The inky blackness covered the land as the stars twinkled faintly. The moon shone bright in the night sky this evening, without a cloud to be seen. City lights were dotted across Canterlot as a regal princess entered the Lunar Academy for Gifted Witches. She greeted the headmistress with a benevolent grin as she entered a moonlit classroom with the faint lights from the ceiling that resembled Luna's celestial body, which was the moon. She found a seat by the window, and watched on as the young girls and boys took turns showing off their magic skills. Some were intriguing, and some weren't as talented.

The whole time, Luna took notes in her notebook, and as she dreamed of getting a student of her own, she remembered the words that Celestia once said to her. "Having a student will be harder than you think, especially if they live with you for a while. Remember to be patient with the student, especially if he or she misbehaves or rebels against the rules," Celestia's words rang in her mind.

Luna watched as the fifth student stormed out of the room with frustration and muttered angry words under his breath. The sixth student came into the room. She seemed to be a young teen, maybe thirteen or fourteen years of age. Her ebony hair was in a single braid down her back, with her bangs swept to the sides of her oval face. There were violet streaks in her ebony hair that seemed to give the hairstyle an ombre look. Her nose was straight and regal, as if she came from a noble bloodline. Her almond-shaped golden eyes revealed the fact that she was a strong girl. She seemed like she wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Although she had high cheekbones, her cheeks still had the fullness from being young. Her rosy, full lips were in a slight smile. Her eyebrows were elegantly arched. Her fair skin seemed to shine in the moonlight, and her body shape seemed to be curvy. Her body wasn't too skinny, nor was she too fat. She was like that of an average girl.

She seemed like a gothic rebel because of her style. She wore a dark violet blouse with small, puffy sleeves, with a black skirt with a studded belt. Her leggings had the black-and-white checker pattern, and her black platform shoes seemed to add height to her 5'2 frame. Her elegant glasses added to the girl's dark style, but her eyesight required the glasses anyways. But, the most surprising fact about this girl was the hearing aids in her ears! Was she deaf or something?

Luna had seen other deaf kids before, but this one must be very special. She was once friends with a blind child, and this time, she might befriend a deaf person. She wondered how it would go if she ever befriended this child. Maybe she needed to learn some sign language. She had seen Celestia sign to deaf people, but her signs weren't as good. She'd fingerspell most of the time. Luna watched as the young girl casted some magic, and to her surprise, the girl's magic was much more intriguing than anybody else's magic. "She is quite interesting," She told the headmistress.

"She's quite talented," The headmistress replied.

"I have recalled my dear sister communicating with deaf people in a visual language, but she wasn't as good. She'd fingerspell most of the time."

"Interesting..." She nodded with an intrigued expression as her wrinkles appeared for a moment.

Luna swept her long bangs behind her ears as she continued to watch the student. She wondered what other qualities the student might have. "Okay, you're finished," The headmistress said at last.

"Okay. I want to speak with her for a moment, if you don't mind," Luna said as she motioned for the student to sit next to her.

"So, um... Princess Luna..." The girl spoke shyly. She had never met the princess in person. She heard great things about this amazing woman, and this woman had intrigued her to a point of where she wanted to meet her. The girl felt so starstruck because of their meeting.

"You can say anything you want. I won't judge. I haven't caught your name yet, young lady. And I'm very much impressed by your talents," Luna replied.

"Okay. My name is Persephone. I was born during the Winter Solstice, and I was born into the night fourteen years ago. My talents weren't perfect, by the way. A spell or two could backfire sometimes," Persephone said.

"Tell me a bit more about yourself. And I'm sure you enjoy the night so much more than you enjoyed the day. And how old were you when you became deaf? What was it like?"

"I do love the night. Not many people are awake during the dark hours," She frowned for a second. "Anyways, when I turned two, I got meningitis and my ears were so affected by the infection. I went deaf when the infection went away, and my parents were upset when they found out. They began to argue, and finally, two weeks after my eight birthday, they divorced for good. I felt like a burden on them, and my older siblings sort of blamed me for the divorce. Since then, they won't talk to me. They are just so judgmental. My mother attempted to mainstream me in education one time, and it backfired. I think I speak very well because my mother taught me to speak orally."

"That's very awful. Were you ever bullied by your classmates?" Luna's heart went out to this girl because of the girl's lonely childhood.

"My classmates outcasted me because of my deafness, and an interpreter accompanied me. One girl called me an animal. It all started when I enrolled in this academy," Persephone confided.

"Someone called you an animal? That wasn't very nice of her, was it?" Luna didn't like when kids bully other kids. She knew that it was inhumane and unnecessary to hurt someone's feelings. And kids weren't the only ones that bullied their victims. Teenagers and adults did that sometimes, but cyberbullying was more common because the bullies wouldn't act cruel to their victims in person.

