https://youtu.be/iuYmH2yLaHA

Swagger's POV

It had been five weeks since Twilight and I confessed our feelings toward each other, and four weeks since I had to avoid her overbearing brother and inquisitive sister-in-law. Luckily, my old friend Joe came to the rescue. Hey played peacemaker between us and suggested we have dinner at Twilight's parent's house, that way her whole family gets to know me. After a couple of letters and re-scheduling, we had a date set and ready. Now, I'm on a train with Twilight, heading towards Canterlot.

" So, I know I should've asked this a while ago, but do you think your parents will be okay with you dating someone who isn't a pony?" That question sounded a little racist, or, speciesist, but some parents are like that. It didn't help when she told me the story about Hearths Warming.

" In all honesty, I don't know. You're the only boyfriend I've ever had, so I think they're just glad I found someone?"

" I can imagine they would react like your brother did, at least your father will. I can't say how your mother will react." Before we could ponder anymore on the subject, the train came to a halt. " Looks like we're here." I grabbed our stuff from the over-head and followed Twilight off the train.

As soon as we departed, Twilight and I were swarmed by the locals. Half of the crowd questioned Twilight on her ascension while the other half mistook me for Tex. " Princess Twilight, what's it like being an alicorn?"

" King Joe, why don't you have your wings?"

" Are you two here because of some disaster?"

" Does this suit make me look fat?"

Twilight and I couldn't take it anymore so she teleported us in the district where her parents are. " Thanks, beautiful." Her cheeks flushed red when I called her beautiful. " So, which house is it?"

She shook off her flustered smile and pointed down the street. " Just down that way, they should be expecting us in a few minutes, so we better hurry." She led me down the street to her childhood home and she seemed to have a small skip in her step as we approached a two-story house, with a well-kept lawn surrounded by a picket fence. " Here we are!" She knocked on the door and got giddy for the big unveiling. " Nervous?"

" Not the most dangerous thing I've ever done." But this may be a close second.

We didn't have to wait long as the door opened, revealing a unicorn couple. The stallion has a blue coat with a darker blue mane and tail, and his mark's a crescent moon inside another crescent moon. The mare shared a shocking resemblance to Twilight with a grey coat and a purple and white striped mane and tail, and her mark's three purple stars. These two can only be Twilight's parents.

" Mom! Dad!" Twilight brought the two of them in a hug before directing their attention to me. " Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, the one I told you about in my letters."

I held out my hand for a greeting. " Bob Lee Swagger, it's very nice to meet you."

Twilight's father came up first. " Name's Night Light, nice to meet you." He shook my hand and gave me a small smile, though I could see in his eyes that he was scanning me for some small imperfection. Typical of any father with a daughter.

When we separated, I was brought into Twilight's mom's magic and started to get squeezed to death in her hooves. " Ooooohhhh, my little Sparkler finally found a boyfriend!"

When she let me go, I looked over at Twilight with a smirk. " Sparkler?"

Twilight's cheeks turned red and she looked to her mom. " Mom, I thought we agreed you'd never call me that anymore!" She said with a hint of venom.

Her mom took her attention off me and scolded her daughter. " Correction, you agreed, I agreed to do no such thing." She faced me again. " I'm sorry, my name's Twilight Velvet, I'm Twilight's mother."

I took her hoof in hand and gave it a gentle kiss. " It's a pleasure to meet you, mam." She blushed at my charm and did her best to play it off. Still got it.

Having seen enough, Night Light cleared his throat, directing our attention over to him. " How about we go inside, Shining and Cadence are already here." He turned back into the house with us following behind. We entered the house and went into a nice sized living room. Waiting for us in the Living room, were Twilight's brother and his wife whose names I now took as Shining and Cadence.

When Shining's eye's landed on me, I could see the deep mistrust he had towards me. I could tell it would take a lot to get through to him. When Cadence looked between Twilight and Myself, she tried to hide her giggling behind her hoof. Guess she sees something between us.

Twilight and I took a seat on one of the couches while Velvet brought out some tea and a cheese plate. " Alright, here's a little something to tie us off before dinner." She set the tray down and served everyone a cup. After everyone was settled, Velvet started the conversation. " So...how did you two meet?"

" We actually met through TEX." Everyone except for Twilight wondered who I was talking about. " I believe you know him best as Joe." Realization struck after saying that.

Cadence picked up after that. " How exactly do you know Joe?"

"He and I were bunkmates on Paris Island during Marine corp training. He went through basics while Donnie and I went through Scout-Sniper training. We've been friends ever since."

