“Come on, it’s not like it’s all day. Octy and I just have to go take care of something real quick. Besides, Mom and Emerald want to spend some time with you.” Vinyl said as she prepared to leave Octavia’s home with her. Twilight grumbled.

“I did promise I wouldn’t keep you two from hanging out… Fine, but if you’re not back by nightfall I’ll go out looking for you. Knowing you you’d probably be passed out in a bar somewhere.” Twilight replied, though the last part was obviously more teasing than anything. Vinyl laughed at it and pecked her on the lips before turning quickly, her disguise of the black and green haired unicorn returning.

“Don’t worry, we’re not even going out to drink. Don’t be jealous, I know I’m hot as hell but Octy isn’t THAT desperate.” The now disguised alicorn said. Both of the other mares rolled their eyes.

“You know I’m not jealous. I just prefer you being next to me. For, like, ever.” Twilight retorted, mimicking Vinyl’s tone for the last part. That earned a snicker from Octavia and and giggle from Vinyl. She pecked Twilight on the nose and turned, again.

“Don’t worry, you may hate to see me leave but you sure as hay love to watch me go.” She said, flicking her tail for effect and effectively ‘strutting her stuff’. Twilight just laughed at that as the door closed and she turned to be surprised by a grinning Record with an equally smiley filly on her back.

“Auntie Twilight, wanna play?” The filly asked. Twilight couldn’t help but have a little ‘aww’ moment.

“Yes, Auntie Twilight, why don’t you join us?” Record giggled. Twilight just nodded enthusiastically and follow the two back into the foyer. Harmonia and Chorus, who Twilight now knew were the names of Octavia’s parents, had graciously let Racord and Emerald stay with them until the divorce and they were ready to move. Their families had been friends for years.

“Vincent, if you would.” Record said when they were at the center of the room. The Butler, who was standing at the ready, nodded and turned on an old record player. The tune was a soft orchestral piece, probably by one of the three Philharmonic musicians that owned it, and Record was dancing with her daughter in her magical grasp. Twilight smiled and watched for a moment until the filly exclaimed happily as she was sent flying through the air towards her.

In an almost practiced motion, Twilight twirled with the music as she caught the filly in her own, her wings splayed out to keep balance, and started ballroom dancing as if the filly was a suitor. She even did a dramatic swoon when the filly did her own twirl in her magical grasp.

“Thanks for not dropping her.” Record said when they swirled around each other, though just as the filly was passed back into her mother’s care the alicorn nearly ended up on the floor. There were those four left hooves she was (in)famous for.

“A-ah, well, it was instinct I guess. What is this game you’re playing, Emerald?” Twilight asked.

“It’s called dance with mommy! It’s my favorite game!” The filly exclaimed happily, earning another coo from Twilight as well as the mommy in question.

“A very nice game, I should think. Unfortunately I’m not that good at dancing.” Twilight said, resorting to just simple swaying and occasional twirls and wing flutters to the orchestral piece.

“That’s not what I heard from Veronica, isn’t that how you met?” Record asked. Twilight blushed and nearly tripped over herself again in the middle of a little spin, earning a giggle from the other mare.

“I mean ,I took lessons for years. I used to be so bad the party would STOP, but now I’m just clumsy. Apparently it’s a whole other story when I’ve had far too much to drink. My friends and your daughter insisted on getting me trashed that night, and since she said drinks were on her I decided why not? Turns out it was the best mistake of my life.” The alicorn replied. Record laughed and shook her head.

“Of course, nobody would catch her eye unless you’re both drunk. Figures. I’m going to have to agree with you, though… I always knew she was going to bring home a mare SOME day, but I never expected it to be one as perfect as yourself.” Record said, smiling and giggling as she used her magic to assist Emerald in dipping her before twirling again, the giggling filly loving every second of it. At that point, the filly was again handed off to Twilight. She was a little nervous of tripping with her, but the pure happiness the filly was giving off was more than enough to convince her it would be fine.

