The Art of Organised Cheating Part 1

The entire town is silent. Passersby who aren’t taking the tests read signs that say: ‘Hush: Tests in progress’ in both English and Latin. It would also say it in Greek, but the Greek portions of the signs are tapped over for the sake of today’s tests.

“There will be no talking, or use of magic unless you are writing via levitation. There is to be no advancing onto the other tests until the time for this test is up. When I say ‘begin’ you will start your test.”

You can hear other guards in the distance giving the same speech in what sounds like a musical round.

Now the entire town is absolutely dead silent.

‘Begin. Good luck.’ All the guards say simultaneously.

You all begin testing. It’s the Greek introduction tests, so it should be fairly easy for all of you.

The first question asks what the first letter of the Greek alphabet is.

It’s multiple-choice.

A. Gamma

B. Beta

C. Double U

D. Alpha

It’s obviously Alpha.

The first portion of this test is pretty much like that. In the distance, you hear a pony sneeze. Nearly the whole town roars with ‘Gesundheit!’ and ‘Bless You!’

Trixie says “Saluta!” and Lyra says “Bless you, bro!”.

It was all pretty funny, but everypony was told to hush immediately.

You zoom through that section in 12 minutes. The next section didn’t prove to be any trickier.

1. English is to Apple

as Greek is to_______

A. αππλε

B. πομμε

C. μήλο

D. απίδι

You select C to be the correct answer, and shake your head. The test is extremely easy.

You glance over at Minuette for a second. She’s sweating, and confused. Not wanting to look like you’re cheating, you pretend to sneeze and glance over at what section she’s on. The entire town blesses you, including the guard, and you thank them with a giggle.

She’s on the first question of the section you’re on. She’s about to pick D, which is actually the Greek word for ‘pear’. You want to help her, and that’s when you remember the rocks.

You need to draw Colgate’s attention to the chalk for her to pick the right answer.

Levitate the Chalk.

Shake the Chalk.