" What exactly, is a Marine, and for that matter, what's a Scout-Sniper?" Night Light asked while eating a cheese cracker.

" Well, a Marine is a soldier in the U.S. military, in fact, they're the best military branch in the U.S.." The guys had a small smirk while the girls seemed intrigued. " As for what a Scout-Sniper is, well you're looking at one." The girls giggled at my joke while the guys let off a groan. " Seriously though, Scout-Snipers work in teams of two, there are the spotter and the gunman. Donnie was my Spotter while I held the gun." This got them all intrigued.

" Well, it's very nice to see that Twilight has finally found someone, and especially at keeping the tradition alive." At hearing tradition mentioned. made me wonder what Velvet meant.

" Sorry, I don't follow, what tradition would that be?"

" Oh, it's nothing really, not even really a tradition. It's just that the mares in the Sparkle family have always fallen for military stallions." She then turned toward her husband. " When I was working in the Royal Archives, I bumped into Night after he walked out of the guard's lounge. Needless to say, I fell for him immediately." The married couple then went and shared a kiss.

After a while, Shining decided to speak for the first time that day. " So, Swagger, what rank are you, exactly?"

" Before I retired, I was a Gunnery Sergeant. Although, being the only sniper instructor to Herot's military, TEX gave me the rank of General." All at once, Night and Armor stood from the couch and quickly put up a salute. " At ease soldiers." They both realized what they were doing and brushed it off while the girls laughed.

While the guys composed themselves, Cadence took back the conversation. " So, I have to know. Where did you two realize you were right for each other?" At that question, I subconsciously moved my hand where the knife entered my side. This didn't go unnoticed by Shining.

" Truth be told, we confessed our feelings at the hospital." This made Night Light furious and he grabbed me with his magic.

" What did you do to my daughter you bastard!?" He started to shake me violently while Velvet and Twilight tried to calm him down.

" Dad, stop it! I wasn't the one who got hurt, Swagger was the one in the hospital!" Twilight yelled in her father's ears while holding his foreleg.

After hearing his daughter's explanation, he calmed down and set me down on the couch. After everyone sat back down, Night Light asked a follow-up question. " May I ask why you were in the hospital?" Instead of answering, I lifted my shirt and showed them my scar. " Wow, what happened there?"

" Some kind of dog-cat thing with monkey paws threw a blade and it struck my side, almost pierced my lung." I put my shirt back on while the others stared at the spot where the knife went in.

While the others kept starring, Twilight tried to hide her tears. Finally, Velvet noticed her daughter holding in her tears. " Honey, what's wrong, why are you crying?"

" ( Sniff) I'm sorry mom. I just get sad every time I see that scar." I put my arm around her and started to scratch her ear, it always calms her down. " Thanks, Swagger."

" Anytime Sparkler." This got her to give me a small glare before she nuzzled into me.

" Twilight, why would you be upset about his scar?" Hearing this only made Twilight start to cry again. " What, what did I say?"

" I'll tell you why his scar makes me upset. It's because the knife that went in him was meant for me!" After her outburst, Twilight tells the story from a month ago. They were shocked to hear that we met the actual Darring Do. They cringed when they heard how TEX got his stomach sliced open. They then got worried when Ahuizotl sent the knife her way, but breathed a sigh of relief when I pushed her out of the way. Cadence swooned when she told them how we confessed our love at the hospital. " And that's how we became a couple."

Everyone stared at us with bewildered eyes. After a while Cadence was the first to break the silence. " Ooohhh, that sounds very romantic." She got up from her seat and brought Twilight in for a hug.

While those two were having a moment, Shining came over to me. " Swagger, I uh...I just want to say." I stopped him with a pat on the back.

" No need for apologizes, you were just doing what any brother would do for their little sister. Though, I think you went a little overboard by sending a firebolt at me while I was using the outhouse." We both shared a laugh at that memory. " So, wanna start over?"

He raised his hoof which I took in my hand. " I'd like that very much."

While Twilight and I were getting along with her brother and sister-in-law, I heard Velvet whisper over to Night. " So, which one do you think will give us grandchildren first?"

Author's Notes:

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it. I suck at writing Slice of Life. Unless there's combat or bloodshed, the quality will most likely drop. On a side note, how would you see Swagger as a pony?

Well, time for a clip.

https://youtu.be/HGo4mPa_bWc

Screw it, here's another.

https://youtu.be/F06kdXfrkic