Rarity stirred in her sleep feeling a drop of rain break against her cheek, the water spread slightly but quickly found it's place, soaking in and damping her short white fur creating a cold and overall annoying sensation, she brought a fore hoof out from the meagre warmth of her Canvas blanket and prodded at the area, she pulled the corner of her blanket close to her face and wiped away the dampness, the rough material of the cover irritated her skin slightly but she chose to ignore it, and content with her victory, she decided to go back to sleep.
She nuzzled against the pile of cloth that was her makeshift pillow, letting her head fall deeper into the folds and relax once again, finally ready to return to her slumber, she felt another drop against her fur and another and another and another, Rarity grimaced and growled to herself, grinding her teeth slightly and squeezing her eyes shut tighter, willing the rain to disappear and allow her to sleep, It didn't as ever more droplets of rain fell upon her face.
She groggily opened an eye, and turned her attention to the source of the irritating liquid, looking towards the roof of her shoddy tent, her eyes were suddenly assaulted with a flood of harsh light a frown spread across her face as she raised a hoof to shield herself from the brightness. Rarity cursed silently under her breath, a tear had opened in the roof and the harsh light of morning filled the tent alongside the slow but relentless drizzle.
A sigh escaped the white mares lips as she propped herself up on one leg, her head hung low towards the ground as she rubbed her eyes with her other hoof as though she were trying to expel the tiredness from her. She sat upright and looked towards the tent door glumly, her surroundings were bathed in a sickly yellow light, the same sickly yellow colour she'd seen every morning for months now, she despised the colour. She didn't feel quite ready for the morning yet, her body still ached from the toll of the previous days travel, Rarity tiredly lifted a hoof up to her shoulder and craned her neck left and right in some vain hope that the simple stretching would rid her body of the dull pangs of pain that racked it.
Rarity sighed again as she slowly dragged herself towards the tents door, her muscles where unwilling and stiff, yearning to return to rest, but she had no time and many miles to travel. She fired up her horn and slowly undid the buttons that held the two flaps of cloth together, with the last button undone, Rarity flung the door open, allowing her access to the the outside world, Rarity strained her eyes as they took a moment to adjust to the harsh light beyond her tent once more. She stepped out from the tent and let the door fall meekly behind her as the magic that had gripped it dissipated, she felt the ground between her hooves, thankfully the rain was only light and the earth below was still firm, at least she didn't have to contend with mud on top of everything else.
Rarity surveyed the clearing around her, taking a moment to take In her temporary home, the trees stood tall around the edge of the clearing, their trunks slender and grey, the cracked cylinders rose high from the ground before their trunks split off into smaller branches that were adorned with thick clusters of fir leaves, tall stems of dull green grass carpeted the floor of the clearing and was broken here and there by patches of dry, yellow earth, smooth boulders ranging in size and shape were dotted about, in the middle a small pool sat but the water was an uninviting murky green, clumps of green mucus sat still atop the stagnant water, the sky above was a canvas of thick grey clouds of different shades and forms, being slowly ushered on by the light wind. Rarity closed her eyes, letting her other sense take over, she relished the chill of the wind as it blew over her body and through her mane and fur, she felt herself calmed by the sound of the swaying grass and leaves all around her.
Close to her tent a group of ancient, moss covered logs created a ring around the smoky remains of last nights fire, but as her gaze drifted towards this, Rarity frowned and quietly reprimanded herself. The fire was long dead, but thin strands of wispy smoke still rose from the charred remains of the fire, wafting up above the tree line where it dissipated and become lost to the winds. She let out an annoyed sigh and walked towards the dead camp fire, how could she have forgotten to smother the embers before she had gone to sleep the night before? Any manner of creature or worse could have spotted her camp during the night.
“Rarity you fool” She whispered to herself as she crawled back into her tent, she surveyed the back of the tent looking for one of the many bags that had been lazily thrown in there the night before, she spotted the one she needed and reached in further grabbing the strap of the bag with her mouth and yanking it out of the tent. She emerged flank first from the tent once again and pulled the bag out with a final yank, the motion strained her already aching neck a little and she felt a small pang of pain spread about it.
Her horn was engulfed in a blue aura as was the bag shortly after, she pondered to herself why she hadn't used her magic in the first place, the bag was composed of rough brown leather and had some weight to it but this was still a lot easier than dragging the thing around, she shook her head again once again mentally reprimanding herself for the lack of foresight, she briskly trotted towards the circle of logs and took a seat on one that appeared less decayed than the others, laying the bag in front of her. She opened the flap and surveyed the contents, a small hatchet some flint and steel and a bundle of small twigs.
She'd need to set up a new camp fire before she could have any kind of breakfast and there was simply no way she was packing up and moving on before she'd had a good meal. She clipped the bag shut and hopped to all fours, resting it against the trunk she set off towards the tree line, she'd need some dry grass to use as kindling, thankfully though, the rain had come to a halt so at least she wouldn't have to worry about anything getting any wetter.
Rarity reached the first row of trees, her brisk trotting came to a halt, she leaned in closely to the ground, inspecting the grass, luckily for her the the tall fir trees above must have taken the brunt of rainfall in the area as the ground inside the woods was coated in thick tufts of yellowed, dry grass. A slight smile appeared on Rarity's lips, perhaps today would go on better than it began. She lit up her horn once again, pulling small clumps of the dead grass from around her and forming them into a larger ball, pleased that she had enough she trotted back over to the ring of logs.
