You are Soft Sweeps-
"Good night sis."
"Sleep tight Silky."
-and for you, another day has just come to a close.
You watch as Silky Stream settles on her bed for a few more moments, pulling at the sheets that are covering her here and there as she makes herself more comfortable. But soon enough she closes her eyes, and her tired expression slowly softens into the face of a sleeping filly.
With that done you look around her room one last time, mostly out of habit, to make sure that everything is in order. You check to see if the windows are properly closed, if all the drawers are shut, and if there isn't anything on the floor that could turn into a tripping hazard should Silky decide to wake up in the middle of the night, for a glass of water or something like that.
Satisfied that nothing is amiss, you finally nod to yourself as you turn towards her one last time.
"See you tomorrow," you whisper to her.
And you have a fond smile on your face, as you say that.
But still, you realize you should also get going. So, a few moments later, you pick up the lantern you had placed on her bedstand and silently sneak out of her room.
The door gives a soft click as you close it behind you, and you find yourself on the main corridor of the second floor. All the doors connected to the corridor are closed, which makes sense given it is night, but that still makes the place look darker, and maybe just a little bit claustrophobic. There are no windows in sight for the faint moonlight to shine in, or for a pegasus like you to be able to fly out from, and no light save for the one you are carrying.
But still, having worked in this house for several years now, you are already used to this sight.
"Alright, so…" you say to yourself, mumbling through the handle of the lantern you are holding with your mouth. "Silky's asleep, Scootaloo is staying in Selene's room these last few days… they all brushed their teeth and…"
As always, you try your best to make sure you aren't forgetting anything, trying to tease out of your memory that one little detail you might have overlooked today. The fact that nothing comes to mind doesn't put you at ease, of course, since that only means you will remember it when you return tomorrow morning. Or worse, when somepony else points it out.
But still, nothing really comes to mind, and you really think you are done for the day as you walk down the central stairways and make your way through the main hall towards the backrooms and the servant's quarters.
And you only stop worrying when you reach the door to the room where you usually get changed and keep your uniform, as you realize you can see candlelight coming from behind the half-open door.
"Huh?"
You tilt your head at that. You are pretty sure you are the only maid here right now, for several reasons, but you also know nopony would be insane to leave a candle unattended. So why the hay is there light in here?
Your questions are answered, and replaced with new and different ones, as you push the door open and peek into the servant's room.
"Ah, there you are Soft. And about time you got ready to leave. I was beginning to worry young Silky had convinced you to stay the night, or something like that."
You are immediately greeted by Ponpon, who is sitting next to an uncovered candle and reading from a book. She is not in her uniform, and you can see the saddle bag she usually carries to and from work is on the ground next to her chair.
And you, of course, have no idea why she is here. For all that she is acting as if her being here is the most natural thing in the world, you can't help but mutely stare at her for a few more seconds.
"Soft? Is anything the matter?" she asks, waving a hoof in front of your face after she finished putting away her book.
"Uhm… I don't think so? But wait, I'm the one who should be asking that," you say, and the only reason you don't shake your head is because you are still holding the lantern. "What are you doing here, Ponpon?"
"Waiting for you, of course."
"Waiting for me? Why?" you ask, honestly confused.
And you swear that you see Ponpon roll her eyes at that.
"You do realize that there was a reason why Lady Velvet dismissed all the servants three days ago, right? You know, with all the things that's been happening in Ponyville and all?" You can almost feel the head maid's eyes on you as she says that, while you are folding your uniform and putting it in your locker.
"Well, yeah. Of course I do, Ponpon. But well, I'm not the only maid who has still been coming to work. I mean, you are still coming. And so is the chef, thank Celestia for that, as well as some other ponies an-"
"And yet," she interrupts you, her tone suddenly admonishing "you are the only one who's lacking the common sense to leave work before evening! Honestly, Soft, a cartload of ponies disappeared just three days ago."
She says all of that, and you can't help but curl up slightly in shame as you realize that, well, she is right.