"Of course not. And forgive me for wasting your time," Persephone said at last.

"You didn't waste my time, Persephone. You probably have a lot of potential, unlike that girl," Luna replied. "The other students were waiting. You can sit here and watch."

Persephone blushed shyly as she looked on to the other students. She had high hopes of Luna taking her in as her student, but at the same time, she worried that someone would be more talented than she was. The entrance exam seemed to take forever to end, and the last student entered the room. The redheaded preteen seemed much more confident than anyone else. Flames flickered from her palms as she lifted her arms into the air. Then, the whole room became bright because of her magic. However, the headmistress didn't seem impressed by the display of magic. "You're not qualified anyways," She said.

"My magic isn't only for show," The redhead retorted. "I, the Great and Powerful Corona, will be famous anyways. Good-bye!" She stormed out without saying anything else.

Luna was somehow reminded of that boastful girl from a long time ago when Twilight Sparkle was still alive. She was surprised when a girl about Persephone's age rushed into the room. She clumsily dropped her handbag onto the floor, and gasped. Make-up fell out and scattered across the floor. Her cheeks flared a deep red as she glanced at the room before her. "Dammit. Don't even think about the fucking dumb accident," She started curtly as she cleaned up her mess.

Luna was surprised by the girl's nasty attitude. She had seen sassy teens before, but this one seemed like she came straight out of a reality show filled with such foul language. The girl was toned, but her waist was small. She had a pink crop top that said "Queen of Divas," and she wore a hot pink miniskirt. Her hip-length curly hair was a shade of fiery red with pink highlights. She was 5'4 in height, but her high heels added to her height. In her hair was a hot pink ribbon. She seemed to be about fifteen years of age. Her eyes were round, but the eyeliner made her eyes seem bigger. Her slender nose was quite tiny and was upturned a bit. Her skin was golden tan with freckles on her nose and her shoulders. Her pink bow-shaped lips added to her outward beauty. Her breasts seemed as if they actually got enlargened from plastic surgery, for they were a d-cup breast size. Her butt was of decent size, which added to her celebrity-esque air. Her fuschia eyes gleamed with a sort of snobbishness about her. She smelled of roses and other kinds of flowers, which could easily turn on a teenage jock or a college-age man.

"Her attitude is quite nasty," The headmistress commented.

"I don't like her," Persephone told Luna.

"Perhaps she can change for the better if she is under the supervision of a better parental figure. Her parents probably didn't mind her behavior and thought it was cool. Well, that language is not cool. The sound of foul language makes me want to cringe," Luna replied.

They watched as the nasty teen girl casted several spells. Even though Luna didn't like the teen's attitude, she was impressed by her display of magic. The magic shone with an otherworldly light as the teen girl beamed with pride and arrogance.

"Do you like my magic, Luna? If not, then you're a critical bit-" The teen asked Luna as she finished casting her magic.

"Don't even say that word," Luna interrupted. "Say that, and you'll get slapped."

"Not if I bitch slap you first."

"What? You need to stop right now. Otherwise, your magic is quite good. I'm going to make a decision now."

"And who is she over there? She looks hideous anyways." The teen pointed to Persephone, and Persephone stuck out her tongue.

"Haters gonna hate. It's better to be nice than to be rude, you jerk!" Persephone retorted.

"Calm down, girls. I don't want any drama. I want both of you to be sweet to each other and to respect each other, even though you two were the opposites," Luna interjected. She had always hated drama, especially right now when the girls bickered.

"Well, the beautiful and wealthy Summer Dawn won't take shit from a princess that used to be Nightmare Moon," Summer retorted.

Luna almost lost her composure upon hearing what Summer Dawn just told her. She grabbed her shoulders and gave her an icy cold glare. "Don't say this ever again. Do you know that I have more wisdom than you do? And respect adults, even though you don't feel like doing so," She warned her.

"Whoops," Summer remarked.

"Good. You and Persephone will be my students. You will learn under my watch, and you'll reside in the castle for a while. Just don't get into a catfight with each other. Don't give in to peer pressure. Understand?" Luna gave both girls a stern expression as she led them out of the exam room.

Persephone picked up her tote bag and slung it over her left shoulder. Her tote bag had the name of her favorite band, Queens of Darkness. Her favorite band consisted of the triplet sisters that started singing at age thirteen. The band name was quite fitting, for the triplets were gothy and emo. They had the occasional punk look whenever they performed at concerts. One sister used sign language to interpret every song. Persephone took out her black smartphone and posted her thoughts onto Instagram and Facebook. She was a bit of a social media junkie, and she had her own Youtube channel where she did video blogs about her life status.

She huffed as the three strode out of the academy. "You're so goth that you had all the black things," Summer remarked.

"So? That is who I am," Persephone confided.

