Vinyl could feel her usually relaxed vibe tense up with every step she took. Walking past Twilight reminded her very much of when she was just a filly, walking into the Principal’s office at school. Nothing good ever came of that situation.

She took a quick breath to steady her nerves and trotted toward the living area, which was the usual locale for guests to wait.

“Please, have a seat wherever,” Twilight said from behind her. “Feel free to move any papers or anything on the couch cushions.”

“Alright, gotcha,” Vinyl said with a weak smile.

She glanced around in an effort to find the first open seat she could and decided on the couch.

Twilight took a few steps in before stopping to a sudden halt. “Wait, let me go make tea! Do you like tea?”

“Umm… I think?” Vinyl replied.

“Great! Don’t move, I’ll be right back!”

Vinyl shuffled her hooves awkwardly in her seat and prayed to whatever divinity may be watching that Spike would show up and save her from what was to come.

In all of her dating experience, Vinyl had learned three simple rules one must follow:

1. Don’t call back until three days after the first date.

2. Avoid anypony who calls you a stupid pet name after the first date.

3. Most importantly, never get in a one on one situation with a close relative of your significant other.

She was directly violating rule three and she knew it was not going to end well. All she could do was hope for the best.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Twilight entered the room a moment later, levitating two cups of tea.

"Okay, here's one for you," she said, placing one by Vinyl," and here's one for me." She took a seat opposite Vinyl in a single pony chair.

Vinyl took a sip of the tea and immediately had to resist the urge to spit it out. No sugar and she swore that Twilight must have found a way to burn it. But, as per the model marefriend code, you do not want to get on any sort of negative side with your partners' family.

Vinyl smiled and set the tea down on the end table next to her. "Thank you, Princess Twilight."

“Oh, please, just Twilight will do.” Twilight laughed lightly. “I’m still not completely used to the whole royalty thing.”

Vinyl twiddled her hooves together and tried to occupy her eyes with anything other than the pony across from her.

"So, Vinyl?" Twilight asked.

"Umm, yes?"

"You sure seem to have an exciting life, being a musician and all. Do you get to travel a lot?"

"Travel? Oh yeah, definitely. That's one of the best parts, all the different scenes and clubs I get to go to."

"Uh-huh... So, I imagine that some of the places you go to are pretty different from here? I don't know, maybe even...dangerous, one could venture to say?" Twilight shot a firm, yet curious look in Vinyl's direction before gently taking a sip of her tea.

"Dangerous?" Vinyl questioned. "I wouldn't say that. As long as you keep a straight head and know what kinds of things to avoid, you should be okay.”

“Hmm, I see,” Twilight stated.

Vinyl could feel a drop of sweat running down her forehead. She was trying to play it cool, but the tense atmosphere was doing everything in its power to make things difficult.

“So, if I could ask, Twilight, do you know what time Spike will be getting back?” Vinyl glanced over at the door in some failed hope that her saviour would walk in and get her out of there.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be back before too long,” Twilight said with a smile.

Vinyl cringed. It was going to be a long afternoon.

“Speaking of Spike,” Twilight began.

Oh, no… Here we go.

“You two seem quite fond of each other, is that correct?”

And there it was.

“Yeah,” Vinyl said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. “He’s a pretty great guy.”

“Really? Why do you say that?”

Vinyl rubbed her chin. As per the usual with conversations like these, the question finally came. The ‘let me decide if you’re remotely acceptable to date my son/daughter/other’ question. Give the wrong answer, her chances of getting to see Spike, and possibly the light of day would be diminished. Answer correctly, she’d score major points in the eyes of Twilight, which would be a major boon.

Luckily for her, all she had to do was just speak her feelings. She just needed to add the ‘model girlfriend’ touch to it.

“Well, to start off, he’s sweet. He cares about others. Not only that, but he has self-respect, too. He, for the most part, seems to take care of himself.”

Vinyl looked over at Twilight, searching for any sort of confirmation she was on the right track. Twilight’s gaze was locked on her and wasn’t moving an inch. She gave nothing away.

“Also, he’s really smart. And, well, he’s real. Like, he doesn’t just put on a show to impress anyone, but instead really just acts like himself.” Vinyl chuckled to herself briefly thinking of some of the more interesting conversations her and Spike have had. “I mean, he’s a dork a lot of the times, but he’s a sweet dork.”

Vinyl could feel her heart beat faster the more she thought about Spike. Was she really that into him? Or maybe it was just the piercing gaze from Twilight.

Vinyl flashed a quirky smile over to Twilight, who had only one thing to say after taking a sip of her tea.

“I see…”

That was not what I expected.

Twilight’s face remained a stoic expression of no emotion, but her mind was in a whirl, processing everything she said.

I was for sure she was going to say something like “we like music” or “he’s really cool”, something I could pick apart and find fault in. But no, she has to go and make it all complex with her feelings!

“Hmm, that’s great, Vinyl. I’m glad you really appreciate him like that. He definitely deserves somepony who cares about him.”

Twilight could hear a sigh of relief escape Vinyl. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the power she currently had over the unicorn, the same power she had in the past with Flitter once upon a time. It wasn’t her intention to frighten Vinyl away, but merely pick her brain and investigate her compatability for Spike. Things that were totally her business as Spike’s closest family.

Totally her business.

In light of that, a few more questions seemed to be in order.

“Vinyl, hypothetically speaking… Spike is dying, you need to know what blood type to give him or he’ll die! What do you choose?”

Author's Notes:

This convo is frighteningly similar to one I had with a girl's mom, once. Scary stuff.