The White Phoenix

by Quick Fix

Home Base

Ponyville
December 18th

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If the coastal cities of Equestria were it's shining stars, the towns nearer the centre of the country were the hidden gems. With the current blanket of snow over the land, each one sat silent amidst the land, as if waiting for somepony from out of town to discover it's secrets. This held just as true even in the most well known of them all; Ponyville. Some of the heaviest snow in the country had fallen over the town and yet it's residents had still be able to shake off the harshness of winter and fall back into the spirit of the season, finishing up the preparations for Hearth's Warming. Wherever one might look, festive decorations and celebrations had been set up for the several thousand ponies that called the friendliest place in Equestria home.

Near the center of town, just north of the market district, Carousel Boutique was similarly adorned with silver tapestries depicting the founding of Equestria. The store was still closed for now, opening later at this time of year to let ponies spend more time with their families before going out was commonplace in Ponyville, thanks to the example set by none other than Rarity. The Element of Generosity was still able to strike a delicate balance between maintaining her network of shops, continuing to create her fabulous new fashions and assisting anypony who needed her help. Of course, dealing with so many responsibilities, coupled with the fact she had just turned forty years old, meant that signs of her age were starting to catch up on her sooner than she'd like. Nothing a stylish pair of glasses couldn't hide for now though.

Inside, Rarity was just finishing up her morning routine. As an artist, she needed to make sure that everything was just as she'd left it, especially during those times when she was in the middle of a brainwave design session. With the checks for the day completed she headed down into the kitchen and made herself a hot drink, adjusting the long slim frame of her red glasses as she sat down at the table. As much as the quiet of days like this let her make progress with her work, a small part of her missed the general messiness and noise that used to greet her in the morning. It had been five years since her little sister had moved to Manehatten and not one went by where she didn't think of her. Sweetie Belle had always been the lively one among them, even after getting her cutie mark she had thrown her everything into her passion for life and singing. It may have resulted in more than a few arguments during those times they were under one roof, yet Rarity wouldn't have traded them, or her, for anything in the world.

Her eyes glanced to the side, realising that she'd left yesterday's newspaper out on the table. She hadn't had time to read it before and fetched it over before skimming through the headlines. While it was mostly uninteresting law news, announcing a ruling by the princesses that ponies that were proved to be subject to mind control magic were not directly culpable for crimes, the details of the crime in question drew her attention. What little had been included in the report indicated that the possessed pony responsible had been stopped by the combined efforts of Discord and Pinkie Pie. Rarity had heard the whole story from Pinkie herself though and knew the pink party pony had spent pretty much the whole incident recovering from being choked out. All the hard work she'd been credited with had actually been done by Apple Bloom.

It was hardly surprising though, over the years the Equestria Today had developed a tendency to either look upon the former Cutie Mark Crusaders of Ponyville with either a constantly negative air, or just refuse to comment on them entirely. More often the former, considering Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were big names in their respective career paths. More than once Rarity had needed to comfort Sweetie after a particularly scathing article on her and no matter how many complaint letters she had sent it never changed. Just what was going on in those media offices?

Her thoughts were interrupted by somepony knocking on the front door. On any other day, she most likely would have gone and politely told whoever it was to come back later. Today though, she got up with an excited squeak and rushed to the door, opening it quickly. Standing on the other side was a familiar grey pegasus, kitted out in a mailmare's uniform, delivery bag and a pair of snow goggles, all of which seemed a little insufficient with how much snow there was on the ground.

"Morning, miss Rarity!" Derpy said happily, seemingly completely ignoring the snow around her. "Got a lot of mail for you today."

"Just as I hoped. Thank you, darling." Rarity replied warmly, looking down and noticing the day's newspaper had been delivered as well. She picked it up with her magic as Derpy rummaged through her bag and started bringing out thick letters.

"Let's see...From Baltimare, Whinnyapolis, Manehatten...Ooh, Canterlot, Vanhoover, Crystal Empire, another Manehatten..."

Rarity paused at that last one, doubt flashing across her features. She had only expected one letter from Manehatten today, who could be sending her another one? The thought remained with her until Derpy had finished fishing the dozen or so letters out and offered them to her, at which point she decided to look at it afterward and took them.

"Are you handling the snow alright? I'm sure I could get you something warmer, maybe something in blue and white to go with your outfit?"

