I had only two months before the entry exam. But as it turned out, most of the stuff I had to learn I already knew at this point. There were of course things I couldn't skip to expand on, such as pony history, and magic, but other than those two, there were not many things I had to worry about.
History is what I struggled with the most because of the amount of ponies and dates I had to memorize. My mom insisted I should learn as much as I could, because 'knowing your past is a key to the future.'
She also found her old books from the first few years of her school and gave them to me. The amount of actual relevant information in them was staggering. Apart from being old, I found few examples of actual spellcasting, alchemy recipes, and even descriptions of dark magic and how it can influence ponies. I guess I had to expect that from a more 'fine' school such as CSFGU to have such a diverse learning program. Mom also said she had a very difficult time getting in, and every next lesson was as important as the last one, it just shows how hard you need to work before and after you get in.
But truth be told, everything comes down to your magic ability. If I don't do a good job on the magic entry exam, I won't be getting in, simple as that. I had to start training seriously if I wanted to have a chance with all the other foals I would be competing for a spot. Who knows how powerful kids in this world could get? I only met a few so far, and they weren't anything special. But as they say, there is always someone better than you out there.
That made me feel a little down because, deep down I feel like I'm a lazy individual. But having a good-paying job or simply being a powerful unicorn later on in life pushed me past my laziness to do some actual heavy work.
I started to learn magic by lifting things and making small objects catch on fire (accidentally), but as I grew, I learned that the most important way of practicing is to actually focus and conjure your 'mana' properly. That way you are actually expanding your 'mana pool' inside you the right way, and thus, it becomes easier to manipulate it. The weird thing is, the books don't teach that, and they don't even mention anything about 'mana' either, they simply say 'unicorn ability to-' But deep down, I really feel like it should be called something along the lines of mana, or magical energy due to the fact that it feels like it's part of you. But I digress.
My usual training routine consisted of lifting heavy objects such as my dad's dumbells, or furniture in the attic. I didn't want my mom to find out I was using furniture to train so I decided to use the spare one in the attic. That way I could relatively tell how much progress I had been gaining, and thus far, I had been able to lift up to one hundred kilograms of weight for at least three minutes. That result was satisfactory since I had started with only thirty kilograms for a minute or two a few months ago.
My 'mana pool' definitely grew, and I have been feeling much better because of it. I felt that simple tasks like opening a door and picking something heavy up from the floor didn't even scratch my reserves, unlike the time I had started to practice. I don't really understand it yet but I think my 'mana' works by expanding itself whenever I work hard or properly conjure it using my whole horn. It's important to use your whole nervous system in your horn because if you don't you can get a severe headache or you can faint while using more complex spells. Believe me, I experienced it enough times to take this seriously, the pain of your horn drilling into your skull is seriously painful, and not recommended. I am still to faint from it though.
Apart from magical practice and studies, I expanded my physical training again, this time, however, I decided that shaping my body, instead of gaining serious muscle was a way to go. I didn't want my mother to take me to the doctor again.
During those two months, I didn't really leave home often. My sisters had started to look seriously into finding a job since they were almost finished with their studies, and my father was stationed somewhere across the country for some reason, and I had no reason to leave home either.
What I did, however, was bond with my mom. Usually, I would keep to myself when it came to learning, but I started to ask for her help with different topics, and as it turned out, my mom still had a decent amount of memories from CSFGU, which resulted in a couple of guessing games and other fun activities, which I really enjoyed.
It was seriously fun to learn new stuff, since for over a year I did it mostly as a hobby, during my time in kindergarten. I was also relieved to not have to fight every ten days with Tender Seed. It was seriously getting out of hoof, and I think it wasn't good for my mental health either. This young body produced so many different hormones that recently I started to ask myself what the hell was I doing back in kindergarten. I feel like I'm repeating the same mistakes I did before, but I can't remember my old life, so I guess I have to trust that my judgment is good and I'm learning to avoid things I knew that will end badly.
Thus, after almost two months of practice and hard work, I became anxious about the approaching exam. My mom felt it necessary to go on a trip with me one last time before the exam. She decided to take me to the Canterlot Museum Of History.
I had always wondered what museums look like in this world, and this would definitely prove a nice experience before the examination, because who the hell knows what they will come up with. There is a hundred-question test, and a magical exam, so they can ask you to write anything, and do anything.
