Starhoof Valley

"You understand full well the severity of this situation, yes Miss Dancer?" Clear Blue said, a very menacing tone in her voice. She had just gotten done angrily scribbling her signature on a couple of forms and had slammed them down before the shaking Pegasus before her, a blanket draped around her.

"Yeah..I kind of do."

They had called the Pega-medics for Crystalline after she had nearly gotten her head crushed by the hydraulic press, and after determining that she was in no major medical danger other than extreme fatigue, decided that a trip to the hospital wasn't necessary. They -did- recommend she go home and go to bed immediately, and to take a couple of days off to rest...but not before Clear Blue got her hooves on her. After ten minutes of prying Weather Vane off of her, the supervisor managed to haul a barely coherent Crystalline up into her office. She poured her a hot cup of (decent as far as factory grade went) coffee and gave the shivering pony some time to let the shock of the near-miss subside, which in turn gave her the chance to quickly fill out the appropriate '10-B', '34-F', and '22-E' forms for the incident report she'd have to log.

"I'm not sure you actually do." Clear Blue said after a moment, tapping on one of the forms with a hoof. Crystalline peered up from the spot on the floor she was burning a hole through with her intense stare and immediately took notice of the bright pink colored parchment.

"Oh you cannot be serious," She said, looking up at her supervisor in disbelief "You seriously aren't going to fire me over this are you?! Rent isn't going to stop because of Hearth's Warming and I've got an electricity bill coming up!"

Clear Blue pushed the form towards her, scowling as she growled "I'm completely serious Dancer! Do you realize the amount of backlash this could cause the corporation if the Mayoral Board found out one of the workers passed out and nearly got killed on the factory floor?" She waved her hoof about to exaggerate the point, her scowl only deepening as she went on "We can't afford an inquiry right now right before Hearth's Warming. It'd screw up the entire output projections for the weather and we'd all be in some serious trouble!"

"Maybe if the corporation wasn't overworking the staff, things like this wouldn't happen!" Crystalline retorted, a scoff popping off from her muzzle as she threw a hoof behind her and pointed towards the door "And sorry if I'm not a little more sympathetic for the corporation's factorial goal, but I just nearly got my HEAD crushed in by a gigantic STAMPING machine!"

Clear Blue slowly nodded, a tight grimace on her face as she uttered in a quieter, more impatient tone "Yeah, yeah you did. That's exactly why we've got to give you 'medical leave and temporary suspension'." She slid the form a little closer towards Crystalline's end of the table, the blanket-clad Pegasus already forming tears in her eyes "It's standard procedure Dancer...we just can't afford the lawsuit. After the appropriate time allotted passes you'll be able to submit a request for reemployment and I'm sure I can get you back on the factory floor when I put in a good word to Wind We-"

"Yeah," Crystalline croaked, sniffing and staring down at the pink parchment like it was her death certificate. "I'll be sure to move the cardboard box I'll be living in closer to the factory so my commute will be a little easier too, that way everypony wins."

Her supervisor stared at her for several long moments before sighing and pulling out a green colored parchment and slid it towards her "Look...it sucks, I know. I once got my wing caught in one of the conveyor belts back when I was a floor worker...put me out of commission for a month. But rules are rules..." She looked down at the parchment for a moment, then back up to her "I can get you a severance package for at least a months amount of work, so you can at least make rent for the month. Would that be good enough?"

"To be honest..." Crystalline whimpered, looking up at Clear Blue as the tears spilled free, dripping down her fur and onto the desk "You probably should have just let the press kill me." The words hung in the air for an awkward amount of time. Her supervisor stared at her with her mouth slightly agape, unsure if she had heard the distraught mare correctly. Crystalline was just as surprised...she couldn't quite believe she had said that either. The tears started to flow faster as she suddenly choked out a sob, pushing her hooves against her eyes and weeping into them.

