"Let us begin." Luna set her hooves together, eyes wandering between her two guests. "Tell me, Orchard Blossom, who you are and what you want, in your own words."

Orchard rubbed behind her head. "Wow... That's a big question right there, but also a small one. Um..." She could see no windows in that room. They were somewhere inside the castle, isolated in that little sitting room. "I'm just a pony that wants to lend a hoof where it's needed. I get right happy when I can do that, and that's all ah really want."

"Truly? With no recompense?" Luna sipped from the coffee she held. "Did you not have a calling before you ascended?"

Orchard immediately thought back to her farm, well, orchard really. She still did that! But how did she explain that without giving it all away? "I still have hobbies..."

"Hobbies and callings are not the same thing. But tell me of them. I would like to get to know you better. You already know about me, do you not?"

"To a point... Yer Luna, princess of the night, of dreams, and Celestia's little sister." Orchard worked her hooves in the air, trying to compress the oncept of Luna down to a small bitesized piece. "But I don't know much aside that. Like yer hobbies, or yer favorite color, or nothin'."

"'Tis only fair to be curious in kind." She put a hoof to her lips and blew a sharp whistle through it. "Tiberius!"

A scuttling scamper of claws could be heard, approaching rapidly. A thump, then a door swung open, allowing a small furry creature to invade the room. The opossum scrambled up to Luna and scaled her chair, then the side of her without pause to land on her head with a triumphant flop. "This is Tiberius, my pet."

Sugar burst into giggles. "Aw! Look at him! So cute. May I see?" She held out her hooves towards the little varmint. "Hello, Tiberius."

Tiberius inclined his head sharply at the new pony that was calling his name, whuffling into one of Luna's ears. "I think he would like that." Luna's horn glowed as she hefted her pet gently and floated him into range of Sugar Belle. A hug ensued, and the two seemed to get along famously. "Lovely. Do you have a pet, Orchard Blossom?"

Technically, she had a dog, but that was Big Mac's dog, not Orchard Blossom's... "I've had a dog before." Technically correct! "Right nice critter."

"They can be, I hear." Luna kept an eye on the interactions between her pet and the unicorn mare that held him, but they seemed to be getting along well, with hugs and nuzzles shared between the two. "A more traditional choice... Speaking of that, it is traditional that princesses, which you appear to be, and acting as, go through certain steps. You have avoided them all, so far. Are you aware of them?"

"Can't say I am." Orchard Blossom wasn't touching the snacks or the drinks, too nervous about the meat of the meeting. "What are they?"

"To start..." Luna set her mug of coffee down and brought up her hooves. "There's the announcement. We prefer the ponies of Equestria have some clue who the acting princesses are, whether they are acting in governance or not, so long as they are acting princesses. Now... To be fair, some alicorns are not acting princesses, but you seem to be."

Sugar Belle switched targets of attention in a snap. "What makes that difference?"

"An excellent question." Luna nodded at that extra mare. "Once in a while, a pony simply... is... They are so much themselves that they just... are. I'm not explaining this well... Such ponies have found such peace with their purpose and already exist in harmony with the other tribes that they simply become an alicorn, and continue as they were, as if nothing else had changed. They do their work as they had the day before, and nothing happens. They are not a princess, they just happen to be an alicorn."

Orchard slowly sat back, trying to digest that. "Never heard of that before."

"I thought you might be one, but you don't fit the profile at all." Luna waved a wing at Orchard. "You are out there, being a princess. You are not somepony who happens to be an alicorn. And that is the ... concerning part. Were you just a natural alicorn, a curiosity, but little more. You are a princess, and a natural princess? This we have not seen. There is more to being a princess, if you care to hear it?" She looked ready to go on, but gave that space to argue.

Orchard let out a sudden gust of air, as if relieved. "Actually... yer puttin' my heart at ease."

Luna raised a brow. "Am I? I'm not unhappy to hear that, but I am telling you that you're doing something wrong. Why does that relax you?" Her possum let out a little squeak, as if to play his part in the conversation.

Sugar leaned forward, possum in her arms. "I think it's because you're ready to fix it, without anypony getting hurt." Sugar snuggled the possum gently. "I'm glad to hear that too."

Luna snorted, nostrils flaring. "Hurting ponies is a last resort. You haven't earned that, and you are here, talking with me. That means we can try other things long before we arrive at that possibility. Now... Being a princess often involves a little... something extra. One clear way to tell one apart from an alicorn is their abilities, above and beyond the purpose they take up. I am guardian of dreams, and can move the moon without draining my magic. Two feats far beyond that of any normal unicorn." She nodded to Sugar Belle. "She could learn to do the same thing, mind, but it would deplete her in time, leaving her entirely without magic. A dire price..."

