• Published 23rd Dec 2014
  • 493 Views, 7 Comments

Rarity's Warming Eve - Silver Letter



Rarity's Manehattan friend is being invited to help with the town's holiday play. They're going to have so much fun together! Or will they?

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Scene 2

My Dear Friend Rarity,

It has been an odd many months since you came into my life. I had been thinking about you as a matter of fact when your letter was slipped under my door. It’s like that because I live in an apartment building where all our mail is sorted out by one pony. I’ve been getting more and more of it ever since I got that job at the theatre and I have you to thank. I’m getting offers for work all the time! They all want to see the pony recommended by Ponyville’s famous Rarity. As for traveling, I would be more than honored. Of course the weather is rather chilly. The sea is so icy and cold that I seldom go out anymore. I heard that the central lands are much tamer. But last week, I went out and bought a most delicious chocolate truffle…..

Coco’s words hadn’t changed in the tenth time Rarity scanned the letter since she received it. And every time, she found a new reason to smile or to laugh. Thank Celestia that the Pegasus are in charge of mail delivery. She loved how Coco’s script looped and twirled across the parchment. Coco is one of the few that can work a fountain pen as well as she can. It was quite a different sight after being used to Twilight’s no-nonsense type or the scratching of Rainbow Dash. She can even hold the letter close and smell the iron from the black ink like some long for the smell of candy or muffins. It was Manehattan writing, a part of the city in her very room.

The warmth of red rays turned the windowsill golden and washed over her back. Songbirds twittered in her own tree, the one across from the window that she had known since she was little. On her desk, an empty mug still held a trace of the coffee she drained in mere seconds. Soon, her sister would be awake and about as active as a sloth no doubt. She ought to try coffee one of these days. She turned and faced the tantalizing blue of the sky. The weather was actually faring well for once. The few clouds out there looked like they were lined with silver. She removed the latch and pushed the window open. She peered outward past the icicle laden roof and down the road as far as she could see.

The hills were coated in snow so thick that a pony could ski down the slopes with ease. The roads that branch out from the center of town had to be plowed and scraped to prevent the daily accumulation of ice from making travel impossible. Even from here, she heard the shrill of the arriving trains. She knew that the last one was more than an hour ago. Rarity wondered what was keeping her friend. She tried to drive off thoughts of the worst that could happen like slipping on a layer of ice and twisting a hoof. It sounded too dreadful to bear, for her friend and for herself.

Rarity shivered from both the thought and the winter air. At least she had double paned windows to keep out the latter. She hated what the cold did to her, chapping her lips and giving her muscles an occasional ache, especially when outside. She much preferred sitting by a fire and reading or knitting or doing anything but waiting for something to happen on its own. She went downstairs and poured a second cup of coffee. She drank this one slow, almost relaxing in its heat; and as the steam rose into her face, she heard her sister enter the kitchen. They said good morning to each other.

Sweetie, with all the grace of Spike during a gem eating binge, tried to serve herself some juice from a tall glass pitcher and managed to spill it all over the countertop.

“Sweetie Belle, why can’t you use magic for once?” Rarity said, berating her. She hurried and used a towel to soak it up.

The filly backed off and watched. “I’m trying…I really am” she muttered.

Rarity sighed as she smeared the orange against the towel. “Just go and stand watch for my friend by the front windows”. As much as she didn’t want to appear as the harsh mare, with a whip in one hoof and an attitude that could scare a full grown stallion, she’s always been used to being in charge not just over her sister but in her life in general. She’s always known what she wanted and exactly how to get it. But hearing Sweetie leave without a word almost made her want to turn and apologize. She knows how sensitive the subject of magic can be to Unicorns, especially the young ones, but it’s a part of growing up and she must be there to teach her little sister what is really the finer points of life. There is no way to negotiate on that and if it requires a little harshness once in a while then so be it.

She thought about what to make for breakfast that wouldn’t make a mess, but her concentration was broken when she heard Sweetie open the front door. She turned and found herself trotting through the kitchen into the parlor. She saw Sweetie holding the door ajar. Rarity was about to comment on letting the heat out when she saw Coco Pommel through the oval window, walking toward the door. She carried a black leather purse with its golden handle secured in her mouth. A few other bags were heard plopping on the frozen grass outside her door. Rarity pushed it open and saw her friend checking her hair in a hoof mirror. She slapped it closed and beamed towards her Ponyville friend.

It was almost not possible to believe what she saw before her. Coco looked better than ever. She wore a cashmere sweater so white that it could blend in the hills if it wasn’t for its huge buttons that looked like cherries. Her usual reddish-orange flower on her head had a fine layer of snow on it that looked like powdered sugar. It was as if her body was decked in winter’s frozen glory.

Rarity nudged Sweetie out of the way and they put a hoof around each other, going for a familiar pat on the back or shoulder. “Coco…you look so good!” she stammered. Her eyes are magnifying lenses and she can easily see how the sweater was stitched together and the style wasn’t exactly mediocre. She can even discern the exact shade of her lipstick; a violet not found readily in any old village. Her fur looked polished in the light. There was no way to be subtle about it. Her friend belonged in a magazine.