Because just like she said, dozens of ponies did disappear in the dead of night less than a week ago. And nopony knows yet how, or why, or even who or what did it. And also, just like she said, you have indeed been… careless, about this whole thing.
You feel a little bit embarrassed by the fact that, well… that not thinking about all of this is, apparently, the way you have decided to cope with all these scary uncertainties that have been floating around recently.
And you feel even more ashamed as you realize that the fact that Ponpon is here means that she was literally waiting for you, so you two could go back home together.
Which means, in turn, that she is apparently taking better care of you than you are of yourself.
"I… can see what you mean," you say, rather meekly, as you finish putting away your uniform and close your locker.
And as you turn around to face Ponpon once again, you can see that her expression is not angry or disappointed. She doesn't even look disapproving. The only thing you can see in her eyes is that she is honestly worried about you. And somehow, that makes you feel even worse.
"Look, Soft Sweeps. I know you like your job, and I know you care about the fillies, but you still have to take care of yourself. I mean, what would your family do if something happened to you? And I mean your real family. The ones you have back in Canterlot, and that you mail every last bit that lands on your hoofs every payday?"
Your eyes go down to the floor as she says that. You… you don't really have an answer for that.
"And I don't ask that just in the financial sense, Soft. Your family loves you. They would still love you even if you hadn't worked coat off ever since you got your cutie mark. They still love you even though you decided to move to another town for a better paying job. And I won't even get into the merits that you went for a better paying job so you could help them more," she says, walking towards you and putting a hoof on your shoulder. "What I mean to say is… you really need to take care of yourself as well. There are lots of ponies out there who worry about you."
You purse your lips as you realize that Ponpon is clearly saying that she is also worried about you.
But before you can say anything, the older mare lets out a sigh, and you look up just in time to see her giving you a smile as she turns around to collect her saddle-bag.
"Now, that's enough downers for one conversation. And by Equestria, we already have enough things to worry about as it is, so no need for us to put any more weight on our backs. So come on, Soft, let's get back to my place. Just promise me you won't be staying late like this until the guards say that things have gone back to normal."
A small, slightly embarrassed smile makes its way back to your lips, and you nod at the older mare as you follow her out of the servant's quarters.
And together, the two of you make the long trek back to her home, on the edge of Ponyville.
- - -
You don't really remember how this started, exactly. You don't remember what Ponpon did to convince you to stay at her home, after you moved to Ponyville.
You recall that you had accepted the transfer to the Ponyville Velvet Estate for the pay rise, obviously. And considering how you were told you would have a position as the family's nanny, you had basically planned to live on the estate. Especially given how you would be able to save on rent if you did that, after all. But still… you are pretty sure that you were sleeping at Ponpon's house less than two months after you arrived in Ponyville.
How did she do that anyway? What did she say to convince you? Did she leverage her position as head maid to convince you through "advices" that living you in the estate would make you look bad for… whatever made up reason? Did she trick you into accompanying her into some "errant" in the town, only to have you stay in her home when it became late? Did she just invite you, and you didn't know how to deny her without worrying that you would sound rude?
You don't remember.
However… you did realize, even if it took you a while, the reason of why she did that.
In hindsight, it really is obvious. You were a young mare, even younger back then, who came alone from the Capital to work in a place she had never been before. And knowing how close Ponpon is to Lady Velvet, she certainly had access to the pieces of information that weren't written on your file. So she certainly knew about your history, and she absolutely knew about your family's situation.
Which made you realize, eventually, that Ponpon was really… just looking out for you. All this time, throughout all these years, she has been helping you.
So, the thing she told you last night, that you really should take care of yourself more, really stuck with you.
Because sure, you love your family, and everything you have been doing all this time has been for them.
But none of this will have any meaning if something happens to you. None of this would have any meaning… if for some reason you weren't able to see your family ever again.
So, you promise to pay more attention to that! No more staying late at work while ponies are disappearing, or there are creepy things going bump in the night. You are sure Silky will understand. And for all that you care for her like a little sister, you also have your other brothers and sisters waiting for you back in Canterlot.
