The few rays of sunlight that had managed to penetrate the thick canopy of leaves above washed the surround forest in a deep, burnt orange that helped somewhat in making the looming woodlands a little less intimidating, had her life not be threatened by a mob of malevolent spirits the night before, Rarity just might have been able to trick herself into believing she was simply having a nice walk in the woods, but it was very, very far from that. As the sun had rose so had the humidity and even now with the sun made it's slow descent towards the awaiting horizon the air was still hot and sticky.
Rarity heaved with every new step forward, every time the great weight that burdened her back shifted with her own momentum she swore her spine was going to simply break under all the pressure, and not being one for dramatics, Rarity saw this a real possibility. To say the days travel had been hard would be an understatement, it had undoubtedly been the most gruelling and awkward one yet despite the apparently tame terrain of the flat woodland the ground was plagued with exposed roots that had sent her tumbling on more than one occasion and thorn bushes that would cut her legs and snag at her crutch, refusing to let go as though the forest itself was trying to keep her from moving forward which Rarity mused could fully be the case in this awful place.
She counted herself at least somewhat lucky that she'd chanced her way onto some kind of dirt path after a few hours of stumbling and tripping through the woodlands. Be it natural or pony made she didn't know nor did she really care, all she cared about was that it boosted the speed of the journey from impossibly slow to incredibly slow, which was some kind of blessing amid these haunted trees. The minutes had stretched into hours and the hours had stretched on and on in an annoying, sweaty conflict that Rarity was definitely losing. Rarity knew she had covered very little ground in comparison to any other day of her arduous journey, every thud of her own alabaster hooves that reached her ears did nothing more than add to her rising frustration, there was no feeling of reaching a goal today, no beautiful scenery or vistas to busy her eyes, everywhere she looked her eyes were met with nothing more than a mess of green bushes and shrubs that overran the forest as well as dull brown tree trunks that rose up into the darkening canopy, the same shrubs and tree trunks that seemed to populate every single inch of this damned forest. It annoyed her, every thing here annoyed her.
The monotonous beating of her hooves halted as Rarity came to a standstill, allowing her ragged panting the chance to be the only noise to punctuate the still air, every muscle in her body seemed to scream at her for a moments rest and she was not hesitant to comply, falling roughly to her rump she wiped the sweat from her forehead and ran it through her mane with a cringe, the purple locks had once been her pride and joy that she maintained and strived over to a state of constant perfection, but now they were slick with sweat and grease, Rarity didn't think she could recall how many weeks it had been since she'd had a shower it was a disgusting thing to contemplate. Her horn shone pale blue as Rarity levitated her canteen from the saddlebags, raising the cold metal to her lips she took careful sips, the water was still as pristine and delicious as it had been the first time, but she wanted to save as much as possible to tend to her wounded leg.
It didn't take much of the magic water to revitalise her it seemed, even as the sparse droplets paved a cooling path down her throat Rarity could feel her muscles growing strong again and her frustrations leaving even with such small sips. She screwed the lid tight into place and placed the canteen back into it's leather prison, getting up to continue her hobbling journey, Rarity found her focus stolen by something glinting in the corner of her eye. She turned her head, squinting her eyes to see if she could better spot its source among the foliage, she jerked her head slightly and once again tiny flashes of amber light filled her vision, she could see the source of the glinting now, it appeared to be a small gem attached to some golden band, sticking up behind one of the taller bushes, perhaps against her better judgement, Rarity decided to investigate this mystery.
She set off towards the mysterious gem, carving the best path she could through the thick branches and coiling thorns at her feet, every now and then she felt a sharp tug at one of her legs eliciting very unladylike words to be uttered from the unicorns mouth. After a few minutes of struggling and swearing through the bushes, Rarity had almost made it to the end of her side quest but it would seem fate wanted to have yet more mischief with the unicorn as her crutch became ensnared in a knot of branches and thorns sending her tumbling through the final obstacle in her path, falling chest first with an ungraceful thud, Rarity cried out it was not a cry of pain but one of pure frustration.
“I swear with Luna as my witness that I absolutely detest th-WAHAHAHAAA!” Rarity found her complaining harshly cut short as she craned her neck around, staring deep into the hollow eyes of a ponies skeleton, she wrenched her crutch free and scrambled backwards into a tree, curling inwards like a cat threatened by a broom, her breathing was fast and heavy after the sudden spike of fear that had erupted throughout her nervous system and she could feel her heart pounding against her chest, it took a good few minutes of simply staring at the deceased equine before she found herself relatively calm once again, Rarity had seen dead bodies, but it was another thing to fall head first into one.
She swept her fallen bangs from her face and gingerly got to her feet, taking a step closer to inspect the skeleton, the first thing that drew her eye was the source of the glinting as Rarity had thought it had come from an amber gem that was embedded in a gold band which surrounded a helmet of hard leather that sat atop the deceased ponies head, this pony had clearly been some kind of adventurer or possibly a bandit during their life, that much was obvious from the crude and ragged studded leather armour that encased the skeletons ribs and flank as well as the battle axe and shield that sat by the dead pony, propped up against the tree where it had experienced its final breaths, Rarity shuddered at the thought of this poor pony dying alone and terrified in a place as awful as these cursed woodlands and chose not to think in too much detail about the conditions of their death.
