The White Phoenix

by Quick Fix

Manehatten Boutique

December 17th

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Compared to the energy of the night before, Manehatten seemed downright peaceful as morning light covered the city. There was less carriage traffic than usual due to the snow and despite the number of ponies still walking the streets, none of them seemed to mind the weather in the slightest. It only took a little extra to be as warm as normal and by now everypony was prepared and either making their way to work, doing some sightseeing of the snowy city or simply making the most of the chance for a snowball fight. There was a sense of fellowship in the air, community and friendship. Sweetie Belle couldn't help but think that even after all these years, they had her sister to thank for that.

She hummed to herself as she walked, making her way down a street on the west side of the city not far from Bridleway. She was set up against the cold, wearing a set of light green snow socks that Rarity had made for her a few years back. Even with the cold there was still plenty of ponies about, many of them tourists who stopped to take a photo of her when they realised who it was. Sweetie always made sure to wave back when she noticed them, no matter how many celebrity ponies there were in Manehatten, she wanted to make an effort to show her appreciation for them focusing on her. With her music career in a prime position to take off again she expected it to start happening a lot more often as well, it was important to never lose that desire.

"Ermm, excuse me?" A voice from behind made her look round, seeing a rather slender unicorn stallion with a thick yellow coat, sleek silver mane and tail, piercing blue eyes and a rat trap cutie mark. Something about him and his slick voice made Sweetie Belle think on reflex that he was the kind of pony who ran a phoenix oil scam. "Hi, miss Belle, I was wondering if could trouble you for an autograph?"

"Oh, sure. Who's it to?" She replied, noticing the paper and quill held in his blue magic and taking them into her own.

"Vexation." He replied with perhaps a bit too much pride in his voice. As soon as she had signed it he gave his thanks and went on his way. Sweetie couldn't help but think that by the end of the day, that autograph would have been sold on for quite a few bits. At least it was only something petty like that, instead of something illegal.

Crime in Manehatten may have gone down in general over the years, but that space had been filled by a number of arson attacks over the past few months, all believed to have been performed by the same figure that the media had collectively dubbed 'The White Phoenix' due to a graffiti mark the perpetrator left during their actions. Part of Sweetie wondered how hard it could be to start tracking whoever was responsible, though she knew she had no idea what the Manehatten Police were going through with so much pressure on them.

She shook the thought from her mind as she rounded a corner and brushed some snow out of her mane. Right now she had a day job to do and the store was now in sight; Manehatten Carousel. Rarity's fashion career had taken off hard enough to reach orbit over the last two decades, her shop here was now one of a dozen spread across every major settlement in Equestria, and it's protectorate state, The Crystal Empire. Sweetie Belle had learned enough on her own to be qualified to work as the assistant manager, though the two sisters both knew that having her on staff brought extra customers in hoping for an autograph and sometimes staying to buy clothing. 'Come for the star, stay for the quality' as Sweetie had jokingly suggested making the store's tagline.

The shop itself was standard three story building, adorned with the light blues and purples that made Rarity's stores stand out so well. She stopped outside and lifted a key out from her sock, unlocking the door and stepping into the store. Normally her boss arrived first but the snow was probably slowing them down and she knew the routine well enough to handle it herself even without magic. After ten minutes the store was mostly set up for the day and she was just bringing out the clothing displays when another pony stepped into the store. An earth stallion with an olive gold coat, orange mane, blue eyes and a market stall cutie mark.

"Morning, Market Match!" Sweetie Belle said happily as she noticed him.

"Sweetie Belle," Market Match replied cheerfully as he trotted behind the counter. Just because he was the manager of the boutique didn't mean he wasn't friends with his co-workers. "How'd it go last night?"

"It was amazing! I haven't felt so good about singing in forever!" Sweetie couldn't help but bounce slightly in excitement at the memory, taking a full minute to calm down enough to focus herself while Market checked the store over and brought out a newspaper, laying it out on the counter and flicking through it until he reached the entertainment pages.

"I don't doubt you sounded amazing as well, I decided to wait until we got here before seeing for myself," Market put a hoof on the article reviewing the Sounds of Unity and stepped aside to let Sweetie look at it as he skimmed through. "Hmm...General high quality...Outstanding performance by Seviors...Ah! Sweetie Belle performing The Magic Inside, that's a real classic combo."

"It...Was," Sweetie's face fell slightly as she read. "Definitely a quality performance, though how much of that is due to the energy of the musicians carrying a shaky singer performance is debatable. Sweetie Belle said prior to starting that she was returning to lighter music like this, it could have got off to a much better start...Again?" She groaned, getting a puzzled look from Market in response.

