"Luna, what are you doing?"
"Shh! Tia, you'll give me away!" Luna complained from the boughs of the tall oak that lined the pathway.
"Ms. Ginny says that we have to go straight to the library after school!"
Luna rolled her eyes. Celestia -or Tia as she like to be called- was a stickler for following rules.
"Oh, who cares what that old bat thinks?" She retorted scornfully. "Now go away. I can walk to the library by myself."
"Luna," Tia said in her warning voice. But Luna wasn't listening. She was watching a particularily handsome boy walk closer and closer through a pair of binoculars she usually used for birdwatching.
"LUNA DIANTHUS QUILL, YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Luna froze. Tia almost never used that tone with her, especially in public.
It had gotten the handsome boy's attention though, and his gas ran from Tia all the way up to Luna, meeting her gaze...straight through the binoculars. They slipped from her grip and fell through the branches. Luna yelped, but was relieved when they were caught by the handsome boy.
"Sibling troubles, Tia?" he asked playfully.
"Luna was birdwatching up in the tree," She replied.
"Hi Danny!" Luna waved from her perch down at him. He gave her a charming smile and waved back.
"You should come down from there," Danny said. "You might get hurt."
"Please," Luna replied in a show offy tone. "I'm not going to fall. Watch this!" To demonstrate, Luna leapt to her feet and bounced to the other branch. It sent a shower of twigs and leaves down onto the path.
Down below, Tia face-palmed herself and muttered quietly, "Don't do anything stupid,"
"I have cat-like balance!" Luna bragged as she jumped to a lower branch.
"I can see that," Danny called. "But can you come down? Ms Ginny wants us to go over to the library."
Reluctantly, Luna clambered down from the tree and joined Tia and Danny on the ground. "To the library!" she announced, falling into step next to Danny. In Luna's opinion, Danny was the most handsome boy ever. He was in high school -a freshman like Tia- and was already on the student council. His black hair was short and messy, with pale skin and black eyes.
"So how was school?" Luna asked.
"Fine," Tia replied briskly. She strode ahead with her head held high. A scowl marred her flawless features.
Luna frowned and nudged Danny. "What's wrong with Tia?" She whispered.
"Chrys," Danny answered. Chrys was a sophomore who was constantly changing her hairstyle. She had crazy colored contacts that were green and dark teal. Her black hair was always in a ponytail, curling into ringlets and a thin chunk hanging in her face. She had a gothic sense of fashion- not a chic gothic like Luna, but a hardcore gothic, with strappy combat boots and shirts that had dark images on them.
Naturally, she and Tia were sworn enemies.
"I hate Chrys," Luna told Danny.
"So do I," Danny agreed.
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"Here Luna," Celestia arrived at the table with three books on astronomy. Luna abandoned her homework and let her gaze fly over the three. She pointed to the second one.
"Read it," she told Tia casually. Luna pulled the remaining two towards her before returning to her math packet.
Celestia sighed, snatched it off the table and dropped it on a passing book cart. "I don't know why you read this stuff anymore," she said to Luna, pushing her long blonde hair out of her eyes. "You have to know pretty much everything about the night sky by heart."
"Miss Faust says that you should make a habit out of brushing up on your skills," Luna told Tia. Miss Faust was the counselor for the girls' dormitory at the orphanage, and Luna practically worshipped the ground Miss Faust walked on.
"Well, finish you packet," Tia said, checking her watch. "Ms. Ginny will be her any minute to pick us up."
Danny returned from the checkout counter and began packing his things. "Actually, she's here now."
Celestia frowned at her watch. "Two minutes early," she mumbled, grabbing her backpack. "Come on, Luna."
"Coming." Luna called over her shoulder. She plopped the books on the checkout counter and waited as patiently as she could for the lady to scan them before racing to catch up with Tia and Danny.
"Don't run little Luna," Ms Ginny scolded as they climbed into her van. "You might trip and hurt your pretty self."
Luna rolled her eyes and sat down between Danny and Tia. She pulled out one of her astronomy books and began to read, already fantasizing about staying up and watching the stars through her telescope. Tonight was a blue moon, and Luna was planning to stay up all night.
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"Luna, Tia, can I see you two?" Miss Faust was hanging out of her office door as Danny, Celestia and Luna walked into the orphanage's main house. the sisters exchanged looks but walked closer to Miss Faust's office.
"See you later, Danny!" Luna called over her shoulder before following Tia into the office.
Miss Faust closed the door and smiled warmly at the two girls. "Have a seat ladies." Luna plopped down in the swivel chair opposite Miss Faust's desk and dropped her back pack on the floot next to it. "Thirsty?" She passed Luna a soda and set one in front of the chair Celestia was now easing into.
"So what's up?" Luna asked, unscrewing the cap of her soda.
"We recently received packages for each of you," Miss Faust replied, opening a desk drawer.
"From who?" Tia asked, leaning forward.
"I think the appropriate question would be, 'from where?' ," Miss Faust produced two small boxes, each with their name written on the side. Celesita's was in gold, Luna's in silver.
As the less patient one, Luna yanked the tape off and glanced at Tia.
"Aren't you gonna open it?" Luna asked. Miss Faust handed Tia a pair of scissors, who slit the box open. They opened their simultaneously.
"Oh wow," Luna plunged her hand into the box and withdrew the object, holding it out to inspect them.
"They're crowns," Celestia said.
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"Crowns?" Danny almost dropped his fork. "Some random person gave you both a tiara?"
"Yeah, they're really cool looking. We'll show you after dinner," Luna replied. "And maybe you can stay and watch the blue moon with us,"
"Luna!" Celestia scolded
"What blue moon?" Danny asked.