A dark expression spread across Raritys face, she couldn't, no wouldn't let this become her fate, dead In the middle of the worst forest in Equestria, forgotten by all with her body never to be recovered, just another phantom left to wander the endless tree, she shut her eyes, shaking her head It will not happen, It can't happen she found her attention brought away from the skeleton in front of her, a great many bags were piled high upon one another against a tree opposite the skeleton, no doubt this deceased fellows belongings. A small chest sat at Raritys feet, it was filled to spilling points with gold coins of a make Rarity didn't recognise as well as jewellery and all manner of small jewels and gems, not far from that a shovel was lead across the ground, the earth was upturned and mounds of dirt were scattered about the small clearing.
I wonder if he was retrieving it or trying to hide it Rarity though to herself, her attention drifting back towards the dead ponies belongings Perhaps there's something there I can make use of she pondered, hobbling towards the ponies many bags. Rarity removed the bundle of lumber from her back, placing it gently on the floor before she began rummaging through the bags, it seemed this pony had been something of a hoarder in life as there was copious amounts of useless junk to be found within the leather satchels, snow globes , telescopes, clocks, various pendants of varying craft and quality, one bag was filled to the brim with nothing but marbles and silverware and Rarity could not begin to fathom how or why a pony would carry so much junk with them, she still took care when handling the deceased ponies belongings however, for all they knew they had all held huge significance in their life. When she reached the very bottom of the pile and opened the last bag to inspect the goods inside she found herself overcome with ecstatic joy, fully expecting another avalanche of useless, yet admittedly thought provoking oddities to be bound within the leather, she was far beyond pleasantly surprised when she found a bundle of rope and a small can of lantern oil that was near full. A goofy grin spread across her face as she pulled the items to her chest, almost hugging them.
“You wouldn't mind passing these on would you darling? It would be hugely appreciated!” She spoke allowed, addressing the deceased pony with all the warmth one would a very alive friend, she turned around practically bouncing on the spot, staring at the pony skeleton with beaming eyes and a hide smile, it's head simply fell to the side and Rarity took that as fates way of giving her the all clear.
“I can't thank you enough dear, you've made me a very happy mare” Rarity beamed, placing her new find items in her saddle bags, the oil would come in extremely handy for the approaching night.
“But, let it not be said that Rarity does not pay her dues, you have done me favour and now I shall do one for you my friend” She said with a certain conviction to her tone, her horn became bathed in light once more and her aura gripped the shovel, without hesitation she got to work digging.
It had taken a good forty minutes and cost Rarity a great deal of precious sunlight but with one final shovel full of dirt she had finally dug an appropriate grave for this poor pony and their many bizarre belongings, she threw the shovel to one side panting, it had taken a great deal more magical energy than she had first anticipated but Rarity felt that it was worth it. With tender care she closed and levitated the skeletal ponies bags into the grave one by one, creating a kind of mattress once that was finished she turned herself towards the pony in question, the skeleton became wrapped in her pale blue aura and with great focus and care, Rarity slowly levitated it into the grave, laying it down as gently as she could, crossing its fore hooves across its chest to give it a more dignified look.
Moving the dirt back was as simple as gathering it all up in one large magical field , laying it over the ponies skeletal form she distributed it evenly, smoothing it out here and there were she felt it was necessary, she placed the battle axe in the middle of the dirt mound and then the shield on top of it, above that she placed a single snow globe that looked to her to represent Manehatten, whoever this pony had been, they had travelled much further than she could imagine, below the axe and shield she placed three marbles in a vertical line, she obviously had no way of knowing this ponies name, but she hoped the grave she had made did them some justice to their identity, grabbing the shovel in her magic once more she flung it into the bushes where it would be hidden out of sight, she couldn't bear the thought of this strangers grave being desecrated.
“Thank you again for the supplies sir, or, madame I suppose” Rarity said solemnly, staring at the newly created grave “I know it's far from ideal, but I do hope this offers you some comfort, wherever you may be” She stood alone in the silence for a moment, the ghost of a smile played at her lips and despite everything, an old feeling a happiness and satisfaction overtook her.
“I must be off now darling, I'll be seeing you” Rarity said, turning from the grave she placed the the wood bundle onto her back once more, tying the knots, she gave a little wiggle to make sure everything was firm and in place, content she made her way back to the dirt path, oddly she found herself not bothered by the weight anymore, no thorns grabbed at her hooves, no twisting vines grabbed at her crutch, for the first time today she felt content, without stress or worry to burden her weary mind. Still, it was time to start moving and to do it quickly, night was approaching fast and she still had to set up a decent camp before it fell, rejoining the dirt path, Rarity quickened her pace as best she could and set off deeper into the darkening woods.