Speaking of which, it has been quite a while since you last visited them. Maybe you should use some of your vacation time and go to Canterlot? The train ticket isn't that expensive, and you d-…
"…"
Your thoughts fade like a thin cloud on a sunny day, as you…
As something…
As a ray of sunlight shine on your eye?
You roll on your bed, dazed and confused. You are pretty sure… you are pretty sure you haven't slept yet. You are pretty sure you haven't slept at all.
"Wha… what…?" you hear your own exhausted mumbling as you open your eyes.
Only to see that the sun has already risen, making the closed curtains of your window glow a bright yellow on the edges.
Still, this… this doesn't make any sense. You are tired… you are exhausted, and you swear on Celestia's name that you do not feel like you just slept a full night's sleep.
But more importantly…!
"Wait… wait. Wait! I'm late for work!" you say. And your mind, still tired from yesterday as it may be, immediately gears into awareness as you realize that you are tardy.
Under normal circumstances you are supposed to be on the estate when the sun rises, so you will be there when the fillies wake up. And in fact, most of the days you even get there earlier than that, waking up together with Ponpon and heading to the estate with her.
But regardless. Still being on your bed? When the sun is already up and shining?! Unacceptable! Lady Velvet might even dock your pay for today. Or she might even fire you!
With your thoughts at full speed, you stumble your way out of your bed. Trying to think if you should go downstairs to eat something in record time, or if you should just fly out through the window and pray you don't screw up anything even more than you already have.
"Oh no… no, no, no no no no NO! This is SO bad... Thank Equestria the school is closed for now, but what if I missed breakfast?! Then Mrs. Velvet will certainly realize I wasn't there and-!"
You continue stammering to yourself, frozen in indecision about what to do as your mind continues to make up worse and worse things that could happen.
That is, until…
"Wait… what?"
Until your eyes go over the small clock that is hanging on the wall.
And you realize that… Well, you know for a fact that you would be physically incapable of sleeping for that long. So, since you are absolutely sure the clock isn't telling you that it is one in the afternoon…
Then, right now, it is one in the morning.
"But…" you look at the clock, confusion clear at your face. Then you look at your bed, as if you could somehow tell how long you had slept by how messy your bedsheets are. "But the light… the sun is up already, and…"
Then you look towards the window. And sure enough, unless you are hallucinating or having a very real dream, you can see that it is already day. Even though the curtains are closed.
"Why the hay is the sun already up?" you ask yourself out loud, as you go towards the window and grab one of the curtains with a hoof.
And you have to squint as you pull the curtains open, the glaring light of the sun shining into your room as you look out to a… perfectly normal Ponyville.
"Soft… Soft! Soft Sweeps, come here!"
But you don't even have time to wonder what is going on, as you hear Ponpon's panicked voice coming from her room. Your confused thoughts turning into fear as you realize that this situation isn't just strange, but also wrong. As you remember that… that dozens of ponies just disappeared, just a few days ago, and that everypony is on edge, as if waiting for the next horseshoe to drop.
And waking up in the middle of the night to see the sun at its peak is definitely not something normal. Much less something encouraging, no matter how much you know that only Princess Celestia could have done something like this.
"Ponpon, what is going on?" you say, your own voice going up a few notches as you barge into her room. Seeing that Ponpon is safe makes you feel a bit relieved, of course, but that little relief is immediately overshadowed by what you see in her expression.
"I… It's… I don't know, Soft, but…!" she says, the older mare stammers, as she tries and fails to say something.
You have never seen Ponpon stammer before. You have never seen her lose her composure any more than she had to, and only when she had to "look" angry while performing her duties as head maid. And even then, you really think she was just faking those bursts of anger, to keep you younger maids in line.
But still, right now the only thing you can really understand from Ponpon is that she is pointing at her window, with a trembling hoof.
"But…!" she tries once again, and fails, to say something.
So, with uncertain steps, you make your way towards her, and you look out through her window.
