Please do keep up this attitude of yours Miss Rarity, for a moment there I was actually worried about your well being as well, but I am glad that I have been reminded yet again as to why I do not like you.”

“And why is that, Blueblood?”

“Well, to start, you are a vain, social climbing liar who would do just about anything to save your own reputation.”

“Excuse me? That sounds a tad bit more like a description of yourself.”

“No Rarity, you see, unlike you I do not go walking around Canterlot thinking I am the most important pony around just because the elite like my clothes and because Fancypants likes the way my hips look. That is all you.”

“No, of course you don't act that way,” she said as she rolled her eyes, “it isn't as if you use your title to get anything you want, nor is it the only reason any mare shows an interest in you.”

“You would know all about that, after all you have been one of those mares attracted to my title.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Oh so you came up to me at the gala because you liked my personality? It seems if that were the case we wouldn't be arguing right now.”

“Excuse me, but you were the one who came up to me at the gala and airship launch! Never have I ever initiated conversation with you in public.”

“The first time I only went up to you because Auntie Celestia had suggested it to me, I do not want you to be fooled into thinking that I have ever been attracted to you.”

“And the time at the ship launch?”

“You and I both know that it was only to give us good publicity. A nasty gossip column was written about the events of the gala, so apologizing to each other made us look good to anypony who could recall specifics. Not that you didn't enjoy speaking to me that evening, I know you would never admit it to me, but you know that short conversation made you look more important and it made your beloved little Fancypants jealous.”

“I only spoke to you because alcohol had clouded up my rational thinking, looking good with the elite had nothing to do with it. I was already doing very well with them without your help.”

“Sure you were, just like those two glasses of wine you had must have been terrible for your rational thinking, they are incredibly alcoholic after all.”

"Need I remind you that you did buy us stronger liquor later that evening?"

“Of course I remember that! After all, hard liquor is the only way to make you tolerable. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so, your coltfriend seemed to be pretty dependent on the alcohol that night as well before you came running to me.”

“You took her yourself didn't you? You decided you didn't want to deal with me anymore so you staged this entire incident, didn't you?”

They both reeled back slightly after she spoke those words. Rarity could not believe that she had actually said that out loud. It had been at the tip of her tongue since the beginning of the argument, just waiting for the moment when he had pushed her too far. She didn't actually believe that he did it, but she had wanted to say something that she knew would hurt him just like he had done to her.

Blueblood, on the other hoof, tried to remind himself that she was just spouting nonsense because she was upset. He tried to keep himself from yelling at her, after all how could she have the gall to accuse him for this? Didn't she see how torn up about this he was?

Shining Armor had chosen this moment to tread through the crowd of ponies that had gathered around the door to listen to the argument going on between to the two unicorns. He had just received notice of an update the two unicorns may be interested in, and as soon as he was safely in Blueblood's room he slammed the door shut to keep the crowd from seeing the rest of the conversation, yet the two unicorns were still oblivious to what was going on around them. Even after the crowd had dissipated, he realized that getting them to pay attention to the scroll did not prove to be as simple as he had initially expected it to be.

“I am appalled that you would stoop so low to accuse me! If I wanted full control of her I can assure you that under Canterlot law I would have not have any problems.”

“Excuse me? Your highness...” Shining Armor started to say as loud as he could as he levitated a scroll up towards them. Both unicorns finally looked over at him, each with a look of relief on their face hoping for good news and a way out of this never ending argument.

“Shining Armor! Thank goodness you are here, please tell this silly little mare that I did not hide my own daughter from her,” Blueblood interrupted.

“He didn't hide...”

“Thank you, Shining Armor, but you don't need to repeat him, he's right, he didn't do it. I am sure he was probably much too busy in bed with another mare to notice anything about his own daughter.”

“Rarity, don't you dare base your arguments about my skills as a parent based on our conversations and the one letter I sent you. I put her to bed at a normal time, she was taken around three in the morning. There was never a problem before, why should I have thought last night would be any different?”