Coco dragged her luggage inside, a mere three bags, while Rarity had made fresh tea. By contrast, Sweetie had brought six and she was skimping this time. They all sipped it while they talked about each other’s lives and the towns and cities around them. Coco had made a lot of money from her job working for the theatre. Without a boss to answer to, she didn’t have to share what she earned and she always worked on her dresses alone, even when she did have one. She got a better apartment, one that wasn’t cramped on the bottom floor. It wasn’t a suite but it also wasn’t filled with three roommates which made it feel as wide as a gymnasium. It even had a view of the sea and while she’s drafting her latest designs, she can taste the salt in the air and even hear the horns of the ships while they depart for some part of Equestria she’s never been to. She can hold her head up higher and when she dreams, they take her all over the city. She mentioned that it was like being an Alicorn.

Rarity had to admit to herself that a fair amount of pride was felt in her heart. If it wasn’t for her and her generosity, where would Coco be now? Still working for some hustling rip-off of a mare that took all the profit and fame for what her own hooves had slaved over? Well, it didn’t happen on her watch and now her friend sits and nibbles at a piece of pumpkin cake far enough to avoid crumbs falling on that sweater of hers that probably cost her a thousand bits at least.

Coco taps at the edge of a tea cup and places the steel spoon upon its rest. “Your sister is quite the filly, Rarity” she said, grinning. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders… I’ve never heard of that and it has a chapter in my very own city”.

“It hasn’t been there for that long” Sweetie added.

“It’s still cute. I should mention it to my friend that works for Manehattan Youth Weekly. Foals love it. She would just adore what you’re doing”.

Rarity caught Sweetie wincing as if she had swallowed a spoonful of throat medicine. Good thing Coco had been swirling the lemon wedge in her tea at the moment. Sweetie better not ruin it with her silliness. It’s not like the fillies with their emblems and little red capes aren’t cute but maybe she thinks she’s too old to think of her club like that anymore.

“The Cutie Mark club isn’t just cute, it’s productive too” Rarity told her. That caught Coco’s attention. “Working on their performances has made my sister into quite the designer, if I may say so myself. Perhaps you will like to see what she can accomplish”?

“That will make an excellent transition to our work” Coco said. “But before that, I would like to give you both gifts as a measure of thanks for welcoming me with open hooves. I had taken the liberty and bought the delightful trinkets from a few places I spied on the way here this morning”.

Rarity shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “It…sounds great”. She wasn’t sure whether to expect much as Coco laid out a number of Hearth’s Warming Eve gifts across the table. There was the standard gingerbread house and novelty snow globes with old timey looking images from when they used to celebrate the holiday in years past. Ponies wearing lots of glitter. Long hats and reddish cheeks are abound. Sweetie grinned when she saw a tin box full of sugar coated peppermint cookies in a basket with a bottle of holiday cider. Rarity knew she couldn’t wait to eat one.

The three of them headed upstairs into Rarity’s work room. Coco had taken off her sweater and it was hung in the coatrack. The heated air was making her sweat a little. As Sweetie pointed out the closet and all the devices that Rarity uses to craft her fashion mark on the world, she went and pulled the window open by a few centimeters to let Coco at least breathe some of the winter air that leaked inside. Rarity hoped that for her sake, she’ll get used to the dry warmth of her home and maybe even prefer it over having to sleep with three blankets at night. Sweetie had opened the closet where her handiwork was displayed. When she saw it, Coco cocked her head to the side and put a hoof to her mouth as she sat in a chair. Rarity could not hardly discern what she was thinking. She always thought that the longer somepony took to reflect emotion towards art or fashion, the deeper or more profound it must be. Being her sister’s work, she wanted to believe in that more than ever. Still, most ponies that saw her work let their feelings run freely. When even fashion made from hotel knickknacks earned an applause from an audience, it felt weird for her silence to continue to draw itself out.

Coco finally broke her gaze with the costume and caught Sweetie Belle’s long stare. She smiled, seemingly at a rush to find the words to describe it. The ponies barely moved. Only the faint clattering of wheels from the road made its way inside, perhaps belonging to Mr. Green Hooves as he went on an errand on this winter day.

“Wow…it’s wonderful. Charming, even” she said, her words sounding forced. Rarity had never even heard somepony say ‘wow’ amongst her work; what sort of word is that to use? Brief and vulgar, that is what it is. She kept her mouth shut as Sweetie nodded.

“I’m glad you liked it” her sister replied.

Coco stepped off the chair. “May I go to your powder room, Rarity”?

“Yes, you may. Sweetie, please show her downstairs”.

The two of them headed down while Rarity looked at the costume for Filly Unicorn #3. She had glanced at it before; many times in fact. Seeing it straight on was a completely different thing as if she was wearing her glasses with a coating of petroleum jelly before. The stitching stood out like railroad tracks. She didn’t even use the right kind of thread. Something like that would normally be called a ‘fashion disaster’ but for some reason Rarity didn’t seem to mind very much. It is after all her sister’s work, her vision of how the historical dress would look. Does she have any real right to object?

A gust of wind lurched through the open window and began to toss aside anything that wasn’t tied down. Papers were blown to the ground. Rarity shut the closet door and rushed to the window, slamming it back with a full hoof. She puffed and threw back a few straggler hairs as she used her magic to pick up all those things off the floor before those two returned.