The White Phoenix

by Quick Fix

One Too Many

December 25th

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Hearth's Warming Eve was here once again. All across Equestria, ponies were celebrating the foundation of their homeland and reaffirming the bonds they shared. Ponyville was no exception, half the town seemed to be shut down as ponies simply spent the day with their families and loved ones, the other half seemed to be at Pinkie Pie's 'Happy Hearth's Warming Eve Party'. It was only two in the afternoon and the party was in full swing, having already spilled out of Sugarcube Corner and onto the nearby streets. The ground may still have been covered in snow but nopony felt the cold, not when they had so many ponies about to share their warmth with.

Sweetie Belle smiled to herself as she watched the festivities from a bench set up near the edge of the party, sipping at a cup of warm cider that had been at one of the buffet tables set up nearby. By now, most of the town's inhabitants that had realised she was in town had recognised why she was here and were letting her have some peace. The only pony around her right now was Scootaloo, settled on the other bench seat with her own drink, a pair of Hearth's Warming presents by her side. The pegasus had been doing well since they'd last seen each other, having a steady flow of work as a freelance stunt pony and looking into what seemed to be a promising lead into finally being able to fly. Sweetie usually tried to avoid the sensitive subject completely but considering how much more confident Scootaloo was about it at the moment, she felt safe in airing her thoughts.

"So, I know you said you didn't trust this Quick Fix guy, but I'm guessing you're actually getting somewhere if you're still going with it?" She asked, waiting as Scoots stretched her wings slightly and sat up more.

"Sure is, and I've got Trixie backing me up in case he does turn out to be up to something. It's really been working though, I've not tried anything completely under my own power yet but...I've got plans," She grinned and gripped her cup a little tighter before downing the rest of her drink. "Speaking of which, I should probably get going."

"Okay, do you want me to walk with you? I promised Rarity I wouldn't spend too long at the party." Sweetie lifted the two presents in her magic as Scootaloo got up and opened her wings enough for them to be placed where she could keep a good wing grip on them.

"Sure!" Scootaloo waited for Sweetie to finish her drink and get off the bench to join her. Her hooves had barely touched the ground before she felt somepony tugging on her tail. She looked round expecting to see another filly hoping for an autograph, they were both recognisable names after all. Instead, it was none other than Pinkie Pie with a hoof wrapped round her tail.

"You sure you want to call it a day so soon? I was about to bring out the Chancellor Puddinghead Pudding." Pinkie said as she let go of Sweetie Belle's tail and jumped over the back of the bench to stand next to them.

"Well, I did promise Rarity we'd be spending the holiday together." Sweetie replied, looking a little embarrassed at being caught having to leave early.

"And I'm going to be celebrating with my parents. Kind of a big deal since, you know, only the second time I've seen them in over thirteen years and the first time was four days ago." Scootaloo admitted, scuffing her hoof on the ground slightly. From the look on her face it still hadn't been easy to admit it so openly.

"Ah, I understand. Have fun you two! Now, where've you got to Bloooomie?" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice as she trotted back into the party, leaving them to wave a quick farewell to her and head off toward the east edge of town. With nopony else around right now the journey was quick and uneventful, the only sound from either of them being a few happy giggles from Scootaloo as the reality of what was doing set in.

"It's so nice to see you enjoying yourself," Sweetie commented. "I was worried with me at Rarity's and Apple Bloom spending the day at Pinkie's party, you weren't going to have anypony to be with. I was going to invite you to join us before you told me you'd managed to reconnect with your family."

"Yeah, I can hardly believe it either. I gotta say, thank you for your part in this, Sweetie Belle."

"My part?" Sweetie asked as they stopped outside a house.

"Well, seeing you and Rarity bonding so strongly, at this time of year and all, it was part of what made me think, made me want to do this."

"Oh, well, you're welcome then," She smiled more as Scootaloo nodded and turned to go. "Happy Hearth's Warming."

"You too!" Scootaloo called back before heading for her parents' house. Sweetie waved a farewell before heading for the boutique, a fresh spring in her step. She'd missed everything about events in Ponyville, sure the ones she'd been to in Manehatten were grandiose and she had friends to share them with but none of them had the atmosphere that her home did.

By the time she reached the boutique she was practically skipping with joy in anticipation of the rest of the day, it probably looked ridiculous to see a mare of her style like that but she didn't mind in the least. Though the shop was closed for the day, the door was unlocked as she entered and looked round. Many of the displays that normally decorated the interior were missing, already put away and waiting for the big fashions of next month. Rarity was sitting at the counter, looking over what looked like a financial report, looking every bit her age without her glasses on. On hearing the bell over the door go off she looked up quickly and rushed to grab her glasses, only to relax when she saw who it was.

"Ah, Sweetie Belle. I hope you enjoyed yourself today." Rarity commented, lifting her glasses over at a more casual pace and settling them on her muzzle. Sweetie smiled outwardly but alarm bells were going off in her head. Rarity's tone wasn't quite as cheery as it should be with those words, she was in business mode.

"I did...Is something wrong?" She asked calmly, waiting as Rarity sighed and got up, bringing the report she was holding with her.

"Tell me, look at this and let me know what you think it means." The report was passed over and she looked over it. While Sweetie Belle knew enough to be able to handle her own contracts, the kind of numbers that Rarity was able to bring up were beyond her ability to follow.

"I, don't know sis. You were the one who had the head for business."

"I'll tell you then," Rarity sounded a little curt in her response but she was doing her best to hold it in. "Despite Manehatten Carousel doing very well this year, and thank you for your part in that, it has turned the single biggest loss of any of my stores in Equestria. Big, and consistent enough, that we have until April to find the reason or the store runs the risk of going under."