“Please, I’m not perfect. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I’ll continue to do so. I don’t know everything, you should have seen how much I freaked out during Vinyl’s transformation. And even now, though she’s only been gone for ten minutes, I miss her at my side. Healthy couples usually aren’t that clingy, at least after a little while. I’m worried I’m too clingy.” Twilight retorted. Record laughed at that.

“Celestia, nobody is perfect. Not even the Princess herself is, though don’t tell her I said that. It’s the imperfections,and the fact that you recognize them, that make you who you are. No, I meant perfect for her. There are a lot of defining points in her life that she’s done to spite her father. Moving out, opening the night club, changing her name even. I knew one day she’d bring home some punk mare practically off the streets because he always wanted her to marry into Canterlot nobility. Instead she walks in with Twilight Sparkle, and it’s not something built from spite I can tell that much. You genuinely fell for each other, and that’s why you’re perfect.” Record explained. Twilight froze at the explanation, and she even felt her eyes watering slightly as she flushed up in embarrassment.

“Auntie Twilight? Why are you crying?” Emerald asked, gently putting a hoof on Twilight’s cheek as a tear did indeed break free from its place and roll down the cheek. Twilight just smiled warmly and nuzzled the Filly, eliciting a giggle from the unicorn, before walking over and hugging Record.

“Thank you. That was… touching. And hey, maybe one day she will marry into Canterlot nobility? I wouldn’t mind joining the family legally.” Twilight said. Record laughed at that as she gently stroked Twilight’s mane. Lord, she had forgotten that Twilight wasn’t even older than Vinyl.

“Of course, Twilight. You may not be married, but Emerald has already decided you’re part of the family. Right, Emerald?” Record said, Twilight allowing the filly to be taken in Record’s magic again. The filly nodded furiously and, as Record let her go, she latched onto Twilight’s neck.

“Auntie Twilight IS part of the family, and not even Daddy can take her away from us!” Emerald exclaimed triumphantly. Record’s smile dropped significantly at that, but it returned in full when Twilight pulled out of the hug to smile at her.

“Well then, as part of your family, I’m that my family will accept you with open arms if you ever go to visit them. The Crystal Empire is a bit of a journey, but if you ever need a Foalsitter I can attest to Cadence’s competence. She can’t travel around as much anymore though so you could always bring Emerald to Canterlot with my parents. I secretly suspect they’re going to have some empty nest syndrome after meeting her.” The alicorn said. Record laughed softly and looked down at Emerald.

“How about it, Emmy? Wanna go alllllll the way to the Crystal Empire to see Auntie Cadence?” Record asked. Any reply was cut off by the alicorn in question.

“You don’t have to go that far, I’m not gone just yet.” Cadence said happily as she and Shining entered the foyer. Emerald immediately gasped and, after being set down on the floor, sprinted up to Cadence to hug her foreleg.

“My, such an impression you’ve all made on her. I can’t thank you enough for what you did last night, Princess Cadence, I’d trust you with her any time you’d like.” Record said. Cadence giggled and picked up Emerald with a wing to place her on her back and nuzzle her before turning back to Record.

“She is incredible with foals, and all kinds of children.” Shining said with a smile, leaning against his wife.

“And no need to use titles here, the only time it’s ever necessary is if we’re in public at my empire or I’m here on official business. And even then, I don’t accept formalities with family.” Cadence said. Record nodded happily and moved towards them with Twilight beside her.

“Have you had any more trouble with Taut Strings?” Shining asked, his tone a little serious. Cadence immediately moved back to the center of the room and asked Emerald to teach her the game she was playing with Record and Twilight.

“Luckily no. Vincent and Sergei went over this morning to gather our things. They knocked on his study door and they had to speak to him through it. He warned them that if anything that wasn’t mine or Emerald’s was gone he’d call the police and have us arrested, so I made sure to have them go back for the wine cellar. Let him try to arrest me, I’ll take more than that from him in the courtroom.” Record replied, ending with a bit of a frustrated tone.

“Way to go step-mom.” Twilight said nudging her. Shining smiled, but his tone didn’t get any brighter.

“Are you sure he can’t have you arrested? It is basically stealing from him…” He asked, though by his tone he was more making sure she would be alright rather than actually caring about it.