You look down, seeing that Ponyville is… perfectly normal. Just like the view you saw out through your window, you don't see anything out of the ordinary, except for the fact that you can see everything due to the unexplainable midday sun.
Then you look up, and sure enough you can see the sun. But that's it. No sign of the moon, no eclipse, no clouds that haven't been put there by pegasi hoofs.
And then you look… at the space between Ponyville and the sun. You look at the horizon, towards the distant mountain where Canterlot is perched. You look towards the place where you were born, and the city where you lived most of your life.
You look at the distant shape of Canterlot, and you realize it is burning.
Your panic, the immediate wave of horror that takes over you, keeps you frozen for a full second. It keeps you frozen long enough only for you let out a single, strangled scream of terror.
And on the next second, you fly out through the window, making your way as fast as your wings can take you towards the distant column of smoke that is slowly building up on the horizon.
- - -
It is common knowledge that pegasi are faster than trains.
Railroads crisscross most of Equestria, to the point that almost every last city is can be reached by train. Sure, the train system is not perfect, and there are plenty of small communities in Equestria that are as far as a few days on hoof from the nearest train station. But still, the locomotive solution is quite expansive, and is an answer to most of the transportation problems of ponykind.
However, the fact remains that the ponies who are most benefited by trains are the earth ponies and the unicorns.
Because if a pegasus really feels like it, he can fly anywhere he wants.
It is tiring, sure, and it's not like a pegasus can cross the whole country at a whim. But still, the truth of the matter is that pegasi fly thanks to magic. They express their magic through their wings, just like unicorns express it with their horns and earth ponies with their legs and hoofs. So, a pegasus really can fly a lot faster than the size of his wings lets on, and also for much longer than their physical condition would normally suggest.
And right now, that is exactly what you are doing.
You are exhausted. You are tired, and you are confused, and you are terrified of what is going on. But still, you are flying towards Canterlot.
You have never gone to a fancy school, and you only heard in passing how physical tiredness relates to magical energy. But you don't really care about that, right now. All that you care is that you can still feel your magic inside of you, and that you are pushing every last ounce of it into your wings and your feathers as you all but propel yourself towards the distant shape of Canterlot.
You have never really done this before. All the times you went to and from Canterlot you did it by train. And that worries you. But not because you don't think you can make the trip. Quite on the contrary, actually, you know you can do it. You know, from a whole life of hard work and effort, how far you can push yourself, and how much you can force yourself to keep going even after that.
But still, you are worried over the fact that you have never done this before, because… you don't know how long it will take you to get there.
Because no matter how fast you flap your wings, or how much effort you put into corralling the winds around your feathers, Canterlot just doesn't seem to be getting any closer. And yet, every minute that passes, every second that you spend racing through this bright midnight, the city only seems to burn more intensely.
You lose track of time. And even though it hurts your eyes, you can't look away from the city, as it becomes larger and larger in a pace that is agonizingly slow.
- - -
When you finally reached Canterlot, your wings hurting almost to the point of cramping and your breath so labored that you almost thought you would pass out as soon as you landed, you didn't know what to expect.
Of course you didn't know what to expect. You flew to Canterlot exactly because you didn't know what was happening in the first place. Because all that you could see was that the city was on fire.
So, again, you didn't know what to expect.
But you certainly weren't prepared for what was waiting for you.
Canterlot was screaming. The city where you were born in was screaming, and the sound was deafening. It was horrifying.
To the point that… you are not sure you will ever forget them, the sounds that Canterlot was making when you finally set hoof on it.
Because there were so many of them.
There were so many of them, and yet… and yet, none of them really drowned out any of the others.
Canterlot's throes were not a cacophony.
No. They were a cruel symphony. And they all complemented each other, each in their own terrible way.
You heard the sounds of fire…
It was the roaring sound of the blazes that were all around you, as houses and buildings were consumed by the raging inferno that seemed to have spread to the whole city. It was the sound of cracking and sizzling, coming from wooden structures as they crumbled under their own weight. The sound of open furnaces, coming from the stone and brick buildings as the contents inside of them were cooked like a parody of an oven, their windows letting out red glares of fire and thick columns of smoke as if they were the gates to Tartarus itself.