I also thought about how I was going to be treated at CSFGU, since my appearance didn't change much, with a slightly longer mane, and bigger frame, and some more muscle here and there. I was still that dark 'umbra' everyone feared in kindergarten. I was feeling anxious. But as the trip to the Museum began, my problems were replaced with curiosity and the need to learn new things.
"Now, don't lose me, stick close, and remember, we are in the museum, so don't touch anything Aurora." Pearl said to me as we trotted into the specious hall of the museum.
Nodding to her, I started to swing my head from side to side, to grasp everything that was currently in my field of vision. Apart from the magnificent gallery of architectural beauty and perfect symmetry on the walls and ceiling of the museum, there were also many sculptures, paintings, and items on display that I found just too pretty to not look at.
"I know. I had the same reaction when I got here the first time. Don't worry, we will start from the beginning and see everything, come with me Aurora." My mom said as she started to walk right. I followed her up close, there were a multitude of ponies around us, and a couple of tourist groups too.
"I didn't expect so many ponies to be interested in history." I said out loud, more to myself than anyone else.
"Well, yes, there are few ponies interested in ponykind history after all, but they are mostly here for art displays or sculptures in different sections, where we go, there usually are only a few ponies around." She said in a cheery tone.
As we went along the wall full of artworks and sculptures of old ponies and other strange-looking creatures, we were soon in a place where only a handful of ponies stood. And as we crossed one last section to the 'Ponykind history and culture' we were mostly by ourselves.
"There we are. Ponykind first records." My mother stood suddenly, her eyes on a tiny display board made of a brown stone plate. There were a few different symbols on it, which I didn't recognize. The description didn't provide me with much, only the age of the thing being over thousands of years old.
"Do you know what that is Aurora?" She asked, turning her head to me, with a very satisfied expression. Which I found rather funny, knowing how much my mother loves to talk about things she remembers from years ago from the games we played.
"No." I simply replied, watching the small stone plate with curiosity. Of course, I knew it was mostly like the stone age for ponies, but I didn't want to spoil the fun for my mom.
"It's a stone plate, with the most basic pony language from thousands of years ago. This one was found really deep in the Canterlot Mountains, and it has a few interesting things written on it. The first was a message to a pony named 'Sap Wood' it was most likely an invitation of some kind for a pony named 'Silver Stone'. The second is a trade between two brothers and a pony named 'Snap Syroup.' But what is the most interesting thing, is that the board itself shouldn't survive that long, but here it is. In the Canterlot museum thousands of years old later." My mother started to monologue about the plate for a good five minutes before we moved to another object of interest.
After a few more crude scribbles and stone plates, we finally found ourselves on something a little bit more interesting. Ponykind first summit painting. It was probably the first painting done professionally with brushes and paint, and it depicted a summit of three pony tribes discussing food shortages and war between them. Most likely even before Equestria was born.
"You saw that one in a book, right Aurora?" Mom said to me as she stared at the painting passionately.
"Yes. But I didn't expect it to be... This big..." I replied, looking at the massive wall of paint. It was so big, most likely twenty ponies could fit in the frame itself. I didn't understand why smaller paintings from that period didn't survive.
"We have this painting done by an anonymous artist, but we don't have anything similar in scale for another two hundred years." I said, to the astonishment of my mother.
"How do you know that?" She asked surprised.
"I read about it." I said in truth. Smirking, knowing that I spoiled my mother's fun trivia for me accidentally.
"Well, you don't know that there is actually a second painting like this that was found with this in old Hoofintoon several years later, it is a portrait of-" She started, but I caught her off.
"Princess Celestia." I said, watching as she closed her mouth in a pout.
"I shouldn't let you read all those books Aurora, soon you will outsmart your own mother! And what will I do then?" She smiled at me.
"There will always be something you can teach me, Mom." I replied, with a little blush. That rewarded me with a sudden hug from Pearl.
"Why don't you tell me what you know about the portrait as we go?" She asked, smirking.
"I only know what it is, but not what it looks like." I said, my mother frowned as we started to move.
"But it's a portrait of Princess Celestia. You should already know what she looks like." She questioned with a smile.
"Well, yeah, but I never actually seen a decent painting of her, only a few mentions with photos and such." I replied in truth. Which my mom found a bit strange.
"W-What? Really?" She said as she started to move across the gallery a little bit faster, me trying to catch up to her, with my little pony legs.
