"Jus' wanted to say thanks, uh, and ask a question." Blossom looked about the room, tidy and well upkept, in part due to Neat Fold's attention.

"You have nothing to thank me for that you haven't already." Still, Neat Fold sat with a kind expression. "What are you thinking of?"

"Oh, well, you were a right nice pony, to start." Blossom played her hooves off one another. "Enjoyed our conversation an' what not... But ah wanted to ask... is it normal for ya to give a pony's measurements to yer boss?"

Neat colored swiftly. "Ma'am! I gave no such thing, I assure." She pointed off somewhere and back at herself. "However, Mister Fancy Pants did request I secure some clothing for you, and I did know your sizes."

Oh... "Oh," she repeated out loud, the mystery dissolved harmlessly. "That was a right nice dress then. Um... Thanks fer pickin' it. You were the one that got it then?"

Her momentary stunned expression brightened. "I'm glad to hear you liked it. You're not wearing it."

"N-no... Didn't feel right comin' in it. Um..." She rubbed at her cheek awkwardly. "Sends messages showin' up at a fellas house, wearing the pretty dress he got ya."

Neat Fold picked up her duster in her magic, setting it in a more longterm position. "You have a point. Fortunately, you don't need a dress to look great."

Blossom felt the blood rushing to her face. "R-really?"

"I judge things fairly, ma'am," assured Neat. "If I thought negatively, I just wouldn't speak my opinion, to be polite. But if I say something is attractive, it is because I believe it is." She inclined her head faintly. "You have a strong matronly feeling, and I can appreciate that..." Her smile relaxed with past thoughts. "It was just right to share mother's recipe with, for example."

Blossom's ears danced, considering that angle. "Hadn't really thought of it that way... Um... Also wanted t' chat with Fancy Pants, but ah hear he's gettin' his mane done up." She considered the well-to-do pony. "He does have a fancy look."

"Right from the name," joked Neat gently. "He knows his appearance is his first hoof forward, and endeavors that be a good one. They say you shouldn't judge a book on its cover, but we all do. If a book doesn't make you want to pick it up, the brilliant words within don't mean much, do they?"

Blossom considered a shelf full of books, waiting to be read. "Huh... But y'ain't gonna be happy with a book with a pretty cover what got nothin' inside."

"Aren't you?" Neat Fold leaned forward, a sly smile on her face. "That sounds like a picture. Ponies pay plenty for one of those."

"Huh... Um, so about when do ya think Fancy'll be done?" Blossom looked to a clock ticking quietly.

Neat turned her eyes in the same direction. "It isn't always easy to guess, but sometime soon." She gestured at a chair. "Please, relax. I feel certain Fancy Pants would want you to be comfortable."

Blossom accepted the seat, curling on it. "And why is that 'xactly? Is it 'cause I'm a princess?"

"That doesn't hurt." Neat lifted her shoulders. "But he had taken a shine to you, madame, before that was true. Putting that aside, what other princesses have you seen in your visits here?"

Blossom struggled to think of even one... "He visits with Celestia right often, don't he?"

"At her functions," corrected Neat. "She is the princess of the land. It would not be a good look for him to not be there, and lend his hoof to her however he could. He takes his noble duties quite seriously, ma'am."

"Noble duties, right." She flipped an ear back. "As a, uh, princess, ain't be doin' much of those."

"A princess would have royal duties," corrected Neat Fold with a serene smile. "And you accomplish them quite well, I am told. You don't do them as Princess Celestia does them, but very well regardless."

"Ah do?" She thought back to her activities. "Bein' a police officer? That can't be no royal duty. Plenty of not-royal ponies doin' it wit' me! Brave mares and stallions, the lot of 'em, but they ain't got the wings and horn."

"And, to them, you are their princess." Neat Fold inclined her head slowly. "And I'm sure they look up to you with wide, appreciative, eyes. Princess Celestia is a fine princess to guard and serve, but you're the princess that they work beside, and I feel certain they enjoy that."

Blossom got a lopsided grin, laughing at a sudden idea. "An' if there was a princess of maids?"

"Then I'd have to, as they say, 'up my game.'" She drew her duster over, glowing with her magic. "It wouldn't do to look poorly on her. Perhaps she would have some tips for the trade? I wouldn't mind exchanging them. Alas, no such princess has emerged." She sighed with perhaps more drama than she needed. "I will have to make do with a princess of the sun, and a princess of protection. Not a bad pair of princesses to have, if you ask me."

"An' the princess of the night?" suggested Blossom. "Can't go forgettin' Luna."

"Perish the thought." But it wasn't Neat. Fancy emerged from one of many hallways. "Ladies. I hope I am not intruding."

Neat Fold went right back to her duties without delay. "Of course not, sir. She was hoping to see you." Their conversation, ended.

Blossom scrambled up to her hooves. "Sir. Um, nice to see ya." She looked over his mane. "They did a right nice job."

"Thank you." He fluffed his mane but only once. "Oh, look at me. You didn't come here just to see me preen, did you?" Blossom shook her head quickly. "Did the gifts find you well?"