And you heard the sounds of death…
It came from the mouths of ponies. As they were trapped inside their own homes, blinded by the smokes and surrounded by the flames. As they were entombed underneath their crumbled houses, begging for help or screaming out in panic for their loved ones. As they were burned alive, howling in pain for however long it took for their lungs to be filled with ashes.
You heard all of that, and yet you ran along, galloping through the streets of Canterlot as quickly as your hoofs could take you. Somehow knowing that your wings wouldn't be able to carry you even if your life depended on it, but somehow also understanding that you would not stop running until you reached the place you had to be.
When you finally reached the building where your family lived, your heart sank. Your body froze as you realized the great pile of rubble, bricks and toppled walls was standing on the exact same spot that you had once called home. You almost wouldn't have believed this was the place, if you hadn't spent most of your life walking up and down the street you were on, as you went to and from work.
Your hesitation only lasted a second, and soon enough you were on top of the pile of rubble, your hoofs grabbing the painfully heavy and hot pieces of debris and flinging them away as you tried to dig your way into it.
You could hear screams coming from underneath the rubble.
You could hear screams coming from all around you.
And you kept digging, even though none of the voices were familiar.
You lost the track of time, your body growing too numb, and your mind too tired, for you to be able to worry about things as trivial as how exhausted you were, or how much effort it took you to even move around as you worked to push the next toppled wall.
- - -
You worked. You toiled. You pushed yourself to the limit, and then you pushed yourself beyond that.
You really didn't care how much it hurt, or how much you got hurt while doing it.
At some point, a beam of wood fell on your side, hitting your left wing and causing a bruise that thumped painfully in time with your heartbeat. But you didn't care about that.
At some point something large and heavy slid towards you after you pushed out a pile of rubble, nearly crushing one of your hoofs and making your leg swell slightly. But you didn't care about that.
At some point, you realized you had several scratches, sores and marks all over your body. But you couldn't care less.
You just kept working on the pile of rubble. You just kept shouting the names of your brothers and sisters, of your mom and your dad, as you desperately tried to recognize of one of the desperate voices you could hear was from one of them.
You kept working… even as the fires died out, around you. Even as the screams died out, around you.
Even when you could no longer hear anypony under the rubbles, you kept working.
Because there was nothing else you could do.
…
At some point, you woke up. But not in the sense that this was all a bad dream. No. You woke up in the sense that you realized you had passed out, on top of the still standing enormous pile of rubble and underneath the glare of the sun. You woke up, and you got back to work, as much as your body protested and screamed for you to stop.
At some point, somepony offered you water, and you realized that you were so parched when you drank from it that you almost choked. They also tried to pull you away from the toppled building, but you struggled against them and they quickly gave up. You think they were guards, but you didn't really care.
At some point… at some point, you just forgot what you were even trying to do. You just looked around you, and you realized how little progress you had made, and how utterly large the building was. You had lived in that small apartment building for most of your life, after all, and even though you couldn't for the life of you remember how many stories it had, you could certainly tell that it was way too large for a single mare to be able to work through it.
You finally collapsed, once you realized that. Your heaving and exhausted breath giving way to sobbing tears and whimpers, as every last pain you were feeling on your body came back to you all at once.
You lost track of time. You just laid there, begging your family for forgiveness at how useless you were, and praying with all your soul that they were somehow alive and well underneath all of that rubble. Or better yet, that they had not been home for some reason, whatever reason, when this all happened.
- - -
You are in pain.
Your whole body hurts. Your mind hurts. Even the act of thinking hurts, as you lay on top of a half-bent wooden door, surrounded by the remains of the place where you grew up.
You think… you think you have been here, in Canterlot, for at least a whole day now. You are not really sure. But you are sure that the sun has already set, and risen again, at least once.
Still, you don't… you don't really care.
All you really care about is seeing your family again.
