Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

So. Cheerilee.

You asked your husband for his opinion about her, from the few times he met her when he picked up Silky Stream, and you talked with Soft Sweeps about her on the same subject. But in the end, you only got the general gist about "the nice mare who sees her students off after school". You don't really know any more about her than you did the first time you met her.

Is she dedicated to her job? Apparently. Is she actually competent about it? Your checking-overs of Silky's homework surely suggests so. But is she attentive to detail? Can she actually keep tabs on the lives of every single foal in her class, and steer them into the proper path as an educator? That remains to be seen. After all, you do recall a certain off-hoof remark your daughter made about an escapade to the school's roof, followed by a (surely impressive) aerial stunt. But as much as that episode reveals a promising talent for flight in your daughter, it also opens margin for possible carelessness on her teacher. You must ascertain the truth behind this.

So, this calls for a hoofs-on verification.

And for that matter, you have absolutely no doubts that every single question you made about her, and the scrutiny you are giving to this, is completely reasonable and called for. This is your daughter's teacher you are looking into after all!

You eye the clock on your office's large desk and see that midday is not far. You float your quill down to its holder and close the several reports and ledgers you have in front of you. They will be here when you return, you think with a sigh, they always are.

But you won't worry about that right now. You push your large chair back with an extra help of magic, and down the long corridor you go, making your way to the staircase that leads to the main hall, and the front door of the estate proper.

You believe you timed this whole affair correctly. The closer you get to the school, the more common the sight of foals running around becomes, alone or in groups, as they head for their homes or to whatever other places they are going, but the sheer amount of them is a clear sign that classes have only very recently finished for the day. You do hope that Soft Sweeps managed to get a hold of Silky Stream today, but you still keep an eye out for the passing ponies, looking for a particularly energetic blur of brown.

You don't see any such blur, however, you barely see any pegasus foals at all. In fact, the only pegasus you did pass by was a rather desponded-looking orange filly, who was talking to an equally sad-looking yellow filly. They probably had a bad day in school, you think as you walk by them.

Actually, they look really sad. By the heavens, you do not miss your younger days. That time can be extremely complicated…

You also look upwards as you approach the school. Now that you think about it, does Silky and Soft Sweeps fly to and from school? It would surely make sense, but it still feels a bit strange for you.

Your idle thinking about how flying around must be as normal to pegasus as floating things with magic is to you is interrupted, when you finally spot the white picket fence around the cute red building.

"Excuse me? Miss Cheerilee?" you peek in through the half-opened doors of the school. The classroom itself is a lot tidier than you had expected, the desks and chairs neatly filed with very little indication that a foal-stampede had just been borne from this place. And thanks to that you have no difficulty spotting the pony you came for, taking stock of what appears to be a cabinet filled with supplies for arts and crafts.

"Mrs. Velvet! I didn't expect you to come by," and she realizes you are here, as well, closing the cabinet and coming towards you, "but I'm pretty sure I saw your friend Sweeps waiting outside before the bells rang. Can I help you with something?"

"If you would have the time then yes, I do have something I would like to talk about. And…" you think for a moment on the best way you could phrase it, "it's something I'd rather talk about without Silky being here, so I asked Soft Sweeps to pick her up as usual."

Cheerilee gives you a rather curious look, but soon nods to herself and heads towards the back of the classroom once again. "Well, if it's something I can help with then I will be delighted to. Celestia knows I'd very much like that all parents came for a talk when they felt that one was in order. Just wait for me to finish tidying up a few things?"

She quickly finishes a last round of organizing some of the shelves that dot the sides of the classroom, and soon enough you have her full attention.

"Now, I'm sure this is about Silky Stream, but I have to admit I'm rather curious what it could be about. So, what would you like to talk about Mrs. Velvet?"

"I hope it isn't something we should worry about, but recentl-"

You are suddenly interrupted by a growling noise that surprises the two of you. And your face immediately turns red when you realize the sound came from your own stomach.