"Crystalline..." Clear Blue whispered tiredly, getting up from her seat and walking around the desk towards her. She pulled the now crying Pegasus into her hooves, patting her on the back as she gently cooed to her "It's gonna be ok...alright? Why don't you go home and see your family for the holidays, and get some rest." She gently reached over to the desk, sliding her pen over towards them "Come on...let's get these filled out and we'll head by accounting to try and get you an advance paycheck."

~~~

"Wait, so you -ARE- coming home for Hearth's Warming?! Oh hell yes!" screamed her overly excited sister over the phone. "That's literally like the best news I've heard all week. I seriously thought I was gonna be stuck facing mom and dad all by lonesome, but with you there I won't have to face the firing squad alone!"

Crystalline rolled her puffy eyes, taking a shaky sip of her coffee from her sitting position on her bed. Her paycheck was sitting next to her by all the copies of the forms she had been given, as well as a box of tissues. The money was a kind gesture on Clear Blue's part...but it was only a temporary solution. She was going to have to figure out what to do for the two months after the new year rolled around or she was gonna be in a major bind. "Yes well..." she started, trying to hide the pain in her voice "Wouldn't want that would we? Sisters got to stick together and...all that stuff."

She hadn't told Vinyl about losing her job...or nearly becoming pony soup. She knew if she did, her sister would have never let her hear the end of it...and Celestia forbid if her parents found out. The thought of it was enough to make her form shiver. "Totally! Hey, speaking of family, if you can make it home within the next two weeks on that Wednesday before Hearth's Warming we're going to go visit Grandma in the home." She blinked, looking towards the heavily scribbled upon calendar hanging on the wall near her bed. Between the cramped hours of shifts she had jotted down on the days, another note had been jotted down in green marker that read 'Granny Visit'. That was indeed coming up wasn't it...

"If you can't that's totally cool...I know your job keeps you really bu-"

"Actually," Crystalline piped up, quickly cutting her off "Work just gave me some holiday leave so...I can totally be there."
"Wait, seriously?" Vinyl replied, a tone of worry in her voice "Isn't that kind of...early to be handing out leave?"
Crystalline shook her head against the phone as she quickly said "Oh no no no...it's uh...it's fine. We've really overhit the quota for this month so they were handing out some leave. It's no problem."

Vinyl's voice was absolutely dripping with disbelief. She could always tell when her sister was lying, but she never pestered nor pushed for answers. Instead there was a light sigh on the other end followed up by "Well...alright. It'll be really nice to have you back anyway. Grandma asks about you from time to time and Mama says it's been ages since she's heard from you. Oh! Oh oh oh now that I mention Grandma..." She trailed off for a moment, a sudden crunching noise coming through the phone. Crystalline pulled the receiver away for a second before narrowing her eyes, quickly picking up the sound of Vinyl's voice in mid-chew. Manners were never really her strong suit. "Grandma was talking about Grandpa the other day on the phone. It was the anniversary of his passing and she asked me for like, the bazillianth time if you got the letter he wanted you to have. I forwarded to your address awhile ago but you never told me if you got it." There was a pause as another chorus of chewing hit her ears, her voice muffled by whatever she had crammed into her mouth "Would have sent it sooner but it kind of got lost in the paperwork with the other stuff when he died."

At this, Crystalline's ears perked up. She looked over on her couch at the high pile of mail sitting upon it. Most of it was junk mail, the mare only ever sifting through it to try and find wayward bills. "Hold on a second...." She muttered, plopping the phone down and hopping off her bed. The letter...the letter...which letter was it? She had been so swamped with work and...work, that she hadn't really any time to reflect much on anything else. She vaguely remembered Vinyl saying that their Grandfather's will contained a letter that was meant for her. She put a hoof on the pile, quickly scattering some advertisement pamphlets out of the way as she wracked her brain for any trace of remembrance.