The fires have already all been extinguished, and you can see the distant figures of pegasi flying over the central parts of the city. You think they are search efforts, or at least you hope they are. But still, you can tell that their focus is being directed mostly at the central parts of Canterlot. And your family, of course, lived in the outskirt districts of the city, on the cheaper and poorer parts of the Capital that were far away from anything pretty and important.
You thought about flying over to them. To ask for help, or maybe to ask if they knew anything about any survivors, or if they had any clue of what in the Tartarus had happened in Canterlot to begin with. Because you think you had heard something, from the ponies and guards that passed nearby while you were here, but you didn't really pay attention to what they had said. You think they said something about monsters, but you are not really sure.
But still, you thought about flying over to them… but you couldn't. You just couldn't.
"Because I c-can't… leave this place…" you say to yourself, raising bruised and pained forelegs as you cover your eyes with your hoofs. "M-my family… they m-might be here, under a-all of this, and…"
Your voice cracks, as your numbed and exhausted mind slowly pieces together certain thoughts. Thoughts that you have been trying to suppress with all your might ever since you arrived in Canterlot. Thoughts that you simply couldn't bear to think of, less you truly lost what little energy you still had to keep going.
"… a-and if I leave, I m-might never se-hee them again a-and…!"
You feel tears, more tears, roll down through your ash-covered face. You feel your chest convulse painfully, and dry throat ache, as you cough between your whimpers and sobs.
Because you realize, your nearly feverish mind somehow making the connection even through the haze of exhaustion, that it just might not matter whether if you leave this place or stay. That maybe, and just maybe… you might never…
That your family didn't…
That all this time you spent away from them was…
T-that it was…! That t-they…-!
Your thoughts are interrupted by a sudden lurching, and you nearly fall down from where you are lying as you feel the rubble shift underneath you.
You almost jump at that, your heart racing and your body filling with energy as you realize what is happening. As you realize that the rocks are moving underneath you. As you realize that, against all odds, somepony might be alive under all of this.
That they might be digging their way out! That your family is okay, and you are about to see them!
But your hope turns into confusion as you realize that… it isn't just the rubble underneath you that is moving. No, everything around you is moving. Layers upon layers of bricks and broken buildings are moving all around you… no, they are being moved around you, and are gently being floated towards the street.
And all those floating pieces of debris, you realize, are surrounded by a glowing aura of pink.
Moments later, the telekinetic magic grabs hold of you as well, and you are delicately taken from the top of the rubble pile and towards a waiting group of ponies.
They are guards, you can tell. City guards, their armors covered in ashes and dust, their faces marred with exhaustion and sorrow.
You think they are part of a search effort. Or at least, that is what they tell you when the floating magic lands you close to them.
You think that they are trying to ask you something, several things, as a pony with a medicine-related cutie mark rushes towards you. What your name is, or how badly you are hurt, or whether if you know if there are any survivors in any of the nearby buildings.
You think… that a lot of things are happening around you, right now. But you can't really focus on any of those things.
The only thing you can really think about is the pony who is performing the glowing pink magic, the one that is in doing in a matter of minutes what you had not been able to do over the course of several hours.
You realize she is a Princess. You can't really remember her name, or why that particular piece of information is important. But still, you realize that the magical pony is a Princess.
So, you walk towards her. Ignoring the overworked doctor as he tries to tell you to stop. Ignoring the exhausted guards as they collect the… the bodies, that the Princess is floating out of the rubble. Ignoring the fact that the Princess herself seems… not to be in the best shape.
You ignore all of that, and you walk up towards the Princess. You stand in front of her, until she looks you in the eyes and you are sure that she has noticed you.
And then you ask her where she was, this whole time. You ask her, seeing how easy it is for her to do this, why she didn't arrive sooner. Why she didn't arrive before your family choked and died under that pile of ashes and rubble.
You think the pink Princess' expression… changed, after you asked her that. But you are not really sure. You might have seen a tear run down through her face, or you might have just imagined all of that, as you passed out after being placed next to the waiting guards.
