//------------------------------// // Sauvignon Blanc // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// “Canterlot Station, this stop! Next stop, Manehattan!” Rarity set down her magazine and slid it back into the front pocket of her suitcase. Around her, fellow passengers tidied up their belongings and looked anxiously out the windows as the train approached the station. Rarity likewise did the same, checking that she had all her belongings about her and she wasn’t forgetting anything. Again, she couldn’t help but feel like she forgot something in Ponyville, but another sweep through her luggage pushed the thought back into the corner of her mind. No, she’d double and triple checked her baggage, and she was absolutely certain that she had everything she needed. The countryside bled away into the outskirts of Canterlot, with houses and large buildings gradually stealing away the farmland and natural beauty of the hills and valleys at the foot of the mountain. In the distance, tiny Ponyville straddled the Maressissippi River, and even though Rarity had left only that morning, she felt a pang of homesickness settle in her gut. It’d be a long time before she saw her hometown again. The engine let out a shrill whistle and Rarity felt her momentum shift forward as the train began to slow on squealing brakes. Sighing, she turned away from the window and watched her fellow passengers finish up their conversations. They probably had plans, picnics, dinner dates. A casual evening in Lowtown Canterlot. How she envied them. All she had to look forward to was more traveling. In fact, she’d be traveling for the next four days. All in the name of her business; her passion. Would it be worth it? Rarity was confident in the answer. With a final squeal of brakes, the train finally pulled into Canterlot Station. Steam hissed and billowed around the doors as it bled off of the engine, and the cars shook slightly as their occupants stood up and queued by the doors. Rarity sat in her chair, content to watch them stand and slowly shuffle out, until she was the only one left in her travel car. Her magic took hold of her two carry-on bags as she walked towards the door. It was a lighter load than she was used to carrying, but was done out of necessity. Donning her sunglasses, the mare gave her long and curled mane a casual shake back into place and hopped down the stairs two at a time into the cheery summer sun. Rarity held her hoof up for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the bright light on the cloudless day. When they finally refocused, she looked up, up, up at the glistening peaks of the Mountain of Dawn, and the ivory spectacle that clung to its side. The magnificent and opulent towers and ramparts of the Princesses’ home seemed to defy gravity, jutting as they did out into open air with nothing to support them. It was a magnificent sight, one that Rarity had never grown tired of seeing, and one she never would grow tired of seeing. The castle was the core of the city, its backbone of elegance and grandeur, and promised everypony visiting that they had just crossed into the threshold of high society. “Rarity! Yoohoo!” The trilling Trottinghamish accent drew Rarity’s attention back to the station, and she saw a pale blue unicorn emerge from the crowd. Her face and overall body was much more slender and shapely than most unicorns, suggesting a purer lineage, and her iridescent mane glittered orange and yellow on one side and purple on the other. She wore a faded purple dress and saddle, studded with amethysts and gold to the point of being gaudy, yet she somehow carried it with enough pride and charisma that it looked anything but. Blue eyeshadow appeared and disappeared as she blinked in the glaring sun and waved to Rarity. Rarity waved back and trotted over until she was close enough that she didn’t have to shout to be heard. “Sassy Saddles! Oh, so good to see you here!” She leaned forward with a foreleg outstretched, and Sassy returned the hug. The two kissed cheeks and giggled before withdrawing to their own personal space and beginning to walk up the road towards the Canterlot boutique. “And it’s good to see you too, Rarity!” Sassy exclaimed, smiling brightly and effortlessly. “I’ve worked so hard on preparing the lineup, but it wasn’t until you told me you were coming today that I realized I wasn’t dreaming!” “Oh goodness, you’re telling me!” Rarity said, fighting the urge to bounce along like Pinkie Pie. “I’ve been working on those dresses for a month, maybe two, and I still wasn’t sure that the deal was going to pull through! I can’t believe I’m finally branching off into the Confederacy!” Sassy smiled and lazily eyed a few pegasi flying overhead. “Well, it’s not every day that one of the premier fashion ponies in all of Equestria starts marketing dresses for griffons! You’re truly drilling an untapped well with this brand new line of yours! Most designers wouldn’t even dream of trying to design attire that comfortably fits griffons.” “Please, darling, I’d hardly say I’m the first who’s tried it.” She let the sentence hang in the air like she was expecting a response, and sure enough, Sassy gave it to her. “But Rarity, you’re the first who’s tried and gotten this far!” The two ponies briefly skirted to opposite sides of a food