“Can I interrupt?” Shining Armor asked speaking up yet again. Both the unicorns stopped their arguing and looked at him. “Prince Blueblood, you need to go into hiding. The guards found this note in the castle and it gives us reason to believe that some ponies stole your daughter and plan on going after you next.”

“What? Why?” Blueblood asked as he took the note from Shining Armors' grasp, his silver magic shrouding the scroll as he brought it over to his eye level and looked it over.

“I told you other ponies don't like you,” Rarity snorted.

“That's enough, Rarity!" He snapped. "Besides, according to this note they are not exactly smitten with you either.”

“How is that possible? How would anypony even know about you and I?”

“We believe perhaps there may be a spy in the castle, it would also be the only way they could know about her. After all, she is not exactly well advertised as his daughter,” Shining Armor said as Rarity leaned over Blueblood's shoulder to get a better look at the note.

Your Royal Highness Prince Blueblood,

Expect that to be one of the last times you are called by this moniker.

The ponies of Equestria believe that it is time for the Blueblood family to be taken out of power. You and your family have built a reputation on top of secrets and lies for generations and we believe that it has to end immediately. Especially in the recent years where you, your highness, have become nothing but a face to a fortune. You have done nothing to prove yourself worthy of your title nor of the treasures you possess.

You and that pitiful mare known as the “Element of Generosity” need to stop pretending to be what you are not. Neither of you have what it takes to truly be a noble that Equestria deserves. Trust us when we say that you have done absolutely nothing to help the Equestrian populace and it isn't like your little one night stand would be any better should she ever ascend to the throne.

As you very well know at this point, your daughter is missing, we have taken her into our possession for the time being. I will assure you that she is safe and will continue to be safe as long as you do things our way.

You should also take note that we do plan on letting all of Equestria know the truth and if we hear that either one of you has spoken to a reporter about what you think is really happening, then you can bet your horn that you will never see your daughter again.

We'll meet again soon your highness, just don't expect to live through it.

“As Captain of the royal guard I believe it is in your best interest to evacuate the castle”

“Why would anypony do this? What have I ever done to other ponies that would coerce them into doing something like this?”

“Perhaps it is because you are a vain social climbing liar who will do anything to save your reputation.” He shot a look over to her, she just smiled innocently.

“Rarity, I know you are upset right now, but this is not the time to insult each other..." Shining Armor pointed out before turning to the prince. "And Blueblood I don't think I need to stress how important it is for you to take this threat seriously. Somepony obviously has it out for you and has already taken measures to prove this to you.”

The pair looked at each other with low and apologetic eyes, neither of them said another word as another member of the royal guard opened the door and signaled Shining Armor to come speak to him.

After Shining Armor left the room, the duo looked up at each other nervously, neither of them had to say anything to know what the other was thinking. They were both terrified to hear what he was going to say when he returned. Rarity dug her head into the back of Blueblood's neck, put her forelegs around him and made a few whimpering noises.

It was somewhat comforting to have somepony who understood the situation and at the moment she was the only thing keeping him from going completely insane, she may not have been the ideal companion, but she would do for now.

The head of the royal guard walked back over to the pair slowly, they broke apart and with every step Shining Armor made towards the bed, both unicorns considered any and every bad thing that could have possibly happened to their daughter.

“Several more notes exactly like the first have been found scattered around the castle. It is assumed that the perpetrator or somepony they are associated with may be hiding somewhere in the castle. At this point it is extremely dangerous for you to stay here Blueblood. You need to leave immediately.”

“I doubt the summer home will be ready for me,” he said quietly.

“I can assure you that it is not ready right now, but really Blueblood it's for the best. Your mother has already checked into a spa in Las Pegasus and I have some of my best stallions looking into small inns and motels that you could stay in for a few days under a false name.”

“I'll take him in,” Rarity piped up. Blueblood stared at her incredulously. “What?” She asked the surprised looking prince, “it would be easier for the guards to contact us if we are in the same place, besides since everypony in Equestria knows that we are not exactly fond of one another, nopony would think to look in Ponyville for you.”