- - -
None of the bodies that were pulled out of the building were from your family. But that didn't relieve you in the slightest, because you soon learned that the disappearances were as numerous as the deaths.
You woke up in a field hospital, in one of Canterlot's several plazas. There, you heard everything. You heard about the monsters, and about how the guards failed to show up, and about the great pyre Princess Celestia had made in front of the Royal Castle, where bodies of dead ponies were being cremated every midday by the Princess herself, if no family members appeared to claim them.
You stayed there until you were able to walk again, and that by itself took quite a few days. But still, you left Canterlot, even though you still had a limp and you couldn't move your wings, as soon as you hard the trains were moving again. Not for private transportation, mind you, you heard they were just coming and going to take ponies and materials to where they were needed. But still, it wasn't hard to convince the guards to let you take the train that would pass by Ponyville.
And truth be told, you would have boarded it as a stowaway if you really had to.
So, almost ten days after the disappearances happened in Ponyville, you finally returned…
Although it was only after the train departed to its next destination that you realized that… you had no idea what to do next.
- - -
- - -
- - -
You are Lady Velvet Covers and right now you are… you are looking at a heartbreaking sight.
It is night, and you have woken up a few minutes ago. Or rather, you have been woken up, by the characteristic scent of a pony sulking around your house.
For several tense seconds you thought it was an intruder. Maybe a changeling that survived the purge. Maybe a robber who was trying to take advantage of everything that was going on to steal from your home. You didn't know exactly what it was, but you could still sense the characteristic marks of its intentions.
You could smell its threat, you could smell its misery. You could smell its desire not to be heard or detected, as well as its unstable and confusing mental state.
It took you several moments to realize that, under all of that, you could also sense the familiar presence… of Soft Sweeps.
You sneaked out of your bed as soon as you realized that, and you had made your way towards her as quickly as you could.
"I… I quit, Mrs. Velvet… I can't take this anymore… I... I q-quit..."
That was the first thing she told you, as soon as she realized you were there. As soon as she turned around and... and faced you.
Soft Sweeps is looking at you, but only in the sense that she is looking in your direction. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused, and her expression is somehow both lost and alert at the same time.
And that is just her face… the rest of her, also, is…
Soft Sweeps is hurt. In so many different ways.
Her fur is filthy, covered in ash and bruises, dust and… and dried blood. She has wounds all over her body, scratches and cuts that seem to have received only the barest hint of medical attention. Gashes that seem to have been cleaned up only enough so they might not get immediately infected.
Her legs, also, are terribly lesioned, and you can see cracks on her hoofs from where you are standing. Her wings don't seem to be resting against her sides like they normally do, and you can tell that several of her feathers are rustled, or outright missing.
And her voice…
"What… what do you mean, Soft? What happened? What-?" you try to ask.
But she interrupts you before you can even finish what you were saying, her voice rasping and hoarse as she speaks.
"I said I quit." She says, cutting your words so forcefully that you almost take a step back in surprise. "I quit, and I'm done, and I can't take it anymore, a-and I… and m-my… My f-family and m-my…"
She says that, but her voice slowly begins to crack, what little steel she had in her tone fading away, as her expression slowly crumbles into heartbreaking anguish.
And as tears begin to form on her eyes, you carefully start making your way towards her. Your chest tightening up as the young mare simply… looks down towards the ground, her words dying in her mouth and coming out instead as pained moans.
"Oh, Softy. I am so, so sorry for-"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
But you stop talking, and walking, as Soft Sweeps suddenly slams a trembling hoof against the ground, her face twisted in anger as she looks back towards you. And even though she still has tears running down through her cheeks, you can clearly sense how utterly serious… how murderous she is right now.
And how her anger is solely aimed at you, at this exact moment.
"Don't… don't you take a STEP towards me… Because this… all of this, this is all your fault!"
She slams her hoof against the floor once again, her whole body trembling as her wings go to a slightly open stance, showing you all the little signs that you are standing before a truly irate pegasus.
