The White Phoenix

by Quick Fix

The Final Overture

March 31st

---

Compared to the usual sounds of life that emanated from the city, Manehatten was practically silent. There wasn't anything unusual happening, it had just been a regular spring day. It was as if everypony was waiting with baited breath, knowing that something was coming but with no idea when. Sweetie Belle was feeling it as much as anypony. Every day since she'd questioned Vexation, she'd been on tenterhooks at the possibility that it would be the day that they had their lead about the low meet and hopefully a chance to learn the truth about the White Phoenix. Every day so far she'd been wrong and had to deal with her tension the only way she knew how, finding the quietest spot in her house and belting out some of her favourite songs, hoping the neighbours didn't mind too much.

She still had her place at the boutique to keep her busy during the day though, the workload only increasing as more ponies came by to get a chance to meet her. Between her steady music bookings over the past few months and the now relatively common knowledge of her involvement with the Phoenix case, her popularity seemed to have hit a new high. For all her desire to keep her mind occupied right now, she almost welcomed the quiet patch that came from closing up for the day. Right now she was just taking care of the end of day routine by herself. Market Match had already left since Rarity was here, going through everything he and Coco Pommel had put together for her, hoping to spot something new about the bit thief in the various files and folders.

"So, do you have any plans for this evening?" Coco asked as she came down the stairs, a spring in her step.

"Me? Nah, I doubt I'll get a proper night off until the investigation's over," Sweetie replied, managing to keep herself sounding optimistic. "I'm guessing that you do?"

"Oh, yes. Match invited me out to dinner and then we're going down to the waterfront. Apparently there's going to be some fireworks display at Celestial Bridge later." She sounded remarkably happy at the former part, a point that hadn't been lost on her friends over the last few weeks.

"Coco, this is going to sound weird but, do you have a crush on him?" Sweetie asked, unable to resist grinning a little as her co-worker was flush with embarrassment within moments.

"No. I mean, maybe. I mean, he has a crush on me?" She stammered, blushing even more and glancing away. The moment hung between them before Sweetie chuckled and trotted over to her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Market Match is a nice guy and I've seen the way you two click when working on something together. If you think there's something there, go for it. You'll still be friends even if it doesn't work out."

"Thanks. Wish me luck and see you tomorrow!" Coco chirped as she made her way out of the boutique, clearly still embarrassed but still happy about her evening.

Sweetie waved her off and sighed slightly, her thoughts drifting as she finished shutting up shop. For everything that she'd had both before and after becoming a star, romance was something she'd never had with either. As a filly, the colts at school had never caught her fancy, nor her theirs, not helped by the fact she spent most of her spare time either with the Cutie Mark Crusaders or learning from Princess Twilight. By the time she had managed to get her life in order enough to start thinking about so much as a coltfriend, she had already started her rise to fame and many ponies seemed to think her out of their league. Sky Eye had been the first 'regular' stallion in years who seemed to have no problem talking to her like a friend would. He was nice too, but she still hadn't spent any time with him outside of the investigation. He did basically call her cute though...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somepony knocking quite firmly on the front door. She shook her head slightly and put away her autograph photos, figuring it was just somepony who was focused on a chance to meet her and had missed the closed sign. It wasn't exactly uncommon, she'd been going for twenty minutes after closing time yesterday.

"I'm sorry, but it's past six o'clock and Manehatten Carousel is now closed for the day. Our services will be available again at half past nine tomorrow morning." She said with a tone that hinted just how often she had needed to say those exact words.

"You didn't even ask who it was, some host." Sky Eye's voice came from the other side, clearly kidding. It was enough for her to quickly head over and open up the door. Sky and Gleaming Truth were on the other side, both without any police gear on for once.

"Oh, sorry, didn't expect it to be you," She said quickly, stepping aside to let them in. "Is this police business?"

