After the test was over, and school was wrapped up, Silver did not head home immediately. Instead he found Soft Blush and followed her out of the school. Trotting after her, he called out, "Soft Blush? Do you have a moment?"
She paused and looked back at him, looking nervous a moment. "I suppose..."
Silver tilted his head, "Why are you nervous? We're... friends right?"
She shook her head, then bobbed it up and down, "Well, yes, at school. My parents were ever so insistent I not socialize with you after the final bell."
Silver blinked in surprise, "What, why? Did I? I mean... what?"
Soft Blush's ears pinned back as she shook her head again, "It's... about Carrot Plate. They say you're a bad colt looking to get fillies in trouble."
Silver flopped down onto his haunches, "Oh. Do you believe that?"
Soft Blush gave a little smile, "I suppose I don't. I'm large enough to decide with whom I will socialize or not. Very well, what business did you have?"
Silver brightened quickly, "Thank goodness. I wanted to talk to you, since you're a unicorn, and you looked like you were good with your horn."
Soft blinked softly, "Did I? I wasn't the brightest, or the strongest. Whatever makes you say that?"
Silver pointed at her, "I have an eye for these things." It wasn't a lie. "Is this your first year trying?"
She shook her head, "I've taken the test for eight years."
Silver reared his head back a little, "Didn't pass?"
She held up a hoof, "Passed every time."
Silver looked her over, down to her cutie mark that looked like a face with eyeshadow, then back up at her, "If you passed, why aren't you in an academy?"
Soft Blush made a dismissive wave with her left hoof, "What use do I have with all that? It is only to satisfy my dear parents. They would be ashamed if I could not pass their boring exam. My talent is simple." Her horn began to glow and Silver felt something brushing his face. She drew out a mirror from her delicate bag and showed off Silver's new makeup. It was tasteful and subtle, likely to enhance whatever ponies thought was attractive.
Silver tilted his head one way, then the other, looking at himself, "Nice job." He had no idea if it was a nice job or not. "So are you going to work in a department store?"
Soft Blush heaved a light sigh, "I wanted to make a salon of my own, but whoever heard of one just for makeup?"
Silver tapped the ground with a hoof for a moment before he asked, "Well, wait. Maybe you're looking a bit too directly."
"Too directly?" asked Soft, "I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest what you mean. Please explain darling."
Silver flashed a light smile, "Your talent is makeup, but there's more to makeup than just prettying somepony up. What if... I wanted to be a wolf?"
"A wolf?" asked Soft, but then she frowned in thought. Her horn began to glow and the tickling returned, working over much more of Silver's body. She circled around him as she worked. Even his tail got a moment of being worked on. Soon she stopped back in front of him, "There. A masterpiece, if I say so myself." She wielded her mirror for him to see.
Silver struggled to restrain his giggles. It was amazing work, to be sure, but a pony werewolf -- as he was gussied up to be -- was just funny to look at. He wagged his canine like tail back and forth and shook his floppy ears. When did he get floppy ears? "I don't think wolves have floppy ears."
"But you look ever so darling," she reasoned with a smile. "This has been most interesting, but I fail to see your point."
Silver raised a hoof, only to notice it was done up to look like a paw. He snorted softly, "You're amazing. You could be working for actors, not aging housemares trying to hide their wrinkles or desperate rich ponies trying to look their best. Performers of any kind would pay a lot for you..." He trailed off, then clopped his hooves together, "I have a friend who could point you in the right direction."
"Whoever would that be?" asked Soft Blush, growing interested. "I never considered that angle before."
"Nicole Foalman. She's really nice, and she owes me a favor," said Silver just before he was bowled over to the ground under a wide-eyed Soft.
"You know the Nicole Foalman, personally?" she asked, "She's my idol! Her skill with disguise is what inspired me! Would she really help me?"
Silver flushed hard. It felt kind of nice to be pinned down by the older filly, to say nothing of that enchanting scent that clung to mares. "Uh, yes. I'm sure of it. Absolutely sure. I'll write her a letter when I get home."
She climbed off of him and lifted him to his feet with a flash of magic. "Dreadfully sorry, I lost my composure."
Silver shook his head, "It's OK. So, uh... any advice, for getting into the academy? I really want to get in."
Soft leaned forward and planted a kiss between his eyes. He wobbled in place, muscle tone vanishing. He could barely hear her over the roar in his ears, "You darling little colt. You're too young to be locked away in some stuffy academy. Besides, if you went off to an academy, we wouldn't be classmates any longer." She turned and walked off, leaving Silver to flop against a fence, breathing softly.
When his wits returned, he pushed to his hooves and moved for home. He was happy that he had helped Soft, but grunted in frustration. He still wanted to pass that exam. "Anything worth doing, is worth doing right now." A sudden sharp jolt ran through his body, and he began to prowl through the streets like the wolf he was disguised as, "When you're on the prowl. Let them hear your howl." Oh, oh god. Was he singing? He was singing. Why was he singing? "I'm a wolf in the grass, Surely I can pass, if I just put in my all." He could hear a counter-rhythm coming from somewhere, and felt the urge to be silent for a moment, though he continued to stalk along.
Equestrian song magic had him entirely in its grip. Though his body obeyed without question, his mind reeled with confusion. Suddenly Trixie stepped out of nowhere, shaking a hoof at him, "You're trying far too hard," she sang, "Gonna go down in flames. Why don't you listen to Trixie, She's faced this shame long before!" Huh, was rhyming optional? Trixie just walked off as if nothing happened, and he prowled on.
The urge to sing returned in full force and he called out, "Why don't they understand. This is where I'll make my stand. I'm good enough. It can't be that tough!"
Ponies emerged from either side, singing his words back at him, "This is where he'll make his stand. Why can't they understand?" Then they ducked away back into their houses. This was becoming hilarious, and scary, all at once.
Silver spotted a skateboard just sitting there and suddenly knocked it into position and hopped onto it. He zoomed down the hill towards his house at an alarming speed as he sang, "It's all coming so fast, but this test I will pass! I'm not just a colt... I'll give them a jolt, when I pass... this... test!" He was mid-air as he said the last word, soaring over a bump. The music magic fled him abruptly, leaving him back in control of his body as the skateboard came back for a landing. "Oh shit!" The skateboard hit the ground, and kept going. Silver did not.
His hooves went out from under him and he fell over, tumbling in several rolls before he came to a slow, painful, stop. He quietly hoped music magic wasn't always so... abrasive...