"Thanks, but I couldn't. I kind of used my last pay for Dinky's Hearth's Warming gift." Derpy smiled a little more but Rarity had seen her giving this somewhat forced look before. It was no secret Derpy was a single mother, though few if any ponies knew the circumstances, and she'd never really stopped looking out for her daughter the whole time. As touching as it was, it did tend to leave her short on bits. Rarity's horn glowed a little brighter and she bought out a set of chequered blue and white socks, insulated against the cold.

"Oh don't worry about paying dearie, I can always make another." Rarity said happily as she offered them to her. Derpy hesitated for a moment before smiling properly as she took them and slipped them on.

"Thank you miss Rarity, I-I promise I'll bring them back after work, save you some time."

"There's no hurry dearie. As long as they help you out." Rarity smiled more as she gathered her mail up again and glanced through them.

"Of course, I'll see you later." Derpy said as she finished putting the socks on and waved farewell as she took off to continue her rounds. Rarity waved her off before heading back inside.

Within moments all her mail was laid out on the kitchen table and she was opening them up quickly. Today was the day she received reports from the managers of her other stores, their notes, input and results would help shape her ideas for the coming year. Eleven thick, multi-page letters rose from their envelopes and started to float round her for easier reading. She was focused, driven, one hundred percent in the zone as she started reading quickly. Just because she had aged somewhat didn't mean her eyes and mind had got any slower.

"Canterlot...As I thought, Sassy Saddles is probably doing better than me," She mused to herself, making a mental note to thank her first manager for all these years of support. "Vanhoover...Down a little. Well, the Spirits of the Future line was always a gamble. Now, Manehatten. Can't expect a repeat of last year after poor Coco's heath issues but WHAT?!?"

The magic around the rest of the papers disappeared and they dropped to the floor as she grabbed one and read through it intently. It was the financial report for Manehatten Carousel and no matter how many times she read though it, no matter how much it looked like the store had turned a profit, there was a deficit totalling thousands of bits. She couldn't place where it had started, where it had gone or even any clue of who might be responsible, yet it was all here. If that wasn't bad enough, the numbers simply weren't sustainable. At a guess, if this went on at this rate, Manehatten Carousel would be bankrupt within four months.

Rarity slammed the paper down on the table and buried her face in her hooves, her horn glowing as she gathered all the dropped papers and arranged them in front of her. Her mind was working overtime in an effort to figure out what she could do short of sending Market Match an angry letter, but that wouldn't help the situation. Maybe she could let her assistant take over here for a few days and head to Manehatten herself to get to the bottom of this. The more she thought about it though, the more she realised that a solution would have to wait for now, the shop was opening in a few minutes and she needed to chin up before that. Her eyes went to the other letter from the big city and she opened it up, figuring it couldn't be any worse than the last one.

Dear Rarity,

I know it's been too long since I wrote last but everything's been moving so fast. I hope getting this here through overnight delivery makes up for it.

I did it though! I finally managed to get a place in a major show. Not just any show either, only the Sounds of Unity at Breaker Field! Everypony probably saw me going out there and probably expected more of the heavy stuff that, you know, ruined my career. I came out with a classic by Rara though and by the time I was done at least half the stadium was singing along. It felt incredible as well, like the day I got my cutie mark all over again *squee*. I had so many ponies coming in to see me in the shop today and almost all of them were positive about my performance. I say mostly because, well...Please tell me you haven't read the Equestria Today. They were less than polite about my part that night.

More importantly for now though, I'll be on the morning train back to Ponyville on the 21st. I also sent letters to let Apple Bloom and Scootaloo know so don't be surprised if I end up trying to say hi to everypony at once. I can't wait to see you all again. Taking in Ponyville with the crusaders and spending time with the best big sister ever, just like old times!

Love you sis,
Sweetie Belle

P.S. Yes, I wrote a squee down. I was just that excited.

As Rarity lowered the letter down, she glanced back at the newspaper and made a mental note to cancel her subscription to them...Again. Still, the letter had definitely cheered her up enough to take on whatever was going to come by day. The thought that her superstar little sister was coming home could never have failed to brighten her mood. Rarity got up and finished her now lukewarm drink, quickly cleaning it up before heading to open up shop for the day. It may have been cold as a windigo's heart outside but her own heart was fired up as strong as ever.