It dawns at you that you left your home without even so much as nibbling something on the kitchen. In fact, when was the last time you ate anything at all? Was it at breakfast? To make such a mistake right before an important meeting, you chide yourself mentally. You foolish, uneducated, amateur!

"Oh Mrs. Velvet," Cheerilee starts laughing, trying to contain her laughter with a hoof on her mouth as you start blushing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Here, it is getting a bit into lunch time and I'm also starving. Why don't we talk about this over a hay sandwich?"

You take a deep breath to recompose yourself, although you can tell that your cheeks won't be recomposing themselves anytime soon, but you quickly agree with her.

It takes a considerable portion of your willpower not to wolf down on the sandwich. The thing is absolutely delicious.

You are sitting opposite to Cheerilee, on a parasol-shaded table outside of a small restaurant. She is probably a regular here, considering how the waiter was amicable to her and didn't even ask what she would like. You, for your part, simply asked for whatever she was having, and it turns out Cheerilee has excellent taste, both in restaurants and in food.

But you can't properly express that, not in an elegant way at least, so you have to torture yourself by savoring it bite by bite. If there has ever been a day when you thought etiquette was more of a burden than a tool, this is being the day.

"Nothing like a good meal to bring back some energy," Cheerilee finally says to herself with a satisfied sigh, "and I'm sure going to need it. The students turned in their assignments on Equestrian History today, so…"

She gave the saddle bag she had brought with her a light pat, the thing practically sitting upright on the ground next to her thanks to the sheer amount of papers inside it.

"Well, I'll have them all graded by the end of the week as always, right on time for the next turn in," she finishes with a curious smile. A strange mix of defeated acceptance and satisfaction.

"Never ending work, isn't it?" you comment, floating your sandwich down, "I can relate to that…"

"Yes, I guess we can call it that. But by Celestia, is it worth it!" she replies, her smile now turning even more honest, "that is to say, I like to think that everything we do, every class, assignment and homework, is a small brick that those little ones are building inside of themselves. You mentioned you work in a farm, right? I might not have much of an idea of how it must feel like, but it surely can't be that different. The seasons and the work might repeat themselves, but every seed you plant and every crop you reap, don't you think they help build one more day that Equestria is well fed and growing?"

You give her an odd glance as she turns to give her own beverage some attention, and you can't help but to feel a bit of warmth by the way she put it.

Of course, you know it doesn't apply to you. As much as you appreciate her view of things, you can't honestly think of your work as being as important or grand as she puts it. You can't feel that your work is important when all you do is control the flow of workforce, write reports and keep the delicate balance between your family's demands and the amount of bits they are willing to invest on it.

Not when you know that you're just a pawn of a daughter, sent to take care of a business in a backwater town after being married into a conveniently wealthy family, a living coin in a deal of favors and prestige in exchange of assets. Not when you know that, when it comes to your actual job, you are quite replaceable.

But you snap your thoughts away from that particular direction, Cheerilee doesn't need to know that. And right now, you are a regular farm-related working mother who wants to talk to her about something regarding your daughter.

"That's a charming way to put it" you reply, "and if this endless work of ours helps to build a better future for our foals, then I don't think I mind doing it forever."

And you actually manage to give out a real smile while saying that, thanks to the thought of your daughter.

"Mhm! That's what I like to think is my calling," she nods, finishing her own drink and easing back on her seat. "Now, about Silky Streams, what did you want to tell me again?"

"Right, about that. Well, how can I put it…" you hesitate for a moment, thinking about how you should phrase it, "Silky has been rather… unruly, as of late. So I was a bit worried if perhaps something has been going on in school and she hasn't told me about it?"

Cheerilee looks at you with a raised eyebrow.

"Unruly? Well, I won't pry if you don't want to get into details, but fillies around her age often start taking the first hoofsteps into a more rebellious phase. Although she hasn't been showing any signs of that in class," she looks up and lightly claps her hoofs a bit, as if trying to remember something, "in fact, she is very well behaved from what I recall."

