Dear Princess Celestia,

It's hard to believe that two ponies that seem to have so little in common could ever get along. But I found out that if you embrace each other's differences, you just might be surprised to discover a way to be friends after all...

Princess Celestia was about to knock on Luna's door to deliver this week's Friendship Report when she was stopped short by a sudden, booming voice, as clear as if she were in the room herself. “WE ARE FEELING JUST FINE, WE THANK THEE. WHY DOTH THOU ENQUIRE?” Once again Celestia was glad that she'd finally discontinued the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice all those centuries ago. She had to grin to herself. It only took Sugar Heart a couple of weeks to work up the courage to actually speak to Luna herself. That had to be some kind of record. And to her credit, she didn't immediately bolt out the door after receiving a face full of The Voice. Celestia put an ear to the door and could barely make out the comparatively quiet avalanche of nervous words Sugar Heart spouted. From what she could hear, it was an explanation largely the same the one she gave a couple weeks ago. Celestia returned to her own room. The Friendship Report could wait.

Luna could not help but blink a few times in surprise. This servant... she remembered her. She did in fact share a couple of her new star charts that first week home. Her mood must have turned more deeply sour than she realized if this scared little filly felt the need to speak. She lowered her voice to a still loud, yet manageable decibel level as she asked the next question. “Are we truly so transparent?” she asked, mostly managing to keep her embarrassment from her face.

Sugar Heart kicked at the ground with her left foreleg as another stream of conversation practically erupted from her mouth. “Well it's not that you're transparent necessarily it's just that like I said you are a lot like my brother when he's happy he works hard but proud and creates wonderful paintings but when he's sad he gets kind of stuck and keeps trying to work but makes nothing and I noticed you were acting the same and I just had something to compare it to is all.”

Luna cocked her head a bit. “Why doth thou speak in that manner?”

“Huh? Why do I speak... what?”

Luna chuckled a bit in spite of herself. “Thy words. It is as though thy mouth is a dam that once opened can no longer hold back the deluge of words.”

Sugar Heart blinked a bit herself and released a wry chuckle of her own. That was a very flowery way of saying "you talk really fast." When she spoke again, her words had slowed down to a more listenable speed, though it obviously took some effort. “I'm sorry, Princess. It's a nervous tic I got. I talk really, really fast whenever I get scared or nervous.”

Luna gave Sugar Heart an ironic smirk “Are we really so terrifying?”

Sugar Heart jumped a bit at the question and her words sped up again. “No well yes well...” Deep breath; slow down. “It's just that... I'm a servant of the house. Yours specifically. I'm, well, not sure if it's entirely proper for me to converse with you so freely.” A slight blush made itself visible through her green coat.

Luna blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected that answer. “Is that the only reason?” she said.

Genuine confusion crossed Sugar Heart's face. “Well... yeah. I mean, what else would...?” Comprehension suddenly dawned. “Oh. Oooooh. Well, that has nothing to do with it, really. I mean, you're not her anymore, right?”

Luna felt a smile form on her face. It was a small smile, but genuine. “No. No we are not. And in truth, we do not know what propriety demands with regards to a servant's relationship to the princesses. However, you will discover that neither our sister nor ourselves put much importance in such things.” Luna stood up from her desk and paced in front of her wall of art. When she turned back to Sugar Heart, her smile had grown. “We truly are feeling fine now, thanks to you. We... we hope to be able to speak more with you in the future?”

Sugar Heart's smile threatened to split her face in two. “Well... I, I mean yes. Of course. Good night, Princess Luna.”

“Good night, Miss Sugar Heart.”

Before exiting the room, Sugar Heart turned and hesitantly asked, “Er, um. If I may... why do you speak the way you do? With the yelling and calling yourself 'we' and all that?”

“'TIS TRADITION!” Luna bellowed with a smile. It took a brief moment for Sugar Heart's eyes to shrink back down to their normal size after the sudden return of the Voice, but as she was leaving, she was laughing softly to herself.

Luna trotted out to her balcony to gaze up at the night sky. Tonight's sky was... fine, but as she looked at it, she realized she could do better. And so she went to work, brightening a few stars here, dimming some there, adjusting the visibility of the Milky Way. And as she worked, she began to mutter to herself, the words indistinct but animated.

From a balcony of her own across the courtyard, Celestia smiled to herself. Luna had ever been an artist, constantly trying to perfect her work. Celestia performed her duties more on instinct, and could never get a night sky quite as beautiful as her sister. Yet, tonight was the first night since Luna's return that she really threw herself into her work. In a positive way, at least. A way that created rather than distracted. It seemed that her sister had finally come home.

The Canterlot Royal Gardens were a beautiful sight, with many rare and beautiful plants, animals, and statuary. However, after spending days on end marching the maze of flowers, the guardponies who worked there didn't really notice anymore. Especially when one of the visitors was being particularly irritating. Like now. The current guard, Night Watch, rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Hey, you," he shouted. "The gardens have been closed for an hour now. If you don't leave on your own we'll have to make you leave.”

The brown earth pony with the hourglass cutie mark looked up from his own hastily scratched out sketches. “Oh, so sorry,” he said to the guard with a notable Trottingham accent. He turned back to the statue and sighed. “There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day,” he said as he gathered up his drawings and placed them in his saddlebag.

Night Watch rolled his eyes at that. The chestnut colored weirdo had been visiting the gardens dawn to dusk for the last week, gushing over and drawing the various statues, but paying particular attention to the mismatched dragon... pony... goat... thing. The guard had actually overheard the nutter call the statue “beautiful” at least once. There really was no accounting for tastes, sometimes.

"Well then. All packed and ready to go," the odd colt said with a laugh. "Onward and upward, allons-y, and all that." With that he obediently followed Night Watch on his way out of the garden. He did stop for a brief moment as he could have sworn he heard a low chuckle emanate from his favorite statue. After a brief moment of consideration he dismissed the idea as lunacy and continued on his way.