"Again?"

"If this is the..." Sweetie flipped the paper back to the front cover and looked at the title. "The Equestria Today, yeah. They've had it in for me for years. Soon as my change in musical direction started to slip up, they pounced on it and started the publicity landslide that made last year go straight to Tartarus. Come to think of it, they've never had a kind word to say about Scootaloo either."

"Weird. Why would they do that?"

"I wish I knew...." Sweetie sighed slightly and shook her head as Market took the paper and binned it. Any further discussion was interrupted as the front door opened quickly and an earth mare stepped in. Cream coloured with a light blue and white mane and tail, cyan eyes and a feathered hat cutie mark. She looked tired and cold, like she'd been running all the way to the shop. Sweetie's eyes widened slightly at the sight of her. "Coco? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, sorry I'm late." Coco Pommel panted, managing to sound soft even when tired. Market Match glanced up at the clock and frowned slightly.

"It's only twenty past nine, we open at half past."

"You normally want us here at nine."

"Yes but, the snow held us all up," Market took a look round the store and moved up to Coco, placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "Why don't you take some time out to warm up? We're probably not going to be busy in this weather."

"Thanks, Match." Coco smiled and headed for the staff room on the second floor. Sweetie watched her go before deciding to follow her up, despite her demeanour, the two had worked together long enough to know when the other was feeling rattled.

By the time she got up there, Coco had sat herself down in the staff room with a small cup of coffee. Sweetie couldn't stomach the stuff herself but considering it had only been invented a few years ago she wasn't going to complain about others enjoying it. The unicorn sat herself down next to her friend and waited, knowing they'd talk when Coco was good and ready. For a minute they simply sat there, shivering slightly from the cold outside, the only sound coming from Coco's gentle sips of her drink. Soon enough she sighed slightly and put her drink aside, instinctively moving closer to Sweetie for warmth.

"I didn't want to mention it in front of Match but, I was late because I overslept again."

"Oh Coco..." Sweetie put a hoof round her in a supportive hug. This wasn't the first time Coco had slept in and been late for work recently. She'd been trying to hide it from Market Match, worried that he might think her work was affected. It would never be enough for her to lose her job of course, she was still arguably the best dressmaker in Manehatten and good friends with Rarity. She had never quite lost her worrisome tendencies after all these years though.

"I don't understand it, I've been getting more sleep, making sure not to overexert myself. Nothing seems to be working though."

"Maybe you should see the doctors again, it could be something from...Whatever happened."

The two of them shifted a little awkwardly, trying not to touch upon that subject. Back since the summer, Coco had been starting to struggle with her physical health more. She had no memory of what might have triggered it, only that she been suffering from mounting fatigue and a constant soreness in her legs since. While doctors hadn't come up with anything serious, she still went for more regular checkups in case whatever had happened to her had resulted in something lingering. For now, Coco simply nodded and rubbed her leg.

"I will, when I can. For now, I just don't know what to do." She said as she leaned back in her seat.

"We'll think of something, we always do," Sweetie smiled down at Coco and hugged her a little tighter. "For now, let's just focus on getting through today, alright?"

"Okay, thank you Sweetie Belle."

"No problem," The two of them simply sat and enjoyed the warmth of the room for a minute before Sweetie perked up again. "Hey, I've got an idea, I've got a few letters I need to write during lunch, want to help put ideas to parchment when I do? Just for something to take our mind off things." It had been a spur of the moment thought but the look on Coco's face showed it had been a good one. She looked a lot more relaxed as she finished her drink and got up.

"I'll be look forward to it, but I should probably make a start now."

"Alright, I'll see how you're doing later." Sweetie got up and followed Coco out of the staff room, heading back downstairs while her friend went to her workspace on the first floor. Market had already opened the store for the day as she returned to the counter and fetched out a stack of photographs she kept ready for the autograph hunters that came to the store. From the look in the eye of the first customer coming in she was going to need them, as usual.

Author's Note:

From the previous chapter to this...Yeah even I'll admit it feels flat. This is still the establishing chapters sure, but I just couldn't get ideas to the screen this time. It'll pick up soon, promise.

Comments

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

I've read enough mysteries, I'm going to take a wild guess. Coco is sleepwalking & is The White Phoenix.

Chekhov's Rule basically "If you show a gun in act one, you have to shoot someone by the end of the play"