Surprisingly, next few weeks were calm. Since Hearth's Warming, Moonshine and I just rested at the apartment, doing whatever we could to kill the time. We've read a couple of interesting and fun books: adventure stories mostly, and one romance. I guess she sneaked that in on purpose. That filly...

Eventually, it came to a day where our exam to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns takes place. I had that date burned in my mind — twenty-fourth of January. I'm anxious as ever, and very nervous. The same can be said for Moonshine as well. From her looks, I can tell she wasn't sleeping most of the night. As for me, I can fall asleep almost whenever I want. The exam didn't bug me so much, I suppose.

So, it takes place in an hour. I decided to wear my usual clothes, and I won't bring my smartphone. While they aren't banned since no one knows about them, I still don't want to cheat. Cheating on the exams is the worst thing to do ever. If caught, you'll most certainly be shamed and probably will be given a... hm... dammit, I forgot what it is. Well, you won't be able to enroll at any school after that.

Anyway, it is time for the two of us to go. Moonshine was slightly bouncing, and yet it seemed she didn't notice that. Well, I guess that's how nervous she is about the whole thing. Hell, if I were younger, I would be no better. I would be worse, actually. It's like enrolling at Cambridge or something like that high-tier stuff.

Well, I hope I'll pass.

The two of us reached CSGU and entered the building. Well, the school looks more or less ordinary on the inside. There's a wall of fame right here, though. That's... eight unicorns in total. Let's see... Oh, I see Twilight Sparkle there. Hm, I didn't know she attended the school. She's on top of the wall, too! Along with someone called Sunset Shimmer. Well, I guess they were in the same class or something. Oh wait, Sunset graduated earlier.

"Hello!" I heard to my left. I turned to the speaker and saw a rather old mare smiling at me. "I guess you're going to enroll at our great school?" she asked and I nodded. "Alright, then, follow me!"

Moonshine and I were led through the hall to... Well, the sign above the door says 'Auditorium 101'. It makes sense for us to go there first since, well, it's the first auditorium.

"In here!" the mare said, opening the door for us. We nodded and proceeded to enter.

This auditorium isn't that big. It's for about fifty students, I'll say. There is no one besides us in the room. I guess we're early.

"So, I need to know your names." the old mare said, a scroll and a quill appearing out of nowhere.

We proceeded to tell our names, and the mare checked us on her list.

"Wait here for princess Celestia. She'd like to speak to all of new appliers when everypony arrives." she told us, and then left.

Well, it's time to wait. Oh my, I'm so excited! And I can't wait for the exams. I just want to know what's there in store for us. Besides, the faster we do it, the less we'll have to spend time on being nervous, huh.

So, we took the places in the far back as we usually do. I looked at Moonshine and saw her trembling slightly and yet noticeable.

"Everything alright?" I asked her.

"Um..." she shakily exhaled. "No, it's not..." she admitted.

"Hey, we'll pass the exams, Moon." I assured her. I guess I need to do something to encourage her. So, I leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. That'll surely work. I saw her eyes widen and her breath cut, as well as a giant blush appearing on her face. Her trembling ceased, too. "You're strong, and we'll both get into this school." I told her.

She nodded, and then stared in my eyes. Are there... hearts in hers? Weird... Though, nothing is weird with ponies, it seems.

So, I helped her with her nervousness. Now, we just have to wait until the exams begin.

***

Twenty minutes passed before the auditorium was completely full with ponies. I don't remember seeing any of them, but nobles' sons and daughters stood out since they kept their muzzle very high. Why the fuck would they do that? I've seen actual adults doing that. The hell is wrong with you? Why'd you walk like that? It just looks stupid.

Also, not everyone is of our age. There are a few teenagers and young foals, too. Does it mean age doesn't matter?

Suddenly, Celestia entered the auditorium, and all chat ceased. She royally strode towards the center of the room before the desks, and then cleared her throat.