"Yeah. Why?" I asked while Mom trotted past another corner of the giant gallery.
"Well, there were so many paintings of her when I was little that there wasn't a day I would not see it at least once." She commented, stopped, and looked at me.
"I'm sure there was at least one decent painting of her right?" She asked. Which I replied by shaking my head.
"Impossible..." She repeated to herself as we started to walk again. Soon, however, we started to slow down, and my mother looked at me with worry in her eyes.
"My guess is that there were so many pictures of her everywhere at some point that she decided to hide them to not appear like she is connected to everything and everyone...?" She said to me as she stood in front of a few big paintings. And a larger one in the middle.
"Here it is, look." She motioned with her hoof to a very large portrait on the wall.
As soon as my eyes connected to the portrait, I understood why in every single book, that had any comment or mention of Princess Celestia, there was 'Striking Beauty.', 'Regal Look.', and 'The most beautiful pony Equss has ever seen.' written.
I could never imagine an equine could look so... Divine. She had perfect purple eyes that told you she was wise, a perfect sharp muzzle with shiny white teeth, big fluffy wings, a white tuff of fur on her neck one could probably drown in, and one of the biggest and pointiest horns I had ever seen. Her flowy mane was of course sparkling with different rainbow colors, and her pose told you exactly what kind of pony you were dealing with. Not to mention the fact that the painting itself was done masterfully, with gold segments and colors melting into each other perfectly.
"That's Princess Celestia, our ruler. And the most powerful and perfect pony in existence. Remember that Aurora. Treat her with utmost respect if you find yourself in the same room she is." My mother said that in a tone that got me thinking... Was it really true that she had the power of raising the sun and the moon then? That wasn't something they invented to make her more appealing? And she was supposedly as strong as to lift objects such as giant boulders and carve rivers with her magic power alone?
"How old is she then?" I asked my mom. But a sudden squeaky voice to my right answered instead.
"Most likely three thousand, one hundred and seventeen years old. But the historians argue about her actually being three thousand, one hundred and nineteen years old." She was a purple filly with a pink strand of hair in her mane. She was an unicorn and her eyes were deeply focused on the painting of Princess Celestia, she didn't even gaze at me as she answered my question.
Before my mother or I could react to the sudden appearance of a filly, another voice called out from behind us. Which made us both look back.
"Twilight! Twilight!" The filly didn't react as she gazed at the painting, but it was definitely her mother calling her. Soon, she appeared behind us and lowered her gaze to the filly named Twilight.
"There you are! I said, don't run off!" The mare quickly got to the filly, and then saw the painting she was looking at. She frowned.
"Celestia again?" She said in a deadpan voice, as the filly nodded. "I'm sorry about her, she runs off whenever she sees a painting or mention of Princess Celestia." The mare added in a tired voice, looking directly at my mother.
"Wait... Pearl Moonlight?!" She gaped at my mother. My mother raised her eyebrow and squinted her eyes, before gaining a huge smile.
"Twilight Velvet! I knew the name Twilight sounded familiar!" She extended her hoof to the pony named Twilight Velvet but was greeted by a hug instead. Which both me and the filly named Twilight, took by surprise.
"How many years?!" Twilight Velvet asked as she stepped back.
"Fifteen? Feels like twenty to me." They both started to giggle.
"Oh, sorry, that's my daughter Twilight Sparkle. I see you have a filly of your own now huh?" She commented not even looking at me. My mom blushed.
"Yeah, remember that colt that once fell from the third floor with the teacher's books in his hooves?" My mother asked with a little giggle.
"Yeah... It was... Feather... S... Sandstorm? Don't tell me..." She smirked.
"Yep. And we have three daughters. Shine and Sunset are both adults by now, and here, is my sweet little Aurora." She said as she brushed my mane with her hoof.
Until now, Twilight Velvet didn't actually look at me, but once she did, her smile fell and her eyes looked a bit terrified for a split second, before smiling once again.
"She is... Lovely." She commented on my appearance, as the young filly, finally decided to avert her eyes from her mother, looking at me too. The reaction was similar, and she hid behind her mother.
"I know what I look like, you don't need to remind me." I replied, which resulted in my mother's hoof being planted on my head rather quickly.
"Aurora!" She scolded, as I rubbed my head with a hoof.
"Sorry." I replied instantly.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't... I-" Twilight Velvet started to say but my mother cut her off.