“Absolutely not, she's probably the one who wants to murder me!” Rarity glared at him, he took a step back, “Not saying you stole your own daughter of course, just saying that given the chance... I'll just stop there.”

“Good idea,” Rarity agreed.

“Rarity has a point, as long as she doesn't flaunt you around town I don't see why you can't spend a day or two there while we get another reservation ready for you elsewhere.”

“But... aren't they after her too?” Blueblood asked, desperately seeking a way out of having to spend any more time with her.

“It doesn't seem like they are, there are no outright threats against her. Of course, if something is to happen to either of you that is out of the ordinary it is imperative that you contact the guard immediately.”

Blueblood stayed silent as the guards and Rarity worked out a plan that would keep everypony safe, but he couldn't concentrate on what they were saying, instead all he could think about was what he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

The carriage ride to Ponyville was quiet, Rarity and Blueblood sat opposite each other staring out their respective windows. Neither of them really wanted to be the first to break the silence, the argument they had before they left still stuck with them and without Shining Armor to play the mediator, neither wanted to risk having a repeat argument right now.

Finally, Rarity could no longer stand it and broke the silence:

“I'm sorry I lost my temper earlier, it was crude and unladylike of me, but it has just been a terrible and seemingly never ending day. Last night I told Fancypants that you and I have a daughter and he told me that he did not feel comfortable interfering with our relationship right now, despite trying to explain to him that there was nothing happening between you and I. So I have no idea if I will ever see him again.” She sighed then looked at the prince sadly. “Then, of course I come back to Canterlot and find out that my daughter went missing...”

“I cannot say that I was thrilled to wake up at three in the morning to an empty nursery either.”

“I know and I am sorry I blamed you. You had no reason to hide her. I was just so angry. I also should not have said that you never cared, nor should I have assumed that you were tied up with a mare while she disappeared. What happened between us in the past is just that... the past. I apologize.”

He didn't respond, he just turned back to his window and stared at the moving landscape outside, she followed suit. They went back to trying to pretend that the other didn't exist for the time being.

Blueblood woke up from a sleep he had not realized he had even been in, until the carriage came to a halt in Ponyville. Blueblood sighed, once again he had returned to this backward little earth pony town, he didn't exactly hold fond memories of the place.

He had never actually thought about what it would be like to visit this place again, not after the cold welcoming that he had been given by a certain unicorn family the last time he had been in Ponyville.

And yet here he was again.

The carriage had come to a stop in front of a seemingly normal cottage. Prince Blueblood had to admit that he was surprised, he had always figured that Rarity lived in some kind of crazy looking building that made somepony with an untrained eye believe she was important. He never once believed that she actually lived in such a simple abode, it was actually quite refreshing.

“This is where you live?” He asked as he stepped out of the carriage, “It's... quaint.”

“Oh no, I don't live here. I live in my boutique on the other side of town, but with everything going on I would prefer that nopony know that I am home. Besides, I would like to avoid seeing Ivory Lace's things, so instead my parents have generously offered to let us stay with them for the time being.”

“So let me get this straight... this is where your parents live?” Rarity nodded, “And we are going to be staying here?” Again his companion nodded. “I can't stay here! They will kill me! Your father has made it very clear to me that he does not like me.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and opted to ignore his hysterics as she went to open the door. The prince on the other hand, walked slowly and quietly back towards the carriage, hoping she wouldn't notice his disappearance.

Blueblood knew all too well that if he tried to leave he wouldn't have anywhere else to go, but if he stayed here he was running the risk of getting physically injured again. He knew that he needed to go somewhere, at least for the night, which was quietly creeping up on the sleepy little town.

He trotted up to the door and knocked. The door opened slowly and Rarity's parents peeked their heads out. The prince put on the nicest smile he could muster. He admitted that it probably looked fake, but it was better than nothing. Rarity's father frowned.

“No,” he said as he slammed the door in his face.

“Well it was worth a try, I'm surprised her father even told her that he'd allow me into his home,” the prince reasoned. He figured that perhaps the carriage drivers could take him back to the castle and he could try to find another place to stay in the morning.