"I'm not surprised. Most of the girls that I fought with were afraid of me. Why are you not afraid?"

"I've dealt with mean people before, and you are no exception."

"Hmph." Summer applied another layer of pink lip gloss to her lips as she took out her pink, glittery smartphone. She pursed her lips together as if she was gonna kiss, and she held her smartphone in the air above her head. She took a selfie and giggled with a girlish tone of voice.

That kind of behavior annoyed Persephone to a point. She didn't like when people were so self-centered. That behavior would be the biggest turn-off for her, anyways. But, if she were to get into an unescapable situation where she had to deal with cruel people, she would fight against the "pack leader" first and eventually rush away as a result. Her left elbow was bruised from a recent fight, and she didn't like it. She would fight if she had to. Persephone knew that she was misunderstood by the kids that went to her school, and she loathed the fact to a boiling point. She was envious of a "popular" girl from her old school, and would always resent her, even tonight when she was supposed to be glad to meet Luna for the first time. Instead, she felt a mix of many emotions. Elation, depression, rage, guilt, and fear all combined and became a swirling storm inside her soul. Sometimes, Persephone couldn't keep in that emotional storm. She would take out her feelings on random people if she ever saw fit.

Persephone decided that she had enough of Summer's snobbery, so she slapped her across the cheek. "Ow!" Summer hollered.

"You annoy me with your snobbery," Persephone reminded her.

"Huh. Like I would ever stop being a snob."

They all arrived at Canterlot Castle and entered the throne room to see several adults waiting for them. "Greetings, families of the two students. I shall discuss with you about their success in the entrance exam," Luna started. "Sunflower, you are Summer's mother, are you not? It's nice to meet you. If you tell me about the way you might have raised her, I will be very disappointed in you. That is how you should not raise your children. Anyways..."

"We're not going to co-parent Summer Dawn. She's fine the way she is," Sunflower disagreed as she pushed back her greying locks of hair. Her nose wrinkled to show the fact that she disagreed with the princess and her opinion.

"She will be under my watch for a while, so maybe she won't be that way anymore when she gets older. Children and teens learn from authority figures."

"I told you, she's fine. That's all I can say about her!"

Luna was perplexed by this woman's parenting style. How could a parent accept a child's bad behavior and a bad attitude? "I think you should really consider the way you raise your children. Do you really think that rich kids have the right to act snobby and rude?" She wondered as she turned her attention to another woman that resembled Persephone a little.

"Princess Luna, it's nice to meet you. My name's Stardust Glow. I think you might have to speak loud enough to get Persephone to understand you," Stardust introduced herself.

"I don't think I have to, if I know sign language," Luna replied. "Otherwise, I'm going to learn that visual language."

"Sign language is not even a real language."

"Yes, it is. Celestia knows sign, but isn't good at it."

"It's just your opinion, Princess Luna. And Persephone, you be good for the princess! Got it?" Stardust glanced at Persephone, and she received a perplexed expression in response.

"Say that again?" Persephone asked as she placed a hand to her ear.

"I said that you should be good for the princess," Stardust replied with a loud voice.

"Oh, okay. I got it, mom."

"Good."

Stardust placed the suitcase next to the window as Persephone's sister, Gaia, gave Persephone a dirty look.

"What? I didn't do anything wrong," Persephone admitted.

"Well, you caused our parents to divorce, thank you very much! They look good together and now they're forever apart," Gaia ranted.

"I didn't do anything when they divorced!"

"You are the one to blame. Don't blame others for the divorce."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind! You are so dumb that I could consider you an asshole."

"Oh, my word," Luna breathed out when she heard the bad word.

"Excuse my French, Your Highness," Gaia told her.

"It doesn't sound foreign to me," Luna replied.

"I'm saying that you should forgive me for swearing."

"Oh, so it's an idiom."

"Kinda. Anyways, mother and I had to go now." Gaia's knee-length indigo hair swirled around her as she turned towards the exit. As a result, her hair nearly sweeped across the royal's cheek.

Luna looked to Persephone, and smiled. "I think you'll enjoy it here," She said.

"Maybe... And who is that behind you?" Persephone replied.

"Oh. And this is my sister, Celestia."

"So, you are Luna's first student," Celestia started. "And you're deaf... Luna, did you choose her because she reminds you of a young girl from long ago?"

Luna smiled sadly in response as she looked out the window. Tears almost came to her eyes as she sniffled softly. "A little. Snowdrop is so sweet. Persephone reminds me of her because of her backstory and why she's outcasted, similar to why Snowdrop is outcasted. Well, except that Snowdrop is blind and Persephone is deaf," She explained.

"I think you always seem to connect with someone who is not as popular because they were different."

"There's some people who are different and sometimes they are still popular."