Part of you huffs with pride from hearing her teacher say that, but you can feel that another part is nervously stroking a mental-hoof through a mental-mane, trying to figure out then what the problem is and how you should breach the subject. Should you bring up the rooftop thing? Of course you have some suspicion that perhaps something is happening while your daughter is outside of Cheerilee's view, but how can you properly bring that up without making it sound you're doubting her competence?

Wait. You recall that your daughter said she was taunted into going to the rooftop. Yes, that sounds roundabout enough, so you decide to go with that.

"That's good to hear," you say with a smile, having thought about all that less than a second after Cheerilee's answer, "but I… well, I'm sure you understand that this is a young pony's word about something that happened, so even I don't know exactly what she meant by that. But Silky mentioned that she was recently… taunted into doing something? Maybe goaded by some of the other foals? She wasn't specific on exactly what happened, but I was worried that maybe she was having some sort of difficulty socializing?"

You cast the net wide enough that it isn't clear if you know what happened. She could elaborate on any such "scenario" where your daughter was taunted, she might tell you about some recent falling-off or fight that Silky might have been involved in.

Or she might actually know about a problem your daughter is having and decide to lie about it in order to cover for herself. But the more you talk to Cheerilee the less she strikes you as a pony who would do that.

But instead, she answers almost immediately, and in a way that somewhat befuddles you.

"Taunted? Problems with a friend? I honestly don't know what you might be talking about, Mrs. Velvet. I recall that Silky Stream started out a bit shy, but that was just on her first few days in class. Nowadays she shows excellent social skills for a filly her age. And well, just between you and me," she takes a quick look around, as if checking if she might be overheard, and continues with a lower tone of voice "there are two fillies in her class who are rather… problematic. A few cases of light bullying against the ones who don't yet have cutie marks, some unfortunately normal things for their age. But those two seem to have become a lot more tame after Silky made friends with them."

You slowly nod at her, partly relieved that your daughter is not having any problems in school, as far as Cheerilee knows at least. But that just makes you more confused on what exactly your daughter has been up to. This whole scenario just doesn't look like one that is happening because your daughter is having some sort of problem or is unhappy about something.

"Well, as a teacher I know that there is no such thing as a foal who is friends with everypony in her class, but I can guarantee your daughter isn't having any trouble either. Although I do promise I will keep an eye out for her, if she really is having some odd behavior."

You finish your hay sandwich, munching slowly and thoughtfully, but in the end you can only sigh and agree with Cheerilee.

"That would be wonderful Cheerilee, I'd appreciate if you could do that."

You chat with her for a little while longer, and the two of you go your separate ways.

"We both have to go back to our papers, after all, for the sake of our foals!" she says with a smile.

To which, deep down, you agree.

You might not have discovered much, but at least you can say you had a pleasant time with your daughter's teacher.

You have discovered that, as far as Cheerilee can tell, your daughter is not showing any strange behavior in school. And considering that the mare spends half of every day with her, being her teacher, her word has quite a bit of weight on the matter. Whatever is the source of what is causing you to worry, you will have this information to follow through in your investigation.

Your personal opinion about the details involved might diverge from Cheerilee's, but the two of you are willing to give of yourselves for somepony else's future, and in that you connect. You are now friends with Cheerilee.

[By taking the time to talk with Soft Sweeps, you have learned your daughter has been making some strange escapades after school.]

[By taking the time to talk with Cheerilee, you have learned that your daughter is, in fact, not evil.]

[And by having decided to take immediate action, you will be able to quickly address the heart of the matter. The following is the culmination of your decisions.]

You are walking back to your estate after having a pleasant lunch with Cheerilee. But even though you have earmarked an excellent restaurant for future reference, and that you heard some pleasant compliments about your daughter, you still couldn't find out what you wanted. So you can't help but feel a bit dejected about the whole situation.

"Mrs. Velvet!"

That is, until you hear somepony calling out for you, although you can't see anypony doing such a thing when you look around.

"Mrs. Velvet!" the voice grows louder and closer.

But of course, you finally realize. You better get used to it since you have a flying daughter. The voice that is calling you is coming from above.

