Leaves tumbled across the path, swirling about in little tornadoes and then dispersing into the surrounding woods as Rarity cantered down the road, a heavy load of moonsilk and the finest fire satin money could buy poking out of saddlebags slung across her back. She was lost in thought, not even paying attention to the road she’d travelled countless times before.

Right, okay, that’s those two dresses taken care of. Well, for the most part, anyway. The moonsilk will make a nice base for her dress, but I should think that a dappling of stardew might bring out her true beauty a bit more. She nodded, satisfied. Her hooves moved without any input from her, and she found herself staring at the ground as she continued through the narrow forest path.

It’s a shame the fire satin wasn’t ready earlier. I should’ve liked to have started her dress a bit earlier, but the rain was a bit of a problem, or so they said. I should really ask them how they make such fine fabric from fire. It’s wonder the thing doesn’t come out a charred mess. Rarity chuckled a bit to herself. Those salamanders are something else.

“Oh!” she said aloud as a thought struck her. She paused for a moment, her eyes alight with the embers of an idea. Nodding, she said, “Yes, yes, I think that should work quite nicely.”

Grinning smugly, Rarity started trotting down the path once again. It was a bit out of the way, sure, but it was worth it to her to come all the way to the western reaches in order to get this material. After all, it wasn’t everyday she had the chance to make dresses for royalty, or really anything for that matter.

Now then, as for the other dress, what would go nicely with it? I had planned on stitching in some lovely little patterns, but if the one dress is getting stardew, perhaps a bit of morninglight would be in order for the other? She bit her lip, contemplating her options. Well, I suppose little bit of morninglight won’t hurt at any rate. And, should worst come to worst, I can always take it back off again. Though, removing morninglight is always a bit of an ordeal in itself. She shrugged. All in the name of fashion, I suppose. It wouldn’t do to have—

She stopped mid-thought as she felt her hoof sink into something cold and sticky. Snapping out of her thoughts, she glanced down and saw her normally well-maintained hoof was now covered in a thick brown goop. She had to resist the urge to flick the mud off for fear of damaging the material on her back. Looking up, she saw that the rest of the path was a muddy mess for as far as she could tell.

Rarity put her hoof back down slowly, letting out a sigh. After waiting a moment, she said, “Well, I suppose it’ll have to be the long way around this time.” She turned around, groaning a bit inwardly. “I do so hate having to pass through deer territory.” She shuddered a bit. “So uncouth.”