"Wh-what?!" Sweetie felt her jaw drop and her voice crack as the news hit her. It couldn't be right, it didn't make any sense. She'd seen with her own eyes how many sales had been made between Market, Coco and herself, how could things be this bad?

"Exactly. Whoever's doing it is frustratingly smart too, I can't see a way to trace where the bits went. I've been trying at the Ponyville bank for days but I'm being stonewalled so much...Ugh! Could this get any worse?" Rarity exclaimed as she put her hooves on her temples and massaged them in exasperation.

"Hmmm. Three, two, one..." Sweetie paused before looking round at the silent room around them as her composure returned. "Huh, normally that's the point whe-" She was cut off by somepony knocking at the door. "Called it!"

"Oh for the love of Celestia!" Rarity groaned and rubbed her head more, fighting the urge to snap at whoever was outside before speaking through gritted teeth. "Sweetie Belle, could you be a dear and answer that please?"

"Err, sure thing sis." Sweetie went to the door, hearing Rarity heading upstairs before she could open it. She'd expected a late shopper hoping to get a last second gift, instead she was greeted by the sight of Derpy in her full mailmare outfit, a letter in her hoof and the look of a mare who had been rushing over at full pelt.

"Oh, hi Sweetie Belle. Is miss Rarity in?" Derpy asked, panting a little but trying to be professional at the same time.

"Errm, yeah, but she's a little busy at the moment. Can I help?"

"If you could just give her this and these," Derpy handed the letter over before reaching into her mailbag and bringing out the chequered snow socks she had borrowed from Rarity before. "You know, I read about your performance in Manehatten last week."

"You, did?" Sweetie's grin became more nervous than happy at that, silently dreading another pony ripping into her for that poor review.

"Yeah, I wish I'd been there. Rara's an amazing songwriter and with your voice...You must have been amazing, the Foal Free Press did a full page feature about how good the show was with you involved."

"Oh. Well...Thank you, glad you approve."

With the tension of the moment before dissipated, Derpy handed over the snow socks, tipped her hat to the unicorn and headed back toward town. Part of Sweetie wondered why she was working on today of all days but a glance down at the letter answered that. It had a stamp that marked it for super express delivery and a look at the return address showed that it had been sent by Coco. She must have sent it last night, possibly even this morning, which could only mean it was highly important. Sweetie took the letter in her pale green magic and headed up to Rarity's bedroom, knowing she was most likely attempting to unwind up there.

The door was open as she looked in and gently knocked on the frame. Rarity had sat herself down on her bed, a paper and piece of charcoal in her magic, looking like she was doing some design sketching to relax. To be fair, she looked a lot less frazzled than she had before. She looked up at the sound and smiled softly before putting her work down and getting up.

"I'm sorry I was short with you back there. I just never anticipated something like this happening and I don't really know what to do right now." Rarity said, pushing her mane out of her eye.

"I understand. Here, this might cheer you up, it's from Coco." Sweetie offered the letter as Rarity came over and took it in her magic, opening it up and reading quickly. Any hope that it might have helped her mood was put down as her left eye started twitching within seconds. Sweetie slowly moved round and read it over her shoulder.

Dear Rarity,

I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. I'm sure Sweetie Belle's told you how busy things have been at the boutique and despite my being a bit behind, we're managing to keep up with demand. I imagine if Market Match was writing this, he'd go on about all the plans for the rest of the winter season events. I'll just say that we'll be ready for each of them in time.

Actually, that brings me onto what I needed to tell you. We have some extra time to work with since, the fashionistas exhibit at the Hoofeller Centre on the eighth has been cancelled. Apparently the restaurant on the floor above was struck by The White Phoenix during the night, a lot of damage was done and they don't know how well the floor, well, roof for us, would hold. I know that it's an important event but I'm sure we can make up the difference, thanks to Sweetie Belle drawing in fresh crowds.

Hopefully I'll have something better to tell you the next time I write. Though if we're lucky we can see each other in person before then. I'll try my best to see you soon one way or another.

Your friend,
Coco Pommel

P.S. Sorry if this comes across as rushed, I thought you needed to know quickly with everything that's happening.

As she finished reading, Sweetie Belle made a mental note to check on Coco once she got home. First though, she had to make sure Rarity was handling this latest development, though so much as a glance at her showed that she wasn't. She was shaking slightly in anger, the letter in her hooves looking like it was going to be ripped to shreds any second now. She slowly lowered it and let it slip out of her magic, her face unreadable but her eyes showing that this was one step more than she was going to be able to put up with. Eventually she spoke up, her voice sounding far too focused.

"This, this may sound crazy but, this all feels connected. Too connected..."

"Well, maybe a little but-"

"I'm not standing for it!" Rarity suddenly snapped, clearly too agitated by the cascade of bad news to care right now. "First the money theft and now the Phoenix? Even if these aren't related, they are both problems for my business and I have no intention of letting them both interfere again. Sweetie Belle, find my book of contacts and look up my list of backup assistant ponies!"

Sweetie Belle could only watch, trying to take this outburst in, as Rarity went to one of her larger closets and opened it up, a determined grin on her face as she swung round with a thick jacket in her magic.

"Detective Rarity is back, and going to Manehatten."

Author's Note:

And with that moment of insanity, the plot finally gets going.

Minor random fact, this was the first chapter where I wrote and ended up modifying a previous story for. Normally I try to match my writing up to the original, which probably explains some of the shoddier moments of writing previously.