Family Facade

The tram ride to grandparent's apartment was uneventful and the elderly members of the family were happy to see their grand foals once again. Even Stalwart Stealth was smiling, which was unusual for the stoic, older bat pony stallion. Anonymous could only guess he was happy to see his grand foals. The man was annoyed that his father-in-law never really warmed up to him, despite taking care of his daughter and giving him grand foals.

The man kept his cool and refocused on the positivity of his family and the date with his wife. As the foals walked into apartment, Sundown Soft hugged her daughter and Anonymous, welcoming them both to their home again. Stalwart Stealth, in a rare moment of respect, walked over and raised his hoof towards Anonymous.

"Good to see you again, Anonymous."

The man stared at the stallion, not sure how to respond. It was very much out of character for him, and the man was wondering if this was a joke. He gave the stallion the benefit of the doubt, and his fist into a bro-fist and tapped the stallion's hoof. A good, solid contact was made and a successful exchange of respect between the two was complete. The man couldn't believe it was had just happened and Anonymous wondered if hell had truly frozen over. He held his composure and nodded, "Same to you, dad."

Sweet Shade and Sundown Soft beamed with happiness while Stalwart Stealth nodded. He held a hoof up, and pointed towards the kitchen and asked, "Care to join me for some coffee? I made some freshly ground coffee from the Hollow Shades Coffee co-op."

And the older stallion bat pony wasn't joking; the unmistakable scent of rather bold coffee could be smelled from several feet away. Not wasting anytime, Anonymous and Stalwart Stealth made their way towards the kitchen while Sweet Shade and Sundown Soft began to exchange a whispered conversation. The man had no idea what they were talking about but figured it was likely about the newfound respect between the two stallions of the households. Stalwart Stealth opened a cabinet with one of his wing's mini-hooks and took out two mugs. The mugs were decorated with an emblem of the 11th Lunar Royal Sentinel Unit.

Stalwart Stealth had served in the Lunar Guard long ago, which was thrust back into service the moment Princess Luna arrived and was free of Nightmare Moon's control. Anonymous's father was similar to Stalwart Stealth in many ways and the man had hoped to learn more about his time in service. However, the Lunar Guard were the more secretive bunch of the Royal Guards and Anonymous knew better than to ask unless told. If a Lunar Guard chose to talk about their service, especially if they were in direct service of Princess Luna herself, then it was a sign of trust.

"Maybe one day I'll learn more about the Lunar Guards. I marry a bat pony, and I'm still an outsider. Oh well, at least he's using his personal mugs. He's NEVER done that before."

Stalwart Stealth poured the coffee into the mugs and asked, "Do you take sugar or cream?"

The man shook his head, "No thanks. I prefer straight black; it allows to me to really enjoy the taste instead of covering it up."

The father-in-law stallion nodded approvingly and replied, "Yes, I agree. That's the right way to enjoy coffee. Leave the cream and sugar for the ladies."

Stalwart Stealth hoofed the coffee mug over to Anonymous before motioning towards the balcony.

"Walk with me. I want to have a talk with you."

"What could he want to talk about? This day is getting strange."

Anonymous followed Stalwart Stealth to the balcony, leaving the rest of the family in the living room. Eventide was already busy drawing in a sketch pad and not paying attention to anything else in the world. Moon Flash was busy playing with his Joy Boy Deluxe, and Glisten Sheen was reading a magazine while listening to music on her headphones. His wife and mother-in-law had already walked away to the bathroom, helping her daughter get ready for the party.

With the other family members busy in their own world, the two heads of the family were now overlooking the Manehatten skyline. With the door closed, the two sat on some chairs in the rather generous balcony space. Sundown Soft had gone through the trouble of adding tasteful decorations fit not just for any Equestrian family but a Thestral family as well. After the two relaxed in their chairs, Stalwart Stealth took a sip of the coffee. Anonymous did the same and remarked, "Wow, good coffee."

"Agreed." said Stalwart Stealth, "Sundown went to Shadow Falls and picked up some last month. She went to check up on her aging mother. He time among the living is about over, but my old mother-in-law is in good spirits and has no regrets."

Anonymous nodded before looking at the view of the city. Nothing was said for whole minute, which made Anonymous wonder if he did something wrong. The awkward silence was broken as Stalwart spoke words that the man though he would never hear.

"Anonymous, I'm sorry for not giving you the proper respect you deserve."

"NANI?! thought Anonymous.

The man almost spit up his coffee but thankfully, saved himself from embarrassment. All the man could say was, "What?"

The older stallion sighed and said, "I mean what I'm saying. I can't lie, I wasn't thrilled she chose to date you. You're not a pony, not even a bat pony. Shoot, even other ponies are considered outsiders in many ways. Our kind wasn't exactly the ones one the loving, Heart's Warming Eve reception kind of treatment, if you catch my meaning. So sticking to our own and having our own ways is heavily ingrained into us. Still, you stood your ground and supported my daughter. And you gave us three wonderful grand foals. Crossbreeding potions or not, they're wonderful and you've raised them right. So with that said..."

The bat pony put his cup of coffee down on the mini glass table between their chairs. He turned to anonymous and held out a hoof. A stern but respectful expression was being given to the man, who fist bumped the hoof. A solid contact was made and a newfound respect was exchanged. No longer was there any suspicion between the two nor was there any animosity. There was nothing but respect between the two, and a small cloud was removed from Anonymous. Even though it was real life, the man couldn't help but feel he earned a video game achievement.

After the fist bump was over, Stalwart Stealth looked back over to the view of the bright, shining city. Anonymous did the same before the stallion said, "Before you came to Equestria, did your people have any militarizes or wars?"

"Is he going to talk about his Lunar Guard experience?"

"Yes, unfortunately. My people are no stranger to it. My dad was in the military, but not me. He did teach me discipline and drive though. I learned a lot from him."

Stalwart Stealth nodded and replied, "I see. That's good you had a proper father figure. Makes sense in how you carry yourself. I learned a lot when Princess Luna returned from the moon and broke free from Nightmare Moon's clutches. Joining the Royal Lunar Guard was something. Let me tell you-"

"Called it! Hope he's got some cool stories."

"-the time we caught a theft ring attempting to steal from the Palace. Keep your mouth shut though, operational security, mind you."

Anonymous sat back and enjoyed listening to his father-in-law's Lunar Guard story. And it wasn't a short story either, as it reminded Anonymous that even in a world of ponies and magic, conflict and danger still exists. This didn't bother him as Mr. Anonymous Unknown knew that he had nothing to fear with his family. And his greatest friend and partner, Sweet Shade, would always be by his side. Taking a sip of coffee, the man thought,

"Nothing will ruin what I have. Not a damn thing."