"Oh, yeah, um..." Blossom shuffled on her hooves, forgetting half the words she had worked up. "Actually, related to that! Kinda need to talk."

"With pleasure." He sat there in front of her. "Please, do proceed."

"Uh..." She glanced away and back. "That was... a lot. Ain't used to so many gifts from any pony... Ya sure ya meant to send quite so many?"

"It hardly encompasses the totality of my feelings on the matter." He adjusted his monocle. "I was quite the rude pony that evening, really. If I had known... But that is my error, not yours. One should check where they will land before they take a leap, hm?"

"It ain't like that!" She waved both hooves at him. "Ain't mad... weren't mad in the first place. Um... Ya just caught me off guard, an' ah ain't no disloyal pony..."

"I should imagine not, officer. You are a proud and valiant guardian of the laws, ma'am, and we are safer for your presence."

Blossom could hear hear heart in her ears. Why was he so flattering? "Um, so... ah brought it up with mah ladyfriend."

"Did you now?" He brought up a hoof as if to whisper, but didn't whisper. "Was she upset with me? She has every right to be."

"Um..."

"You don't need to be shy, Miss Blossom." He offered a hoof. "I was the one in the wrong. If anything, I'm the one that should feel out of place, and I do! I owe you more apologies, and you, none at all."

"It's fine," she squeaked. "Forgiven. Um... So, she wants to talk to ya, and, um, ya know Princess Cadance?"

His brows raised together. "Ruler of the Crystal Empire? I would hardly be doing my job if I didn't know of her. What about her?"

"That's the one." She smiled, if briefly. "She wants to be there, when we talk. All three of us." Blossom pointed at Fancy, herself, then at two other points for Sugar and Cadance. "Um, if... that's alright?"

"I say." He polished his monocle in his magic. "I have had a surplus of royal attention of late. If she wishes to speak with me, have no objection, and I do owe your paramour a proper apology. Did she enjoy the gifts?"

"Oh! Um... Ah didn't get word from her 'bout that yet..." She reached into her side and pulled out the velvet box. "Yer puttin' pressure on me, givin' a pony somethin' like this to give! 'Sides! Then she'd feel right guilty. She don't have no fancy ring like this to give back. Ain't tryin' to put that on her, and ah didn't even buy it! That'd not be a nice thing t'do."

The box glowed with Fancy's magic as he lifted it into the air. "My apologies. Even my..." He sighed softly. "I must seem like quite the incompetent."

"N-no! It ain't like that." Her magic met his, the box glowing in combination of their colors, neither letting go, or pulling very hard, just both resting on it. "Just, um... workin' out how to do that..."

"A duty I did not mean to burden you with." The box wrenched a precious inch towards him. "It was a gift given in poor taste."

"Ain't nothin' to be sad fer." The box lurched back where it began. "It's a right pretty ring, just ain't sure yet exactly how to, um, show it."

He brought in his forehooves, grabbing the box gently and dipping low before Blossom. "If I may, I would do it like this." He popped open the box with deliberate slowness, revealing the glittering jewel. "For a mare who shines brighter than it ever could."

Blossom's magic fizzled out as she fell back to her haunches, face and neck burning hot with the moment. "Ah!"

He closed the box and set it down in front of her. "It is your decision, of course. If you feel you wish, present it to her, or give it back." He held up a hoof. "No hard feelings in either event, though I won't hide that I hope she enjoys it." He gestured up at Blossom's head, no, her horn. "You could keep it yourself. I admit, I'm surprised to see this half of you holding it. I thought that had been sent to your day side?"

Blossom only felt the heat increasing. "He put it out, knowin' ah'd grab it. We both wanted you to get it, and hear what we were thinkin'."

"Understandable." He studied her, gaze even, but not intense. "Are you two related ponies, or one pony? The way you say that makes me think two closely related ponies."

"Oh!" It was a good evening to lose ones words. "Ah... We're one pony, ah think... Sorta... We got different personalities a bit, but they're brushin' up on each other. Hard to be two seperate, um... bein' this close togetha..."

"Do you know how he received my gifts then? He didn't send a letter about them. Nor did you, but you came personally, which certainly does count."

Oh shoot, was she, he, they? Were they supposed to do that?! "No offense!"

"None taken." He had that gentle smile. "I figured this may be new. And with the two of you being so enmeshed, I can count your visit as his own as well. It seems fair. Now, why did Princess Cadance want to be involved?"

A fine question she struggled to find words for. "Ah... Ah asked her... and she wants to... She wants to be in the middle, make sure there ain't more misunderstandings, from any of us."

Fancy skewed an ear forward. "That is very kind of her. I owe her a thank you for taking the time for little ponies like me." As if he wasn't a big deal. "I would be delighted, to speak to both of them. Just tell me when... Actually. Neat?" Neat Fold looked over. "You are familiar with Miss Orchard Blossom. Please work with her and consult my schedule for when would be a good day for all ponies involved."

Neat nodded crisply. "Of course, Sir. At your leisure, ma'am."

Author's Note

There were a lot of unspoken words in this meeting, hm... Which did you catch?

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