And to be honest, you have no idea how to answer what she just said.
"This is all YOUR fault! Because…! Because I…! I always spent so much time working… and I… so I wasn't there… I wasn't there when they needed me, a-and I don't even remember the last time I saw them… and..."
But as quickly as her anger comes, it also fades away. And soon enough, you are once again looking at the… utterly destitute Soft Sweeps. At the absolutely sorrowful mare who just…
Who clearly just lost everything she ever had. Everything she ever knew. Everypony she ever cared about.
Her hindlegs finally buckle behind her, and she sits down on the ground with a painful gasp, her hoofs going to her head as she covers her eyes and cries, every single movement she makes clearly painful and slow.
"I-I can't… I quit... I can't be here… I'm a horrible daughter… I'm a horrible sister… I can't take it to have Silky call me that ever again… I can't take it not having my own siblings call me that ever again… I… I…"
Soft Sweep's words eventually die out, turning into a long and painful drone of loss and misery. You can still see her anger rise to the surface, every now and then, but only to be beaten down by the utter exhaustion that is weighting her down.
And as for you… you don't even know how to begin addressing this. You can't even begin to fathom how much pain she is in, right now. You have no idea what might be best for her. Heavens, you don't even know what might even reach her, if you try to talk to her right now. It might just be that, no matter what you say, it will fall on deaf ears.
But still, Soft Sweeps needs you. And not in the sense that she needs "you". No, she needs somepony. Anypony. She desperately needs help.
And you will be damned if you don't do everything you can to help her.
But still, you need to decide how to go about this.
…
Well, you can only think of one way, that you know will almost surely work.
Soft Sweeps desperately needs direction.
And you will give it to her.
You will treat Soft Sweeps as you would treat…
[] [An Apprentice]
-"Rage burns inside of her. Blood boils, begging for her to move in ways she has no knowledge about. Take that burning wrath and use it to reforge her as if she were metal. Temper her into a sharp edge."
-Soft Sweeps will eventually become a Confidant.
-Soft Sweeps' main Lore will be turned into EDGE.
-You will gain one Edge scrap of Lore.
[] [A Moirologist]
-"There is nothing left for her. There is nothing left inside of her anymore. She has lost everything, and from now on she will always feel that she is alone, no matter where she goes. Thus, she is ready."
-Soft Sweeps will eventually become a Confidant.
-Soft Sweep's main Lore will be turned into WINTER.
-You will gain one Winter scrap of Lore.
[] [An Apostle] [This is a Regrettable Action]
-"Grief is a journey. A sharp, knife-edge path that separates Hate and Misery. Every step is painful, and most will eventually lose balance and fall towards either side. But take the knife that is Grief, plunge it deep into the heart: it becomes Agony."
-Soft Sweeps will immediately become a Minion.
-You will teach Soft Sweeps something great. You will make Soft Sweeps something great.
-Soft Sweeps will not die or be lost in any way. What you will gift her is purely knowledge.
-You will gain one Edge and one Winter scrap of Lore.
-This is a Regrettable Action.
[] [A Daughter]
-"Soft Sweeps has lost her blood family, but that is not the only kind of family that exists. You will never be able to give her back what she lost. You will never be able to erase the pain she is feeling. But you will remind her that there are still ponies who love her, one day at a time."
-You will take Soft Sweeps in.
-Her Lore characteristics will not be changed.
-You have no idea what else might happen as a result of this decision.
-WARNING: Soft Sweeps will be added into your "Family" nucleus. Like Silky, Stormchaser and Selene, she will become a pivotal factor when you consider your future actions, and allowing her to be harmed will result in terrible consequences to yourself. You will truly see her as your daughter.
[] [Exile]
-"Your words did not reach her. You tried to stop her, but you stepped out of her way when you realized she might actually try to hurt you. You hope that she comes back, some day. You hope that she at least finds happiness."
-Soft Sweeps will leave.
One hour moratorium. Vote for as many as you like, only the single most voted option will be selected.