"Did you not even see me?" Summer interrupted. She felt jealous of Persephone because Persephone seemed to be the talk of the conversation.

"Of course we notice. I wish you could stop being like this," Luna replied. "Being a student doesn't mean competing for attention. I hope you don't follow the same path as I once did as Nightmare Moon."

"I can do that."

"Well, don't."

"Luna, are you gonna get me a room? And make sure Summer and I don't have to sleep in the same room," Persephone interjected.

"I will. Be patient," Luna reminded her.

"Alright, give me the best quality room," Summer demanded. "Or you will go to the moon forever."

"Summer! Don't speak to my sister like that! It's not nice," Celestia scolded her. "Why are you her student anyways?"

"I don't understand you," Summer mocked.

"Let me tell you something... You have no soul for my sister. You are cold, wicked and heartless."

"I'm not evil."

"Then why did you act mean?"

"Like I will ever tell you."

The argument ended as Luna led the two teens to their new rooms. The rooms were situated next to each other, but were at a reasonable distance because the rooms were decently sized.

Persephone's bedroom had the gothic details all over. There was a black curtain with dark violet roses, a ruby-colored rug with elegant patterns, and a canopy bed on the left side with the gothic purple silk cloth hanging over the bed. There was an elegant, regal black chair next to the window, and a dark mahogany desk on the right side of the room. The closet near the nightstand was actually a walk-in closet with super fancy mirrors that had gothic frames.

Summer Dawn's bedroom was the total opposite. It was girly all over in her room, as if she was a princess wannabe or something like that. The canopy bed on the right side of the room had a silk white blanket with the countless lace pillows that had hot pink ribbons on each of them. The curtain was magenta with the gold lining, and the intricate patterns were all over the curtain. There was a pale white desk on the left side of the room with the gold vanity mirror on the wall above the desk. Near the desk was a walk-in closet that was designed with vintage details.

Both girls were happy to get their own rooms, but at the same time, they would love to be far apart from each other because they were the opposites. Persephone was sweet and kind, despite the fact that she loved dark things like gothic beds, gothic clothing, horror movies, and such. Summer Dawn was bitter and cruel, yet she still adored bright, princessy colors. She thought that she could win any man with her feminine charm. She adored romantic movies, which was her weakness... Sort of. The two girls were a bit like Yin-Yang in a way. Persephone would be Yin, the good side which was dark and cool. And Summer would be Yang, the bad side which was bright and warm.

Luna brought the suitcases into their rooms, and helped them to unpack. Just as they walked to the dining room to eat something, Luna decided to speak with them about a few things. "Tomorrow night, there would be the Autumn Moon Gala that celebrates my night. The Autumn Moon Celebration will be in the evening after tomorrow's evening. People who cherish the night will come, so they may wear either nighttime colors or Autumn-related colors. Summer, I know you love bright things, but you have to wear a dress that is a tad bit darker than what you would normally wear. Maybe red or green would work," Luna told them.

"I'll wear red anyways," Summer replied.

"I'm going to wear a long, elegant black gown with a moon pendant. And Summer, red is the color of lunar eclipses sometimes, and not just the color of Fall," Persephone added in.

"It's also the color of the sun and the color of passion." Summer arched her thin brows for a second. "Speaking of passion and romance, I'm going to bring my boyfriend. Just don't hook up with him, or you're getting slapped. Hear me?"

"Can you talk slower and more clear?" Persephone requested, which angered Summer to a boiling point.

"Ugh! I said that you should never hook up with my true love! Okay?" Summer retorted.

"Settle down," Luna warned. "And Persephone, do you know sign?"

"I know some of it. I'm learning sign from Youtube and other websites," Persephone replied.

"Can you show me the basic signs? I want to start easy."

"Sign is not a language," Summer told them.

"It is a language. It's soundless but visual," Luna reminded her.

Persephone looked at Summer for a moment as she rose her hand to her chin, and curled up her thumb. She mouthed 'bitch' and then she moved her hand to her waist.

"What was that sign called?" Luna wondered.

"You don't want to know," Persephone told her. "You'd get offended. It's a 'b' word."

"Whoa. Just don't swear in either spoken language or visual language, okay?"

They sat down in the chairs, and Celestia sat next to Luna. "Persephone, I know you don't like Summer at first, but don't throw swear words at each other, whether spoken or visual. Luna doesn't like that, and neither do I. Swear words are quite offensive," Celestia reminded Persephone.

This is the first chapter. I'm not good at describing sign language, but next time they sign, I will use certain word fonts. I will show you which word fonts are used for sign in the next chapter. This one is long because of descriptions and dialogue. There will be teenage swearing in this story, and that's why the story is rated T. There's also going to be tons of teen drama because teenagers can be quite dramatic (but girls are more like that and guys are more laid back). Tell me what you think, ok?