"Mrs. Velveeet!" and not a moment later, a pegasus lands in front of you, causing a small cloud of dust from her impact. You wave a hoof around and cough for a few moments before you finally recognize who exactly is in front of you.

"Soft Sweeps? What's happening? What are you doing here?" you ask, slightly confused.

But the mare only looks at you, an energetic gleam on her eyes.

"I found her, Mrs. Velvet! I managed to tail the young miss after she left school, and I found out where she has been going."

Your eyes go wide for a few moments, and the quick glance the two of you share for a moment is enough for her to realize you will follow her lead.

Soft Sweeps practically marches in front of you, a determined expression on her face. And you feel so impressed by her dedication, especially when comparing to how she was acting until very recently, that you try to match her speed with a light trot of your own.

"Try" being the key word, you already feel your right flank throbbing slightly, telling you just how much you will regret it later.

But the two of you finally arrive.

And to your honest surprise, Soft Sweeps has led you to the front door of a mansion.

"Are you quite sure that this is where Silky Stream came, Soft?"

"Absolutely sure, Mrs. Velvet", she answers with confidence, putting a hoof on the ornate door knocker and hitting it against the metal plate at its base.

The sound is quite impressive, and you are sure that half the mansion must have heard it. But as you wait for somepony to answer the door, you can't help but feel that this mansion is somewhat familiar. Not in a sense that you have ever been here before, but you still feel that it strikes at some old memory of yours about…

"Good afternoon. May I inquire what business the two madams have here?", before you can remember… whatever it is you think you should remember, an elderly earth pony with light-purple coat and grey mane, clearly dressed as a butler, answers the door.

"This is Soft Sweeps, and I'm Velvet Covers," you introduce the two of you to the scrutinizing gaze of the butler, "and I've come to pick up my daughter, Silky Stream," you say with a pleasant smile.

That is a lie, of course. Although you don't doubt Soft Sweep's word, you have no idea what your daughter is doing in there, and you most surely didn't come because you simply intended to pick her up.

But the way you smoothly delivered those words gave the impression that you have been planning to come here since last week.

The butler eyes you from mane to hoof and gives an understanding nod, probably because of the similarity between you and your daughter, which you mark as another evidence that this elderly stallion has recently seen her. A few moments later he welcomes the two of you into the mansion.

"I can call for young Silky, if the madam so desires. But may I interest you in some tea? It would perhaps be more proper for the master to greet you, since the two madams are visitors," the butler takes the two of you to a comfortable living room, and you must say that the way he is treating the two of you shows that he has a great deal of experience in his job.

You spy a feather duster on his flank with a quick glance. Just like Soft Sweeps, it would seem.

"That would be lovely" you say, allowing yourself to follow through a bit more with your curiosity, "I'd be delighted to meet him."

The butler excuses himself, and a few minutes later he returns accompanied by a stallion, with a well-kept dark mane and a red tie.

"Madam Velvet Covers, madam Soft Sweeps, may I introduce you to the master of this house, Mr. Filthy Rich. If you excuse me, I will be bringing your tea shortly," he says, leaving the room once more.

Oh, you realize with a snap.

This is the Rich household.

So that's why you thought you remembered the place.

-Filthy Rich, businesspony, married, mainly involved in sales and retail. Grandfather was involved in the founding of Ponyville, from a commercial perspective, together with the Apple family clan, who has an apple orchard operation south of town. Has a good hoof-full in the town's economy thanks to said background, and to family competence. The two families have an interesting deal involving first-rights and sales of zap apple jam, a rare magical culinary luxury.-

The report file you have about him, that you read years ago when you came to Ponyville, flashes through your mind, and curiously the very last line of the report comes to focus from your memory.

-Threat to Velvet Family operations in Ponyville: Low.-

So you greet him with the same smile he offers you.

Perhaps in another life you might have been his business' executioner, ruining him with a few month's of work and the signing of a few deals at the behest of your family's interests. Just another aggressive takeover, just another shovelful of influence into the commercial life of a small town.