“Of course not. The only thing truly in his name in that house is the house itself. His private savings are his own, everything else comes from my accounts since I still hold the business titles- in name at least. And that’s all the court cares about. He was just riding on his family’s fortune before I came along.” Record explained.

“What a terrible stallion…” Twilight muttered. Shining nodded.

“That’s actually great, it means I don’t have to call in any of my favors. I could probably help you get away with razing the entire house, explain it away as him going into a fit of rage and going crazy or something.” He said, a dark little smirk on his face at the last part. Twilight gave him a stern look, though, to which he rolled his eyes.

“In any case, I’m glad he’s not giving you any more trouble. Did he at least see a doctor about that foreleg? Vin-Veronica wasn’t exactly gentle.” He continued. Record sighed and nodded, rubbing a hoof across the bridge of her nose.

“I sent for the private physician, they saw to him this morning while Sergei and Vincent were collecting things. Is it wrong of me to hope he recovers quickly? He was terrible to us, yes, but I admit I still care for him… even now.” The older mare replied, ending with another hefty sigh.

“Not at all. He wasn’t all bad I guess, he somehow managed to sire two incredible Daughters.” Twilight said, earning a chuckle from the other two. “And while I wanted to do just what Vinyl did, I kind’ve wish she hadn’t… though on the bright side she’s learning to control herself. That’s all she did after all, break a leg. I was expecting having to break out the blood cleansing spell on a massive scale in there.” She continued. The other two nodded and were momentarily distracted by giggles as Cadence sent Emerald flying through the air like a plane, carefully dodging any possible obstacles.

They all smiled, none of them wanting to return to the topic, so Twilight broke it without words. She lightly hit Shining on the shoulder.

“Ow!, hey! You know that actually hurts now that you’ve got some muscle on you.” He said with a smirk.

“Some muscle? I’ll hit you again Shiny. You wouldn’t believe how much of a workout saving Equestria a dozen times over is.” Twilight retorted with a smirk, Shining rolling his eyes. “So, have you and Cadence decided yet?” She continued, her frown returning to the little smile from before.

“Hm? Oh, Oh! That decision. I mean, of course she has. We decided to wait for a little while, but after last night we had another talk about it. The wait is prooobably just going to be until we’re no longer staying as a guest somewhere, or until we get impatient and go rent a hotel. Wouldn’t want to be doing that with literally the entire family a few doors down.” The unicorn replied. Record seemed confused for the first half but quickly caught on.

“You’ll have to keep me posted on that matter then, Emerald would love a little cousin.” She said, looking back at where Cadence was now trotting back with Emerald looking sleepy on her back. “Oh don’t tell me you’re pooped already Emerald? It usually takes two hours to tire you out.” She continued to the filly. Emerald hopped off of Cadence’s back and made herself comfortable on a chair and yawned.

“Auntie Cadence does WAY cooler stuff!” She exclaimed, earning chuckles all around as she quickly dozed off.

“Well, Twilight, Veronica and Octavia will be gone most of the day so would you mind helping with lunch? I always preferred cooking meals myself most days, only having the staff cook if I had more than a guest or two over.” Record asked. Twilight nodded happily.

“Oh! Can I come too? It’s been months since I’ve cooked, my staff refuses to let me cook my own meals when I’m home.” Cadence asked excitedly.

“Of course! The more hooves the better. Shining, dear, would you mind keeping an eye on Emerald for a while?” Record asked. Shining smiled and nodded.

“Sure, on the condition that you bring me a nice mug of coffee.” He replied.

“I’ll get it, love. I know the way you like it. Black with a pinch of cinnamon and healthy dose of love.” Cadence said, pecking him on the cheek before trotting off towards the kitchen with the other two mares in tow.

“You know Emerald? Maybe I’ll have to give you a little cousin sooner rather than later.” Shining said to the sleeping filly with a chuckle.

Author's Notes:

It may only be half the size of the last one, but hey it's two in one sitting. Also I decided to split it here because what's happening next is the perfect place to start a new chapter.
Hope you enjoyed!
Also, I'll fix it when I go through it all again, Taut Strings' name got autocorrected in the last chapter and I forgot to fix it.