"Don't worry about it dear. I keep reminding Aurora here that her appearance is nothing to be ashamed of, even if she looks different, she is still a good pony, but she doesn't seem to listen." She said as she glared at me.
If that was the first time this had happened, she wouldn't have hit me, but since it's most likely the fifth or sixth time that sort of comment slipped, she got angry. Not that it hurt or anything, but I still felt like she was getting there.
"It's okay, don't hit her Pearl. It's okay to be different, that makes us interesting." Twilight Velvet said as she sat on the floor in front of me.
"I know. I just...-" I started to say but then looked at my mother and decided to not say anything else. "Never mind."
"I think you look like a villain..." The voice of the filly named Twilight Sparkle made us all three snap to her.
"Twilight!" Her mother wanted to scold her, but I thought it was interesting enough to play with her a little.
"Yeah, but I'm not. What if you looked like that, would you become a villain because you were born like that?" I asked Twilight. Both mares were a bit stunned at my directness.
"N-No..." She replied, a bit ashamed.
"What about Princess Celestia? What if she didn't have her rainbow mane? Or her white fur? Would you like her then?" I asked, surprised I was a little... Intimidating.
"I w-would..." She replied a bit taken aback. I felt like I should take this conversation somewhere before my mom hit me again for making the filly feel bad. So I did the only thing that came into my mind at that moment.
"Good. That means we can be friends." I extended a hoof to her. "Do you want to be friends?"
She hesitently stepped further, looking first at my hoof, and then at me. Then she gently took my hoof into her own, shaking it. "Yes..." She replied, smiling.
"See Twilight, I told you you could make friends." Twilight Velvet commented. My mother was a bit shaken by the encounter. And so was I. Didn't expect Twilight to just accept my friendship.
"Do you like Princess Celestia?" She smiled at me as she asked the question. Which I found so funny, I started to giggle.
All four of us suddenly forgot about the whole situation, and soon, I saw that they were not scared of my appearance anymore, and Twilight Sparkle even started to smile while looking directly into my eyes. I was not expecting to make a friend, and I wasn't expecting to find a different foal who actually was into learning stuff either, but I think Twilight didn't have many friends before me, or even one friend. She was quite anxious about everything she said. And she kept thinking I was going to reject her after a while for some reason.
Our mothers talked among themselves as we all explored the museum, commenting on each piece, sculpture, and painting. And as it turned out, the whole reason for Twilight and her mom being here was the same as for me and my mom. They were applying to CSFGU, and they came here to learn for the tricky or hard questions that might involve the history of ponies.
We started to question each other, and soon I found out more and more about pony history, science, and culture, than from books I had this past two months. Which shows exactly how much you can learn from someone else rather than only from books. Having an actual conversation with a foal my age felt really fulfilling. Not having any friends made me hide all my emotions and interests in my own head, so being able to speak about them freely made me feel much better. Not that I shared much, but you get the idea.
The most interesting thing to Twilight however was Princess Celestia. She wanted to know everything about her. Her age, titles, spells she created, books she wrote, how she became a Princess, etc. And I got her completely. Pony goddess able to lift a sun and moon, while also being thousands of years old is definitely something I wanted to learn more about myself. Not to mention how she did not turn into a tyrant or become evil after so many years of being in power.
As fun as the trip was. It was getting late and we had to say goodbye to each other, as our mothers clearly were exhausted already by all the knowledge we wanted to soak today.
"It was fun." Twilight commented as she smiled at me. Making direct eye contact.
"Yeah. I guess we will see each other at the entry exam, huh?" I asked, being curious about the unicorn filly.
"Yes. I can't wait! But I'm also scared..." She started with an anxious look on her face, I smiled knowingly.
"Me too, but if you are as good as a unicorn as you are a historian, you will pass." I bared my teeth out and squinted my eyes, in a funny manner. My mother was very surprised by this action, she had never actually seen me make any weird faces before, and it made me chuckle inside.
"You too." She giggled. "And... Thanks. Aurora." She said as she gave me a hoof bump. Right, there was the first time ever, that someone said thank you to me and hoof-bumped me. It was... Nice... Really nice.
Having my own very first real friend leave me, felt really bad, but I couldn't wait to see her again and I hoped that she would pass the entry exam with me, so we could be friends at the school too.
As I got home, I felt strange, like something that was taken from me just came back. And the feeling only intensified as I got ready for bed that night.