But right now, you are a small filly's mother, and he is the owner of the house who is currently hosting said filly. There is no need for anypony to fuss over any details about your background whatsoever.

"Madam Covers, a pleasure to meet you," he says, giving a quick kiss to both your and Soft's hoofs.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Rich. And I hope my little Silky has not caused any trouble so far?" you ask, trying to fish for a bit more of information.

"Not at all. In fact, she has already come here enough times for me to know they will behave, even if it's just Randolph at home with them. And honestly, I gotta say I'm glad that my Diamond is making new friends. It was just her and Silver Spoon for the longest time, so it's good to see some new faces with them."

"That is good to hear," you say calmly, at the same time you make several mental notes. So your daughter has been coming here for a while now, check, and that Diamond Tiara she had told you about a while back is most likely Filthy Rich's daughter, also check.

You breathe an internal sigh of relief. It seems that this whole time it was just your daughter escapade-ing to a friend's house after school. You will have to give her a good talking-to, of course, but it doesn't seem like anything overtly worrying has happened.

Well, gross disregard for her caretaker, and going several times to an unknown stallion's home without adult supervision sure can sound worrying if you frame it like that, but…

All's well that ends well, you suppose?

"And I assume that's also good for your little one as well? I mean, from what Diamond told me she is new in school, and I sure know I'd be relieved if my daughter had just transferred and made friends as quickly as she did," he says, as Randolph, which you think is the butler's name, walks in with a set of tea.

You see Soft Sweeps give you a quick sideways glance as the elderly pony starts serving the tea, but you don't give her any answer to that.

There's still one last thing you would like to check.

"I totally agree. I haven't met your little Diamond Tiara yet, but I hear wonders about her from Silky. And that's well and good, after all I spend so much time at work that I barely can focus on my daughter when she's home… It truly is a blessing she has made such good friends," you say, accepting a teacup and giving it a short sip.

"I can feel that. And say, if you don't mind me asking, but what do the two of you work with? You must be new in town, because I'm sure I'd remember two respectable mares like you if I had ever seen you before, and being in sales I get by a lot around town."

Bingo. It seems he doesn't have any idea of who you are, as you slightly suspected. It comes with having lived a recluse life for years, you guess.

"Farming" you answer simply, "the paperwork involved, at least. Heavens knows I'm not fit for the actual labor," you finish with a charming smile.

He gives you a knowing nod, and you can practically see the thoughts forming inside his head. He is a business stallion, wouldn't have a cutie mark shaped like bags filled with bits if he wasn't, so he surely won't let go of the opportunity to talk up two mares who (apparently) recently moved into town and that are in the farming business.

Filthy Rich starts talking about his daughter, and regular school-related things. The usual things-we-have-in-common talk to form a bridge between you and him. And soon enough, he starts slowly turning the conversation towards the matters of sales and business in general. You make sure to give him an interested look as you sip from your tea, quite agreeing with the taste of it, and entertain him with a bit of your time.

It's the least you can do, after all he has been so graciously receiving your daughter in his house for some time now.

You will give this maybe half an hour more, or until you finish your tea, then you will charmingly ask him if you could take your daughter home.

The secret is to be confident about it.

No matter how little you know about a situation, if you act naturally then it surely indicates both that you are in control of what's going on, and that you knew about all the details the whole time.

So, after a pleasant chat with Filthy Rich, you followed him to his daughter's room and collected your daughter, brushing off her wide-mouthed surprise as a silly filly's playing.

And you made sure to show absolutely no reaction when you ended up collecting a second filly to take to her home.

They seemed to be well behaved fillies, all right. It wasn't hard to recognize Diamond Tiara as the pink filly, especially since she has a cutie mark that is practically the same as her name, and you quickly recognized Silver Spoon as the grey one. But you didn't expect to find Sweetie Belle there with them, although that was a pleasant surprise since she is your friend's little sister.

And she recognized you, from the one time you met, so she didn't have any problems with coming with you. You took her home, her parent's home that is, as it seems she doesn't live with Rarity, and went on your way with your own daughter.