Sugar flinched at the idea. "I like my magic just fine! I don't do fancy spells or anything, but..." She reached up a hoof to her horn defensively. Her magic was a part of herself. "Bi--Orchard Blossom, do you have any special gifts like that?"

Did she? Orchard frowned with thought. "Ah can fly real fast." She pointed to Sugar. "Picked her up and brought her here tonight."

"Truly?" Luna glanced between the two. "But so can Rainbow Dash, flying quickly that is."

"It's not fast." Sugar let Tiberius leap free of her grasp so she could more wildly gesture. "We were there, then we were here, but without any magic. She just... moved, and brought me with her. It felt so strange! It's hard to put into words, but it wasn't fast, not at all. We were just there, and here, like were were always here, and just remembered it."

"I would... hm... That is something..." Luna considered Orchard Blossom anew as she received her pet, leaping into her arms as the possum did. "Transportation over a long distance, and without magic... That is certainly a trick worth noting... Can you go anywhere? Anytime?"

"Uh... Only tried a few places..." Orchard's wings fidgeted on her back. "Pretty sure ah need to know where I'm goin', so bein' there at least once, ya know, the old fashioned way?"

"Still a useful talent... Hm..." Luna sat up tall. "And you are certain you are drawn, as a purpose, to combat crime?"

Orchard's ears went bolt upright. They had not discussed that. "Um, yeah? It feels good when I can make things a bit safer fer folks. Either helpin' 'em, or keepin' bad ponies from doin' bad things."

"Marvelous." Luna deposited her pet on her head where he got comfortable. "Then it seems to be it would be in everypony's interest to bring you to more places."

Orchard Blossom blinked at Luna without comprehension. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean you should visit the other cities." Luna gestured boldly in different directions. "The train is the easiest method that comes to mind. Baltimare, Manehattan? The cities. We have a number, and if you could go between them, then you can do what you do so much more easily, since you can move between them with a thought."

Orchard let out a slow breath. "Does... that meany yer alright with me doin' what ah do?"

"I would like to learn more... but you seem sincere in helping. There remains the other parts you're missing, if you wish to proceed? If you were acting out of ignorance, that can be addressed. If it was active malice, that would be another story entirely."

"Ain't tryin' to make trouble!" Orchard went red, realizing she had said that a bit louder than she intended to. "Sorry... um, go on?"

"Both my sister and I are burning with curiosity. While a natural alicorn happens at times, practically an accident and easily ignored, a natural princess is unheard of. How did you navigate the astral realm on your own? Typically, a pony is disoriented in that moment of ascencion, and requires a guide to lead them those last few steps. Cadance and Twilight being the two examples I can provide. Do you know them?"

Sugar nodded swiftly. "I know Twilight! She's a real nice pony. Never met the other one though. She's... way up north, right?" Sugar pointed to where she guessed north to be. "With the crystal ponies?"

"That is correct. Miss Blossom?" Luna was quite fixed on Orchard at that moment. Sugar was just a distraction. "You know of them?"

"Um." Orchard frowned softly in thought. "Never been there, but ah know Twilight too. Who, uh, guided her then?" She had never heard the story of Twilight's actual ascencion, except from the outside. Applejack had a telling of it, but it left out bit portions of what it was like for Twilight in the end.

"Mine sister." Luna inclined her head towards a great hanging picture of Princess Celestia. "Twilight was carefully groomed from an early age for the task, and still has growing left to do. You had no such advantage. How did you... Make those last steps? Navigating that realm is no easy feat, especially for one who has never been there. Celestia knows the way, but how did you?"

Orchard Blossom looked to Sugar Belle, but neither of them knew of the place Luna spoke of. Sugar raised a hoof. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Orchard has any clue about this." Orchard bobbed her head. "Is it... possible to become a princess without going there?"

"It has never occurred!" Luna frowned softly. "But that does not mean it's impossible... Tell me then, how did you become a princess? It was surely a process, was it not? You were not born a princess, that would be even less likely. At the least, somepony would have noticed, and word reached us long before now."

Orchard fidgeted with hooves and wings. "Um... Um..." But did she just come out and admit her origins? "Ya see... Um..."

"Is it embarrassing?" Luna sat up, calm and composed. "We are not here to judge that. You had little control over it. Or did you? Speak truthfully, one princess to another." Her eyes darted to Sugar Belle. "Would you be more comfortable if your friend waited outside?"

"No!" Orchard grabbed Sugar Belle from the side, yanking hard enough to slide their chairs against one another. "She stays, please..."

"As you would wish it." A slow smile spread across her face. "Then please, answer the question. How did you become a princess?"

Author's Note

The big question. Does Big Mac/Blossom Orchard lay it all out, or come up with a wild tale?

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