Kindly remind me to update the character sheets and whatnot in the future, if any of you are on the mind for it.
hey, it's the future!
...oh, an update!!!
"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?"
yeah. that family. The family that's definitely completely fine and not dead, I'm sure!
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.
oh? I didn't expect that. Nice of her, really.
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-…
...yeaaaaah... about that.... 😅
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!
she STILL thinks that?! This is Twilight-level unjustified paranoia!
It is common knowledge that pegasi are faster than trains.
you know, all things considered the best tribe for the AVERAGE pony is definitely the pegasus.
You don't need ladders, you can save time by going out of a window instead of a door and generally speaking flying anywhere will save you lots of time compared to walking/running, you can save on train tickets, you can get cloud houses that can probably be moved relatively easily if you want to move to a different city, there's probably always jobs available in weather control or courier work, and if you're in a pre-industrial setting you have easy access to rainwater whenever you want... Unicorns
just get tk, light and maybe a single utility spell as a standard thing.
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.
...Poor Cadance. she's trying her best too, you know!
You are Lady Velvet Covers and right now you are… you are looking at a heartbreaking sight.
oh, that scene is over!
It's written really well, don't get me wrong, but right now I'm just... more interested in what's happening around Velvet.
"I… I quit, Mrs. Velvet… I can't take this anymore… I... I q-quit..."
...what?! NO, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO QUIT!
I'm now actually pretty happy we took her option, because who knows what she'd have done otherwise...
"Don't… don't you take a STEP towards me… Because this… all of this, this is all your fault!"
...this must hit SO HARD for Velvet... Soft doesn't know, she's likely blaming us simply because due to us she lived far from them, and wasn't there when they needed her...
if, at this moment, when she's not thinking clearly, if she KNEW about our role in all of this... she might very well try to kill us.
I think she'd regret it, later, but still...
...ok, let's see our options.
[] [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 bit tempting. We'd give her the tools to defend what she claims as hers, and to never be defensless again...
And it's also nice insurance if we fail to convert Comet.
On the other hand, I don't think it would be the best for her.
[] [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.
...ok, this sounds even worse. the one pro of this (other than us getting a Winter confident in case Windy fails) is that we kinda really need the winter scrap for our lessons...
[] [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.
...
if this wasn't a regrettable action it would be a near-instant pick.
"purely knowledge". how reductive. The right knowledge can utterly destroy a person... or in this case, bind her to us forevermore.
...a small part of me is kinda tempted, seeing how badly we need help.
[] [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.
oh look, the action we're most likely to take, even if it's the mechanically suboptimal one!
Well, we still got "permission" to teach lores to the family, so technically speaking the only disadvantage would be that, as a family member, she becomes another one of our weaknesses. Also that we don't get an Edge Bodyguard, I suppose.
I doubt it will stop us from choosing this though. I think the votes will end up being Daughter>Edge>Winter>Regrettable.
[] [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.
Let me guess, this is what would have happened if we didn't take her action? or maybe we would have gotten this and other, worse options too.
Do we have any good info or speculation on what Soft Sweeps original Lores would have been? Heart seems likely but that's all I can think of.
well, she'd certainly be enduring a lot thanks to her second family...
Well, I guess that's the cost of ignoring her family this whole time.
somebody else we could have saved. We could have had them move to Ponyville, if we took that action chain...
but then again, it's impossible to save everyone. We just have too many threats and dangers to face, and too many constraints on our options.
It is implicated. In her balancing Hate and Misery. And if Velvet gain those scraps it almost certainly means that she will teach them to Soft Sweeps. There could be some other interpretation but it is almost certain that end result here is stronger Soft Sweeps than in other options. Positive interpretation here is that Velvet pays the price by turning to forbidden knowledge but Soft Sweeps herself ends up better in any sense of the word. Negative interpretation is that Soft Sweeps stops being pony altogether although it is not clear how it will manifest itself.
as this is a regrettable action, it's implicit that the result is the WORST one from Soft's point of view.
What is likely to happen is that we'd basically overwrite her affinities with Edge and Winter, yeah, but we'd also basically overwrite her personality by giving her knowledge that will utterly destroy her and rebuild her as our loyal minion.
There is no positive interpretation for Regrettable Actions, they're regrettable by definition. Arguing that Soft will be better like this is equivalent to arguing that JADE would have been better off if we took her as minion when we had the option.
[X] [An Apprentice]
[X] [A Daughter]
Soft Sweep just lost her family. She doesn't need revenge, there's absolutely nothing healthy about that responding like that to grief. So Apprentice is right out.
Winter will help her accept the loss, it's a much better option. If we want another cultist that's what we should take.
[X] [A Moirologist]
[X] [A Daughter]
Winter is kind of "giving up on life's joy". I'd say it's at least as unhealthy as Edge option, if not more.