To whom you gave a stern talking-to, before you even reached the main street of Ponyville.

"Do you understand what I just said, Silky Stream?"

"Yes mom…"

The three of you are under one of the several trees that dot the streets of Ponyville. Soft Sweeps was quiet during the whole thing, but she kept her forelegs crossed and her expression serious. Your daughter, for her part, is literally downtrodden, looking at the floor with a dejected expression.

It really ties a knot inside your chest, having to talk to her like that. But every time you think you should stop you remind yourself of how important this kind of conversation is. You could be saving her from actual danger in the future.

Your daughter is still just a filly, after all. She answered that she "simply wouldn't answer" when you asked what she would have done if a stranger tried to talk to her in the streets.

You let out a tired sigh. Being a mother is hard sometimes.

"Now, it's good that you are making friends, but me and Soft Sweeps need to know where you are. It would have been okay for you to visit a friend, we would have let you, but you have to ask permission for it first. Otherwise, you know that you're supposed to wait for Soft Sweeps after school."

"But I would always wait for Soft Sweeps after school… technically… just not right after the bell rang or…"

You and Soft Sweeps give her a grumpy stare, and she curls up, meekly, a little more.

Good heavens, you hope she doesn't use her smarts to make arguments like that in the future. Where did she even pick that up from?

"And most importantly," you continue after taking a deep breath, "I am extremely disappointed with the way you treated Soft Sweeps," you say, stamping a hoof on the ground for emphasis. "You know she has been worried sick about you, don't you?"

She looks meekly towards Soft Sweeps as an answer, and was about to look at the ground again when you put a hoof under her chin, looking her in the eyes. You make sure to take on a more gentle tone for what you are about to say.

"Silky, I need you to understand that Soft Sweeps isn't just a mare that takes care of you or that works in our house," you say kindly, pulling her to stand up from the ground, "she is also your friend. Maybe even more than that. She is somepony who lives with you, takes care of you and looks out for you every day."

"I know…"

"In fact, considering how much she cares for you," you continue, a mischievous smile forming in your face, "I'd say she is practically like an older sister to you."

"She is?"

"I am?!"

The two ponies look up in surprise at that.

"Yes, and I am very disappointed that you would treat your older sister like that," you continue with confidence, "she is supposed to be your role-model for heaven's sake."

"Role model?!"

Soft Sweeps gives you a shocked look, at the same time Silky starts looking at her with an increasing amount of light in her eyes. But you immediately turn away from the two ponies, and leave them behind as you start walking towards the path that will take you all home.

"Now, Silky," you say, over the sudden noise of tackling and surprised yelps you hear from behind you, "why exactly have you been going to Diamond Tiara's house to begin with?"

"Oh, its because I've been friends with her and Silver Spoon for a while," you hear her say, her voice coming from a height and angle that possibly suggests that she is dangling from the neck of a flustered Soft Sweeps, "but she doesn't want to be friends with some other fillies because they don't have cutie marks yet. Which doesn't make sense. I'm a blank flank as well and we get along just fine!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah!" another yelp from Soft Sweeps, which you take as an indicator that your daughter managed to scale to her back, "so I took Sweetie Belle there today, she's one of the fillies that Diamond sometimes is mean to, to see if we could all be friends!"

You let out a short "huh", and you finally turn to face the other two while you walk.

As expected, Silky Stream is fiercely grappled to the back of Soft Sweep's neck, and the young filly's smile seems to be the polar opposite of the mare's embarrassed expression.

"Well then, make sure to ask Soft Sweeps if you want to go to a friend's house in the future. And don't be shy about asking her advice either," the maid throws you a pleading, almost betrayed look at that, "I'm sure she'll know exactly what to do."

"Okay mom!"

And with that, the three of you head back home, the afternoon sun lighting the road before you.

You are now acquaintances with Filthy Rich, a wealthy well-to-do (or perhaps "the" wealthy well-to-do) stallion from Ponyville.

You are now acquaintances with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, your daughter's friends.