Fairy Tales of Equestria

by VioletRose13

The Empress's New Dress

Once upon a time in a magnificent kingdom far away, there ruled a good and beautiful Empress named Rarity. Although Empress Rarity was a very kind and generous pony at heart, she was known to be quite vain as well as a bit full of herself and she often spent time on her appearance rather than on other things. The thing she thought was most important in her life was her collection of clothes. There were dresses, coats, shirts, vests, shoes, skirts, capes, scarves, hats, and anything else anypony could wear, including jewels. The staff was growing very tired of the Empress’s relentless vanity and soon one servant decided to teach her a lesson.

One day, the servant disguised herself as a dashing traveling salespony and she asked to see the Empress in her chambers.

“How is it I can help you?” She asked.

“Your grace, I have something that will surely make it worth your while.” The pony said.

“Forgive me, but who are you?” The Empress asked.

“Oh, of course, Your Excellency.” The pony said again. “I am Miss Trixie, the finest salespony in the business.”

“I see. Now what is it that you have to offer me?” The mare asked.

“We have… a new gown for you!” The mare announced, their horns glowing a deep green.

The unicorn pretended that she was holding up a beautiful dress with her magic. It was meant to be so special and amazing that only very special ponies could see it. The Empress decided to take a look at the dress she was given, then she thought she could see it. Her horn glowed and she took the “dress” in her magical embrace. She examined it very closely, trying her best to see what the stranger was talking about. And soon, she thought she could see an extravagant and gorgeous gown, fit for any mare of royalty.

“Alright, I believe you, madam.” The Empress said, nodding her head and smirking.

“I knew you’d like it. Why don’t you try it on and model it for me?” Trixie suggested

The Empress agreed and went into her dressing room to try on the dress, the mare laughing under her breath. And soon, Empress Rarity came out, thinking she was wearing the dress. But no, she was completely naked. No clothes whatsoever. Only she didn’t know it until it would be much too late.

“It fits you perfectly, Your Majesty! And it looks magnificent on you!” Trixie exclaimed. “Simply gorgeous!”

“Yes, I suppose it does look rather fabulous.” The Empress said. “Though it does feel a little drafty back here.”

“It’s supposed to feel like that, Your Grace. It is magic after all. Now there’s just one more thing missing.” Trixie said, looking around the room.

Then she spotted something on the Empress’s vanity. Her horn glowed and the Empress’s tiara was magically levitated onto her head.

“There we go! Fit for an Empress!” The mare exclaimed.

Empress Rarity loved her special new dress so much, that she decided to go out and show it off to all of her loyal subjects. But what she didn’t know was that she would be in for the surprise of her life. As she galloped through the castle halls, the entire staff was laughing at her ignorance and they congratulated the sly mare.

When Empress Rarity made her way into the village with the unicorn by her side, the villagers all stared at her with wide eyes and their mouths wide open.

“All hail Empress Rarity in her new gown!” Trixie announced while winking to the townsponies, indicating them to just play along.

As the two walked down the road, more ponies applauded. Now everypony was playing along with the trick of the mare. But when the Empress passed by a group of school ponies, there was a young dragon amongst them and he wasn’t aware of the trick.

“Hey! Empress Rarity isn’t wearing anything!” He cried.

That made Empress Rarity stop walking. Her expression immediately changed from happy to angry as she turned around.

“Who said that?” She growled.

“I did.” The dragon said, raising his claw in the air.

“You cannot see my new dress?” The Empress asked.

“No.” He replied.

“But why not, dare I ask?”

“Because, well… because you’re not wearing any new dress at all.”

“I’m not?”

“Are you blind? Just look at yourself! You’re naked!”

Empress Rarity looked down at herself and she saw that the little dragon was right. Her eyes watered, her lower lip quivered, her face turned as red as a tomato, and she ran as fast as she could back to her castle in tears, leaving the unicorn with her tiara. Back in the Empress’s chamber, Trixie found her hiding in her closet, crying her eyes out.

“There you are, Your Grace.” Trixie said.

“What do you want? To gloat? To take any embarrassing photographs? To laugh at my foolishness?” The Empress asked through her tears.

“Actually, no. I just came to tell you something very important.” Trixie said.

“What is it?” The Empress asked, poking her head out.

“Do you think… you can stop fussing about your attire and you appearance every waking moment from now on?”

“My appearance? My attire? That’s what all of this was about?”

“Yes.” Trixie nodded her head.

“Well… I guess so. Yes. Yes, I suppose I can.” Empress Rarity said, coming out of her closet. Now she was wearing a silken robe to cover herself up. “I’m sorry about all of this. I guess I must’ve lost my head.”

“So, are you going to stop all the fussing? Before I go to more drastic measures?” Trixie asked.

“Alright. I promise I won’t go crazy about clothes every again. And by the way, I knew the rest of the staff wanted to take part of this, just like you.” Empress Rarity said.

“How could you tell, Your Grace?” Trixie asked.

“I’ve seen you cleaning the kitchen many times and I’d recognize your face anywhere.”

And so, Empress Rarity donated most of her unnecessary clothes to the townsponies, she was never so picky or fussy again, Trixie was promoted to the official salespony, and they all lived happily ever after.

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

I think you might have gotten Trixie mixed up with the Flim Flam brothers a few times while typing this. Anyway, this role was perfect for Rarity, and the ending was way happier and less embarrassing than the original story.

[theanonymousbrony]

Empress Rarity looked down at herself and she saw that the little dragon was right. Her eyes watered, her lower lip quivered, her face turned as red as a tomato, and she ran as fast as she could back to her castle in tears, leaving the unicorn with her tiara

Since ponies are pretty much naked all the time, wouldn't her walking around naked be considered normal by their standards?
Also, I can't help but imagine somepony following behind her while ringing a bell and shouting "shame!"