Finally, her hoof settled on a peach colored envelope, her name and address scratched on the front with her Grandparent's names scribbled in the top left hand corner with a stamp of a heart. It was only upon seeing it that the memory quickly returned to her. She had gone through a particularly nasty time at work that day, and had to rush home to beat the heavy thunderstorm scheduled to be cranked out before that night. It didn't particularly help that rent was also due that day, and after collecting her mail from her postbox, must have only given it a passing glance as she fished through the stack for her rent statement.

Plucking it up in her mouth, she trotted back to her bed and deposited it on her comforter over the other stacks of paper, hopping back up and grabbing the phone with an expert flick of her wing. "Ok, I found it." She said into the receiver, poking at it with her hoof "I hadn't even opened it yet...I've been so busy I must have forgotten it somewhere down the line."

"And the Granddaughter of the year award goes tooooo..." Vinyl teased, chuckling but quickly following it up with a clearing of her throat and a muttered "Sorry." She shook her head as Vinyl went on "Anyway, as long as you got it that's cool! I gotta get going, my next set is due to go live in about thirty minutes and I gotta do an equipment check. Can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks!"

"Me either sis'," Crystalline replied, the first genuine smile she displayed in a while passing over her lips "Take care." They said their goodbyes and hung up, leaving the Pegasus alone with the letter. She picked it up, turning it between her hooves and studying it a moment. "Can't believe I didn't remember getting this..." she said with a confused murmur, nudging the back flap open with a careful hoof. A small, folded stack of papers fell out on her bed as she upturned the envelope, her eyes immediately drawn to a statement written in large, bulky hoof writing.

'READ THIS FIRST'

Tilting her head slightly, she unfolded the first paper out from around the stack and turned it so she could see the front. It was written in your usual lettered format, and down at the bottom she could already see her Grandfather's signature winking up at her from the page. Peering back up at the top, she read out loud:

"Dear Crystalline Dancer, my beautiful Granddaughter,

If you're reading this, than I am no longer with you. Know that in my passing, I loved you and your sister more than anything in the whole of Equestria. It was such a joy to see the both of you grow up and reach for your dreams. While Vinyl Scratch pursued her musical career, and you yours in retail...I have to come clean, I was worried. You would often sit on my lap as a young filly and name out the dreams and goals you had for that day, most of them involving being a dancer or a singer, and even a space pony!"

Crystalline chuckled, shaking her head as she recalled those simpler days. She found her place again and read on.

"But...when you became an adult and you left home, I felt an unease in my heart. I knew, deep down...you weren't going to find happiness out there. The world you were flying into wasn't the one of your dreams, but I was going to try and support you as best as I could regardless. As your Grandfather however, I knew it was my duty to try and help you in whatever way I could to ease the burden I was sure you were going to face, as I myself once had to endure the very same. Crystalline...my precious star, there will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life...and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness. When that happens, my dear, you'll be ready for the rest of the letter enclosed.

Know that, no matter what happens, and no matter what choices you make...I will always love you.

With all my heart, your Grandfather,
~Soul Soother."

She put down the first paper, sniffing loudly as she wiped her eyes with her foreleg. Her Grandpa was always very sweet to her and Vinyl...always chipper and always there when they hit rock bottom. She was devastated when he passed, her soul yearning to hear his voice at least once more. Maybe that was the true beauty of the colt known as Soul Soother. He always knew exactly what to say to make you smile.

She looked at the rest of the papers, an approximate stack of about four of them if she counted correctly. She reached for them, pulling them into her hooves as she pondered on her Grandfather's words. Crushed by the burden of modern life...? Well, she had nearly experienced that in the most literal of senses...and her spirit was nothing but all shot to pieces at this point what with losing her job and her financial future pretty much in absolute ruin. If there was any better time to read this...she couldn't think of one. Unfolding the papers, her eyes took to scanning the next letter.

As she got further down, her eyes grew increasingly wider and wider, her mouth hanging open. As she hit the bottom of the page she looked up, her bottom lip quivering as she whispered

"No....way..."