"It is, though it's rather good news for once," Truth replied as she entered the boutique, looking round at the décor. "Hmmm, interesting design...Anyway, do you happen to know where Rarity is?"

"She's here, just going through some documents. Probably in the staff room next floor up, follow me," Sweetie put a little extra spring in her trot as she lead them up to the second floor, doing her best to make up for the attitude she had shown before. "We have some basic drinks up here, either of you fancy a coffee?"

"Really?" Sky asked in surprise. "You can make it? I thought you hated the stuff."

"When you're regularly around ponies who enjoy it, you quickly learn to make a mean 'Cup of joe' regardless." She turned and made air quotes with her front hooves to accompany her choice of words. That was another thing she didn't get about it besides the taste, why ponies gave it such weird nicknames.

"Hmmm. In that case, I'll just stick to something cold please." He replied, getting a surprised look from her in return, though this time he managed to keep from making any comments on her expression.

"I'll, just have a basic cup, please." Truth finally said to break the tension.

Sweetie nodded and led them into the staff room, heading over to the drinks setup they had in the corner and prepping Sky's cup. Rarity was settled on one of the chairs off to the side, a dozen financial sheets that Coco and Match had gathered for her held in her magic around her, studying them intently. She didn't even notice Truth and Sky initially, mumbling something to herself and adjusting her glasses as she pored over the paper in front of her. Everypony knew better than to interrupt her when she was in the zone, as it were, so for now they simply waited while Sweetie fixed up their drinks. Coffee for Truth, clear cider for Sky. After a few minutes of waiting, drinking and small talk, Rarity sighed to herself and shifted her paper aside.

"No, still no clues there. If I could just...Oh! Gleaming Truth! Sky Eye! I didn't hear you come in." She said quickly, placing her papers aside and getting up to greet them.

"Quite alright, you seemed to be in the middle of something important." Truth replied as she took her cup and tried a sip, raising an eyebrow. Sweetie Belle hadn't been kidding when she said she knew how to make a good cuppa.

"Yes, still attempting to figure out where all our bits keep going," Rarity said, rubbing her forehead. "I know by this point that profits have improved to the point that it's almost a non-issue...But this is business! I keep looking but there's just nothing to suggest who keeps moving them. It's as if the money just vanishes between the sale being made and it going into the till!"

"Maybe you should take some time off it to clear your head. Besides, we've got something important we need to talk about." Sky said as he fetched his cider that Sweetie had just finished prepping. Rarity stared at him for several seconds before sighing and conceding the point.

"Alright, what's happened?"

"Simply put, we've found the low meet," Truth stated, smiling a little at the surprised look the two sisters gave her and flexing her wings in response. "I know, I'm surprised too."

"Well, yeah. Already? I thought we'd be stuck on that point for weeks." Sweetie commented, sounding impressed.

"Me too. Turns out the MPD's quite efficient when we really set our minds to the task."

"So, what's the plan now?" Rarity asked as she sat down again, watching as Sky bit his lip slightly.

"That's the thing, from all the intel we could gather they seem to have a lot of contingency plans for if we went investigating. In short, it looks like we couldn't get a police officer or detective within two blocks of the place without being noticed...That's where we bring our ace investigators in though. You two could make your way in and find out anything you can about the White Phoenix there."

"Hmmm, an intriguing idea. But one with a problem," Rarity remarked after a minutes thought. "How are we supposed to get there without being recognised ourselves? It's not exactly a secret we're involved with you."

"Yeah, plus we're not exactly discreet ponies." Sweetie added. Sky simply took a sip of his drink and smiled.

"You'd be surprised how easy it'll be. Ladies, get your coats."

---

Darkness had completely fallen over Manehatten by the time their carriage stopped on a side street, still several blocks away from their destination. Rarity and Sweetie Belle would have to go the rest of the way on hoof to avoid setting off any warning to anypony that would be on the lookout. Their detective outfits were worn tight and would be done up as much as possible once they got closer, manes fully tucked under their hats and tails under their coats. Sweetie had been given sunglasses to cover her eyes and Rarity a tinted black variation of her usual eyewear, once she'd been convinced that they didn't need to be spruced up a little.