"Good day, future students!" she greeted us, surveying. Her eyes lingered on me for a bit longer than others, and I think I could see her smirking slightly. "Today, all of you will go through the exams to determine whether you are ready for what this school has to offer or not. Nevertheless, I hope to see everypony passing it with success! I'm looking forward to seeing the results. Now, I will give you a rather simple test to find out just how accurately your teachers judged you."

Papers flew into the room by magic and were distributed among us. Celestia's horn has a nice golden glow to it.

"Good luck." Celestia said, and took a seat at the table. I guess she'll be watching over us. "Come to me as ready, we'll personally review your work."

Let's see this test. Hm... It is divided into three sections. There some math problems on the basic level, equations on the advanced, and some logical problems on the high level. Nothing too hard, actually. I can do everything, I suppose. Moonshine has been studying really hard for the past few months, and I think she'll do everything just as well as me.

I felt Celestia's gaze on me far too often. I'm feeling a bit nervous because of that... Whatever, I just need to complete the test. Her eyes will come later. Whatever else she has for me, too...

Alright, math problems solved. There were just five of them, and they weren't too complex. That was easy. Onwards to the equations! Square ex plus five times six equals forty-six. That's easy as fuck! The answer's four.

***

I was the first one to finish. I looked around and saw that everyone else was writing, and Moonshine was close to completing. She's just started equations and is going steadily. She'll either be second or third, I think.

So, I stood up and started walking towards Celestia's desk. Everyone glanced at me, some stared. Uh, was I too fast? At least the princess doesn't draw too much attention to me. She simply nodded, gesturing at a soft... giant pillow-like seat next to her. Hm, I don't remember it being here. Anyway, I awkwardly took a seat and handed her my test.

"Flame Metal, right?" she asked me quietly and I nodded. "It's a bit surprising seeing you here." huh? What does that mean? Maybe she thought I'd like to be closer to Luna or something. Does Luna have her own school?

Celestia looked at my work, humming to herself softly. The hum is a bit familiar to me... Though, not too much for me to recognize. Soon, she looked back at me.

"An excellent work, I must say." she complimented me. "How did you accomplish that?"

"Um, I can say I just study well..." I replied. I don't think she's buying that, though.

"Can you solve a few additional math problems for me? Right here." a small piece of paper appeared on the desk.

Huh, it has one exercise for every level. I can do that. Quickly and yet accurately and carefully, I did each exercise while Celestia watched me closely. Soon, I handed her the paper.

"Well, your skills are undeniable." she nodded. "You certainly have a great potential in you, Flame." she smiled at me. "It's no surprise Luna keeps you close." well, among other reasons... "Now, you must exit the auditorium and head to the auditorium ten two. There, your final exam will be held. You will do greatly there, I know it. Good luck."

And that is a moment I was waiting for. Time to do something hard... Something that will determine my very future.

***

I entered the 102 auditorium and saw a board of examiners consisting four ponies. They looked rather seriously at me... But that doesn't make me any more nervous than I already am. I'm going to enter this school no matter what, and I'm ready to do anything, even if it includes enduring their strange stares.

"Walk to the center of the room." one of them told me.

Here we go... I walked to the center of the room and stood there. What task will they give me?

A metal ornate box was levitated to me. I hate small ornate boxes. I don't want my head pinned, after all. If you know what I mean...

"Open this box." I was told. Well, doesn't seem that hard to do.

Wait a second. Why would they give me a simple box to open? That doesn't seem right. I need to think about it.

I levitated it to my face to take a closer look. Well... it doesn't seem to have any buttons, locks or anything else that would be an obvious way to open this box. Maybe something of those ornaments will open the box? Hm... That's a harder task than I thought.

These ornaments are just geometric figures randomly carved into the box. Well, if it can't be opened from the outside, there must be a way to open it from the inside. The question is, how do I do that? Alright... I guess... hmmm...

Maybe I can somehow make my magic go inside. Maybe... hm... maybe it can somehow fuse into the box and then go through it? How's that... Physics, right. Diffusion of one material into another. I just have to get my magic to work inside. I don't remember much about Physics. I've slept in most of the time, to my great shame. Maybe my 'material through material' theory is false. Anyway, I need to get into the box's insides. Hm... How do I do that? Ugh... Thinking about that makes my brain hurt.