vendor on the sidewalk before rejoining at a street corner and waited for wagon traffic to slow down. “Frankly, it’s hard for most designers to try to find something that a griffon finds suitable. I mean, what with the chest feathers and the talons that can rip and tear any fabric to shreds…” “And the colors,” Rarity joined in. “Those were the worst. Did you know that griffons can see in ultraviolet as well?” “Really?” Sassy blinked and tapped a hoof against her chin. “But what would that even look like?” An officer whistled for the traffic to stop, and the two ponies crossed the street while there was a break. About two blocks away, Rarity could see the glistening white and pink façade of the boutique jutting out into the sidewalk. It was good to know she’d left the establishment in such good hooves as Sassy’s. “I haven’t the faintest,” Rarity said, picking up where they’d left off. “Twilight offered to cast a spell to let me see for myself, but I had to decline. Heavens know what sort of mischief can arise from her new spells. Maybe if she’d tested it on Rainbow Dash first to make sure it worked, but apart from that, that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.” “But how did you make it work?” Sassy asked. “The orders you sent me, they all had very… dull fabric, apart from some bright accents. And expensive, although I’m sure that you had already taken that into account when you sent the order forms.” Rarity scoffed and tightened her magical grip on her luggage. “Oh, but of course I did, darling. And I admit, I was stumped on the problem for quite some time. Then I happened to spot a raven perched just outside my window, and I decided to focus on some very glossy black materials highlighted by a few bright colors. I tested them with a blacklight to try to get a sense of what they might look like. Honestly, it was just a shot in the dark, but one that seems to have paid off, if this trip is any indication. After all, a raven might look black to us, but to other ravens, they must look infinitely dazzling.” She paused a moment, then added, “Or at least that’s what Twilight told me when I took my idea to her.” Sassy giggled. “I’m sure she would know best. She does spend a lot of time holed up in that library of hers, from what you tell me.” “Oh, if you only knew the half of it,” Rarity answered and smiled. “Sometimes I worry about that mare…” The two unicorns found themselves in front of the doors to the boutique, and Sassy produced a key from one of the many hidden pockets of her dress. Within seconds, the heart-shaped key had found its lock and twisted it open, and the two stepped into the pristine boutique, decorated with the finest models of dresses Rarity had shipped over in the previous month. The entire place was spotless, without a single mote of dust to be found. “Sweet Celestia, Sassy, I hope you didn’t do this all for me,” Rarity said, walking over to an oak table so finely polished that she could see her reflection in it. “This must’ve taken an entire day’s worth of your time!” Sassy chuckled and poked at her iridescent mane. “Only all of Saturday, but I wanted to make the place absolutely pristine for you. After all, this is your first visit in… seven months?” Rarity smiled and twisted the tip of her hoof back and forth on the ground. “Yes, well, I do believe that I’ve left the boutique in more than capable hooves. My oversight isn’t really necessary in Canterlot, isn’t it?” “No, Rarity, I assure you it is not,” Sassy proudly exclaimed, standing straighter and puffing her chest out. “We’ve never ended a month in the red, even if some of your pricier dresses have tags I myself wouldn’t even be able to justifiably afford. And if the deal in the Confederacy pulls through, then we’ll have a steady income off a cornered overseas market to supplement your future endeavors.” “We can only hope.” Rarity sighed and parked her suitcases next to the table. “Sassy, forgive me for asking this, but do you have anything to drink around here? I’ve got a long day’s worth of traveling yet to get through, and I don’t see myself surviving without it.” A bottle of wine and two glasses landed on the table in front of her before she even had the chance to turn around. Sassy walked up alongside her, the magic dissipating from her horn and an amused smile on her face. “A premier sauvignon blanc tickle your fancy?” Rarity giggled and poured herself a glass. She lifted it up to her face and swirled it around, watching the fingers creep down the sides of the glass. “Now I remember why I hired you as my personal manager.” “Because my family owns a vineyard?” Sassy asked. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards as she poured a glass for herself. “Oh goodness no… although that might have sealed the deal,” she admitted with a tiny titter. She raised her glass out with her magic, and Sassy did the same. “To the future!” Sassy clinked her glass against Rarity’s. “To the rules of Rarity!” “And to the art of the dress!” Rarity finished, a happy smile on her face. She held her glass up to her nose, took a deep breath, and then drained a ladylike sip. Already the sweetly bitter taste of the wine left her feeling loose and relaxed. She exhaled in ecstasy, and eyed the remainder in her glass. Four days of travel and it’d all be worth it.