"It sounds crazy, but from all we could gather, that's all you'll need to get in without any attention being drawn to yourselves. Hotel Caribu doesn't get many ponies hanging around normally so you'll have a clear path as well." Sky Eye explained, doing his best to sound reassuring. Sweetie simply nodded and placed her sunglasses in her pocket before adjusting the zip of her coat so it didn't cover her muzzle just yet.

"I hope so." Rarity replied simply, adjusting her new glasses slightly, the old ones left safe at the boutique.

"I'm afraid we have no idea what to expect on the inside so, if any trouble happens..." Gleaming Truth started, only to be stopped by a raised hoof from Sweetie.

"I can teleport us out if it gets dicey."

"Are you sure you can manage both of you at once?" Sky asked, sounding concerned and impressed in equal measure.

"Well with how often I've been using it recently, it's been getting less of a strain to do so. I think I can at a push."

"Alright, but no risk taking all the same," Truth followed up. "If you can find anything out that's great, but we'd prefer having you back to tell us about it. I've, kind of gotten used to working with you two by this point."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I plan on coming back in one piece too." Sweetie replied, getting a satisfied nod from Sky in response.

"Right, well, if there are no further details, we should probably get to this." Rarity said, opening the carriage door and readying to step out.

"Just one more thing," Truth said, sounding even softer than normal, enough to make all three of the others look back at her. "I just want to say that regardless of how well this goes, we'd never have gotten this far in the White Phoenix case without your help. So...Thank you both for all your support." The moment hung between all of them for several moments before Sweetie Belle cleared her throat.

"Sky helped out too."

"Oh, err, yeah...Sorry?" She smiled weakly in embarrassment, getting a dismissive but good natured flip of his wing in response.

"Ok, let's do this." Rarity finally said, stepping out of the carriage. Sweetie nodded and followed her out, pausing for a moment as the door shut behind her. They were on their own now.

A quick look round at the nearby landmarks confirmed they were in northeast Manehatten. Hotel Caribu was still about four blocks away so they set off at a brisk pace. The silence was somewhat mitigated by the steady sounds of the city around them, but neither said a word to each other for some time. It was little more than a gut feeling but they both felt it. Come what may, this was where their investigation was going to come to its conclusion. Tonight was a night for endings.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Rarity asked with a touch of concern as they reached the Hotel Caribu, a simple looking ten-story yellow brick construction that took up about half the block, most likely a three star establishment at best.

"I'm ready sis." Sweetie answered simply, taking her coat zip in her magic and pulling it up to her chin, trying to ignore how uncomfortable it was getting to keep her normally luscious curly mane contained under her hat.

Rarity nodded and lead the way inside. The hotel lobby was rather sparsely laid out with little in the way of decoration. There wasn't even a pony behind the reception desk at this time of night. Neither of them minded though, it meant less distractions and they already knew just where to go. A quick turn left put them toward a staff only door that they passed through without a moment's hesitation. A right down the next hallway, second left after that. Their quick walk lead them to a slightly dilapidated storage room that looked rather unassuming at a glance. A quick look round the room found their target though, a more well maintained stairway that led downward to parts unknown. They both knew what it was though, their entrance point for the low meet.

"Somehow, I didn't actually expect it to be underground." Rarity remarked as she adjusted her outfit, doing her coat up to her muzzle and tilting her glasses back to cover as much of her face as possible.

"Me neither. Still, the truth's gotta be buried somewhere down there..." Sweetie took her sunglasses out in her magic, flicked them open and put them on with a small grin.

"We just have to dig it up."

Author's Note:

Yes, that ending was awful. No, I'm not sorry.

Comments

[Menti Ardenti]

Short, but informative. I look forward to seeing more.