Alright, ponies use magic. They make it do stuff for them, and the will of its wielder is very important.

Let's do it, then... I willed my magic to go through, moving it as fast as I could. Slowly but steadily it fused into the metal and came right through it to the insides of the box. Huh, maybe that physics stuff helped? I don't know much about how magic works. It just... works. I suppose I will study much more in this school. Wow, the box heated a lot, too. Not to mention that the box's wall became red.

Alright, now I need to find the opening mechanism. A button, a lever, something must be there. Hm... there is something, but nothing does anything. Wait, there is... a valve? Yeah, it is a valve. I think I must rotate it to open the box. Here I go...

...

Does it do anything? Doesn't seem s—

"Well?" I heard. I looked up to see the board looking at me.

"Almost done." I replied.

"Doesn't look like it." a pony from the board said. "You just heated it, that is all."

Whatever they think, I'm almost done.

...

*click-click*

Aha! This box just fell apart! I'm glad I didn't drop it.

I demonstrated the board of examiners the result of my work. Six separated square ornate plates with a valve on one of them. Huh, how did it even fall apart? Anyway, from the outside, the box looked whole. I didn't know it could be separated with such ease.

...

Why is everyone staring at me? Wasn't I expected to do it like that?

"Wait here, please." one of them said and exited the auditorium. Huh? Have I done something wrong? Was I not supposed to do that? I'm confused...

I just stood there stupidly with the dissembled metal thing in my magical grasp. Well, what can I do? I did what I was asked to do, and yet something isn't right. It makes me much more nervous that the fact that... Ugh, whatever.

Suddenly for me, Celestia entered the auditorium. Was what I did so big they had to call her? Now I'm scared.

"Leave us." she told the other ponies. They nodded and left the room, leaving her and me alone. "Please, come and sit." she gestured at one of the desks.

I awkwardly made my way there and flopped onto a bench, the box still in my grasp, floating around.

"Um, what is happening?" I warily asked her.

"Nothing bad, I assure you." Celestia replied. "Now, let me see the box." I handed her it, and she started examining it, humming to herself. A few moments later, she said: "It's a cleanly-done work, Flame Metal. Actually, you're the first one to accomplish the task in this way. It wasn't meant to be opened from the inside.

"You see, it must be opened from the outside. If you find the right combination of ornaments to press, the box will open to you. A couple of my students have discovered this way. Mostly, however, the box was opened by cutting through the metal with magic or by pulling it apart by repeatedly attacking the corners. But this..." she spun the plates around. "This is a completely new way. Tell me, how did you accomplish this?"

"Um..." I scratched my muzzle. "I thought that it couldn't be opened from the outside, and I made my magic go through the wall, and then, um, I found that valve to rotate, and, uh, that's how I opened it. I... didn't think I was allowed to damage the box."

"Very well, then." Celestia smiled at me. "You found a way not only to open the box, but to enter my school as well."

...

"Yes!" I jumped in place, beaming with glee. Wow, I did that!

"Congratulations, Flame." the princess nodded. "Be sure to attend your first lessons on the thirty-first on January. You needn't anything more than you already have. The most important thing is here." she pointed at my head, and then added: "And I hope your friend will pass, too. You look good together."

***

I've been waiting for Moonshine for some time since my talk with Celestia. About half and hour later, I saw Moon walking out of the auditorium with a big smile on her face. She immediately headed to me, spring in her every step. I guess she passed.

"You passed?" I asked her just to be sure. Without answering, she just hopped to me, and kissed me on the lips.

...

That answers everything much better than words, I suppose.

...

I would like her doing that not in public. At least not here when everyone can see. Actually, I saw Celestia's head disappearing behind a door, and I could certainly hear her giggling.

...

Celestia... Do you like watching foals kissing? What are you, a pervert? Besides, I didn't even give my explicit consent. I just let Moonshine do that. So, does Celestia like semi-consent kissing?

Well, I just labeled a country's ruler a pervert.