"The one tonight. Tia and I are staying up all night to watch it. You can join us if you like," Luna told him hopefully. She put a piece of garlic bread in her mouth and chewed it.
"Sure, why not?" Danny decided. He swallowed a forkful of spaghetti.
After dinner, Danny followed the two sisters through the girls dormitory and up to the room Tia and Luna shared. They each pulled out the cases that held the crowns, both were complete opposites from the other.
Tia's was white with gold stitching and gold lettering across the top:Princeps Celestia de Equestria, gerentis solis et custos die ("It's in Latin," Danny observed. "I can't translate it though") The crown was gold with four outer prongs that curled in. the fifth one in the middle was naturally the tallest and was straight, with a Fleur De Lis at the top. A single red ruby had been planted in the middle of the Fleur De Lis, smooth to the touch and shaped like an oval.
Luna's case was a midnight blue with light purple stitching and and the Latin phrase:"Princeps Luna de Equestria, signifer luna et domina nocte" emblazoned acros the top in silver. Her tiara was smaller than Tia's and was the color of the night at it's earliest. Like Celestia, it had four prongs that curled in, with the middle one standing taller than the rest and topped with a Fleur De Lis. An ivory crescent moon lay on it's side at the base of the middle spire with a teardrop of ivory above it.
"Well, enough of that," Luna announced. "Time to set up the observation post!" She dragged three chairs over to the window and pushed it open, allowing an evening breeze in. She set her binoculars on the windowsill and placed her telescope in the center of the chairs.
Satisfied with her work, Luna strode to the mirror and placed her tiara on her head. When she was sure it wouldn't fall from it's resting place, she straightened her posture and assumed a regal expression. Then she took the tiara off and examined it again. "this is so cool," she murmured.
Celestia placed her tiara back in the case and closed the lid, frowning. "It is, but I don't know anyone who would send us crowns."
"Isn't it obvious?" Luna turned away from the mirror. She picked up her own case and looked between Tia and Danny.
They gave her questioning looks. "It came from Equestria!" Luna insisted, pointing at the silver word.
"Luna, Equestria doesn't exist," Tia told her.
"Well, obviously it has to, because that's where these came from." Luna gestured to the tiara in her hand.
"Well, whoever put that on the case made it up,"
"Did not!"
"Luna, there is no such thing as Equestria!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Whatever," Luna ended the arguement and stuck her eye into the telescope.
The stars had not yet come out, but looking at the sunset's colors took up her time. She watched as the sun slipped further and further behind the distant hills and finally disappeared. Now it was time for the moon to make its appearance. It shone brightly, bathing the town in a blue-hued glow.
"It's beautiful,' Luna whispered. She looked back at the two who had joined her. Celestia had gotten bored and fallen asleep, but Danny was toying with the binoculars.
"Come look through the telescope," Luna told Danny. Danny leaned forward and stuck his eye to the glass. He smiled.
"It's pretty cool," He said.
"If I could control the moon, I'd cause blue moons all the time," Luna told Danny. He laughed quietly.
"Well, you can never have too much of a good thing," He stood up. "I should get back to the dorm."
"Okay," Luna watched him leave and smiled. She shut the window and put the swivel chair Danny had used in front of the desk she and Tia shared. She nudged her sister awake, who stumbled to her bed and went back to sleep. Luna changed into her usual sweats and t shirt, took one last look at the moon and crawled into her own bed. She tossed and turned for a while, kicking the quilt off, pulling it back on; but Luna couldn't get to sleep.
Frustrated, Luna threw the quilt aside and tugged on her shoes. She picked up her tiara and her sister's and held them close to her chest before walking out of her room and the girls dorm.
She crossed the small courtyard, pausing for a moment to look at the moon in the night air. Looking down, she noticed that Miss Faust's light to her office was still on. She entered the main building, walked through the eerie hall to Miss Faust door and knocked.
Miss Faust answered. "Oh hello, Luna. Why are you up so late?"
"I was moon watching with my sister," Luna answered. Her eyes flickered past Miss Faust to see the office window open and a telesope standing next to it.
Miss Faust caught her gaze and let out a short laugh. "I was doing a bit of stargazing myself," She admitted, opening the door a little wider. "Would you like to join me?"
Luna nodded and slipped past Miss Faust and into her office.
"It sure is beautiful tonight," Miss Faust remarked.
"Yeah, it is,"Luna turned around to see Miss Faust pouring some M&M's into a bowl. She took and handful and offered the bowl to Luna, who picked out a blue one. "Miss Faust, I wanted to talk to you about these," She set the tiara cases on Miss Faust's desk and pointed to the phrases on the tops. "Danny says that they're in Latin, but I can't read them."
Miss Faust pulled the cases closer and gave them a thoughtful look. "I think Google Translate can fix that," She began to type on the keyboard for a moment, and Luna wandered around to join her. Miss Faust began looking from Tia's case to the computer, translating what was indeed Latin into English.
"Princess Celestia of Equestria, wielder of the sun and guardian of the day?" (A.N.: If you type the Latin phrase into Google Translate, you might come up with something a tad different. The Latin words also have alternate phrases, so I had to change them) Luna stared at the screen. "Do mine! Do mine!" she demanded.
Miss Faust translated Luna's title into English Luna read it out loud: "Princess Luna of Equestria, bearer of the moon and the lady of the night," Luna walked away from the computer and over to the window to stare at beautiful blue moon. "I'm a princess," she whispered. She turned to Miss Faust. "I'm a princess! But where's Equestria?"