She opened the rough leather bag with her mouth and gently placed the dried grass within clipping the bag shut to keep it safe from any moisture, she made her way back to the tent she grimaced at the hole in the top, if only she had some thread and a needle to repair it but unfortunately she'd simply have to leave it behind, Rarity decided she may as well take the thing down now and get the job out of the way.
A short while later the pegs and poles had been removed, and now the fabric was nothing more than a mess on the ground, she gathered up the many different components with her magic and trotted towards the stagnant pool, she despised the thought of littering, especially out here in the wilderness but she couldn't risk leaving a presence here unless any pony or any other kind of creature came wandering through. She reached the pond, taking a moment to regard her reflection in the murky green water, no make up was to be seen on her face, replaced with splotches of dried dirt here and there, Her carefully styled main was absent of it's curls and now fell into simple messy waves by her side.
Rarity shuddered slightly at the image, fighting back her old urges of cleanliness and beauty, there was no time for such trivial issues anymore she had much more important matters to attend to. She used the canvas of the tent as a makeshift bag, using it to hold the metal pegs and poles inside she tied it up in a knot and threw it into the pond watching it slowly sink to the bottom until it disappeared into the grimy depths of the pond, at least she wouldn't have to see that sickly yellow colour ever again.
She trotted back to the patch her tent had once stood and began ferrying her belongs over to the camp fire, she'd need to be moving again soon and didn't want to take to long to prepare but before she was going anywhere, she was having something to eat. She opened the rough leather saddle bag once again, taking out the dry grass, flint and tinder and bundle of twigs and got to work making a small fire, the task was a short one Rarity had been out in the wilderness for some months now and she'd become quite efficient at it, she threw a couple more twigs onto the pile which were quickly engulfed by the flame, but the fire remained steady and burning.
She levitated a smaller satchel bag over to herself and opened it, setting it down beside her gently she pulled out a small frying pan, a half gone block of butter and two eggs that she gently placed on the grass, holding the frying pan above the fire she cut a chunk from the butter and slid it into the pan, it instantly began to sizzle as it made contact with the metal and sweet aromas filled Rarity's nostrils as it began to melt, she chuckled to herself, if anything was going to find her, now would be the time. She watched the butter slide about the pan and melt away before levitating the two eggs up to the pan, she cracked one and quickly dumped the contents inside and quickly followed suit with the other.
She watched hungrily as the eggs began to whiten, once she was happy that they were ready she took the pan away from the fire and placed it on the logs next to her, she reached into the bag again and fetched out a very small vial glass, she carefully undid the lid and lightly shook it over the contents of the pan coating the eggs with a plentiful helping of pepper, she screwed the lid on once again and returned it, no reason she couldn't have a little luxury, she quickly grabbed her fork and dug in.
The taste exploded in her mouth, despite being a simple fried egg with pepper she found it euphoric, you never appreciated proper food until you'd spent months with nothing else she ate happily, looking at her few belongings, her saddle bags, back pack, satchel bag, the crude leather and mail armour she now wore as opposed to fancy dresses and silks she had been so used to. Her eyes drifted to her sword and lingered there, propped up against a tree and resting in it's rugged leather scabbard she studied it as she often did, a magical aura enveloped the hilt and she lifted it towards her, freeing it from the scabbard.
It was designed for mouth or magic wielding, thus owing to it's hilt, it was wrapped with a dark red suede and topped with a steel pommel. It was and unsightly, unwieldy blade, heavy, long and wide, composed of thick steel with one side being completely blunt and the other side being edged with a diagonal tip connecting the two it barely resembled the average sword, it lacked any of the elegance or grace Rarity so adored in her life, but she'd become quite attached to the weapon she recounted the day she'd acquired it, before sheathing it once more.
With her meal finished and her belly full she stood up from the log, it was time to pack up and leave, she wrapped up the butter once again and placed it back in the satchel along the pan and her cutlery, she hoped she'd come across a town or village soon, as her food was running short, she clipped the bag forward and put it to one side. Levitating her saddle bags to her side, she stored away the flint and tinder as well as her sleeping blankets in the other side, and buckled them both shut.
With everything squared away she trotted towards her armour lifting the leather body peice up, she stepped into the holes that made room for her forelegs, and did the belts at her back, buckling them up tightly. Rarity wiggled a little, letting the chain mail uncoil and fall loosely around her flank and forelegs, she secured the straps on her fore legs and tested the movement as fluid as ever. She looked back and her horn lit up once more, secure the chain at her flank around her hind legs, the chain was cold against her fur, but she welcomed the protection it offered.
She trotted back to her belongings, hoisting them up and securing the one by one, her satchel bag rested comfortably on her flank and her saddlebags felt comfortable at her side, with another flare of magic she lift up the sheathed sword and led it across her back, pulling the leather strap through her front legs and buckling it across her belly, luckily for her it was the only item that harboured any significant weight and she had become much more accustomed to it's presence at her back. Rarity performed a final wiggle to make sure everything was secure and stayed in place, to her joy it did.
She looked back towards the two dead fires, she'd scatter the ash before she left, her horn shone with a final flare of magic as she lifted the debris of the camp-fire into one ball, crushing and snapping the charred twigs with ease, she raised her head in one swift motion, the magic surrounding the remains quickly disappeared with a slight pop spreading the ash and twigs into the surrounding long grass, she smiled, happy that she'd covered her tracks well enough she turned around and trotted off into the forest northbound, the crystal empire was still far away and she had a lot of ground to cover.