Canterlot 14:00
Shining Armor burst into the kitchen, startling his parents and his little sister as he bounced around the table, levitating a piece of parchment before him.
“I passed, I passed, I’m in the Academy!” He shouted as he bounced.
Twilight looked up with a big grin on her face. “You passed the test?” She asked as she dropped her Smartie Pants doll and ran up to her big brother. He nodded and swung her around with his magic.
She squealed with glee as he pranced around the kitchen table shouting, “yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!”
Twilight Velvet smiled at her children's antics and rushed towards her son, “I’m so proud of you, Shining!” She exclaimed, wrapping her son into a hug.
“Good job son!” Night Light said slapping his son on the back before joining in the group hug.
Shining Armor grinned and then sniffed the air, “Is something burning?” He asked.
“ The pie!” Twilight Velvet shouted as she rushed to the oven. Ignoring her family's laughter, she grabbed the pie from the oven and placed it on the counter with a flourish. "One blueberry pie a la mode, coming up" She said as she cut out a large piece of the pie and served it up with some vanilla ice cream to her son.
"What's this?" Shining Armor asked before taking a bite.
Twilight clapped her hooves in glee as she received her own slice of pie. "We knew you'd pass the test, so we made your favorite pie to celebrate!" She said before gobbling up her treat.
Shining Armor grinned as he took in his sister's messy eating. "Don't you mean your favorite dessert?" Shining Armor asked, levitating a dollop of whipped cream onto her nose.
Twilight giggled and grabbed the can in her own magic. Shining Armor ducked and the whipped cream hit their father in the face.
"Oops" Twilight giggled, ducking down in her seat. Night Light grinned as he pulled another can of whipped cream from the cupboard. Soon whipped cream was flying everywhere.
"Ahem." Twilight Velvet frowned, looking at her suddenly very sheepish family.
"Sorry, mom" Shining Armor and Twilight chorused.
"Sorry, dear" Night Light added, walking towards his wife.
Twilight Velvet grinned and said "You forgot the sprinkles", levitating a jar over to her children. Her family sighed in relief before bursting into laughter as they fought over the sprinkles.
Cloudsdale 14:00
Bronzewing burst through the doors of the Cloudsdale weather factory. Picking up speed, he flew through the halls and into his father’s office, interrupting a weather management meeting. The burst of wind he created knocked over several piles of paperwork and caused the weather pieces to fly off map covering the large table. He landed on top of the table and struck a proud pose.
“I made it! I’m in!” He shouted in excitement as his father grinned and took the letter his son was holding up proudly. "Oops...sorry" Bronzewing added sheepishly as he noticed the mess he had caused. He quickly got off the tables and started to gather up the weather symbols he had scattered. The ponies chuckled good-naturally and started gathering their own reports. (None of them would admit it, but they were happy to have a distraction in what would otherwise be a very boring planning session.)
Storm Wing finished reading the letter and slapped his son on the back with his wing. “Good Job, Bronzewing! I’m proud of you.” He said before turning to face his coworkers, who had finished picking up their reports and had gathered around them to see what the good news was. He held up the letter and said proudly, “My son has been accepted into the Royal Guard Training Academy!”
“Congratulations!”
“Way to go!”
“Well done!”
Bronzewing grinned as the ponies congratulated him. His father stood aside to let Bronzewing enjoy the moment.
“You’ve raised a fine son, Storm Wing” His boss said as a drop of liquid pride rolled down Storm Wing’s face.
Dodge Junction 14:00
“Jubilee, I made it, I passed the test!” Cherry Fizzy said as he called for his cousin. “oof” He gasped as Cherry Jubilee wrapped him in a hug.
“Way to go Fizzy! I’m right proud of you, cuz!” She said as wrapped her cousin in a bone breaking hug. “You’ll be the best Royal Guard in the whole Academy, darn tootin’!”
“Thanks Jubilee” Cherry Fizzy gasped as he tried to free himself from her grip. Suddenly she let go and ran out to the cherry orchards.
“Hey Everypony!” She called as she rang the lunch gong. “Little Cherry Fizzy made it into the Academy!”
Cherry Fizzy gulped as all his cousins and everypony in town ran up to him, smiling and shouting congratulations. “I’m sure gonna miss you folks” He said as he was buried in a group hug.
Manehatten 14:00
Silver Shield walked through the precinct, wondering why his mother had called him down there. ‘ I hope it’s not about my taking the entrance exam for the academy, again’ He thought grimly as he knocked on her door and waited for the 'Enter' before walking into her office.
“Hello mother” He greeted Silver Clasp as he stood in front of her desk.
“Sit down, Silver Badge” She said as picked up a letter from her desk.
'Uh oh', He thought nervously as he sat in metal chair in front of her desk. It was never a good sign when Silver Clasp asked you to take a seat.
“This came for you” She said passing him the letter.
“Thank you mother” he said as he took it and stood to leave.
“Sit down” she said as she closed the door with her magic.
*GULP* ‘Now I’m gonna get it’, he thought nervously.
Silver Clasp smiled at her son and motioned towards the letter. “Why don’t you open it now” She suggested. At least it sounded like a suggestion, but he knew better. With another nervous gulp he slid open the top of the letter. He read the letter silently and couldn’t help the grin that appeared on his face. “Well?” His mother asked when he had finished.
His grin faded as he handed her the letter. “I’ve been accepted in the Royal Guard Training Academy” He said and waited for her disappointed sigh. Surprisingly, it didn’t come.
“The Royal guards, huh?” She said, taking the letter. “Says here you passed with top marks” She continued as she read the letter. He waited silently for her to finish. At last she put it down. And smiled. His jaw fell open as she continued, “Well done, Silver Shield”
He realized he was gaping at his mother and closed his mouth with a snap. “You mean, you aren’t going to yell at me or forbid me to go?” He asked in disbelief.
She shook her head, “You’ve obviously wanted to do this for some time and you’ve put some serious effort into it. I’m not going to stop you from following your dream just because it’s not what I expected. Especially one you’ve worked so hard for.”
He stared at her in disbelief as she smiled, not the ‘I know what you’re up to” smile but a real smile. “I may not say it much, but I do love you son, and I want you to be happy.”
Silver Shield grinned and leaned over the desk to give his mother a hug. She stiffened for a moment before lightly patting him on the back. She cleared her throat softly and he leaned back into his chair, grinning sheepishly. “You’d best go tell your friends and get your gear ready” She said, back to cop mom mode.
“Yes, ma’am” He said happily and turned to leave her office.
Just as his hoof was on the door, Silver Clasp called to him, “And son?”
He looked over his shoulder.
“I’m proud of you.” She said simply before going back to her paperwork.
“I love you, too” Silver Badge replied before going to meet his friends.