Regrets

Rarity groaned as she threw another unfinished dress design over her shoulder. Towering over her shoulder was a mountain of similarly incomplete sketches. For the past two hours, the Seamstress tried to come up with a new design for her next seasonal line, but no matter what she tried, nothing came out right. Every sketch seamed to be missing something that she just couldn't for the life of her place. After disposing of yet another half-finished concept Rarity let out a frustrated growl and rested her head on her work-desk.

Come on Rarity, pull yourself together! This is what you do best!

After several minutes of silence she let out a listless sigh. Her battle against her creative slump was proving to be as fruitless as a dead apple tree and she knew it. She just couldn't get herself to concentrate, what with one of her friends in the hospital and three of them harboring the dangerous stallion responsible.

A shiver shot down her spine as the monster's face jumped to the front of her memory.

At a young age, Rarity was told plenty of stories about the dreaded Karkadann tribes of the north. How they killed, raped, and pillaged anypony that was foolish enough to stand against them or got in their way. She heard about grotesque post battle banquets in which the blood and bodies of slain ponies were devoured by the savage warriors. In her mind, it was a blessing that they were wiped out by their neighboring nations all those centuries ago. Before now she thought that her brief experience with King Sombra was the closest thing she was going to get to interacting with a Karkadann. A fact that she would've been fine with, all things considered.

With a groan she rose out of her chair and walked towards her bedroom door.

Maybe a bit of fresh air will help me clear my head, she thought, exiting her room.

***

"Heading out?" Twilight inquired as I walked towards the castle's main gate.

I nodded, rearranging my obsidian colored sattle-bags under my cloak.

"Just to get some air," I responded nonchalantly.

She flashed me a knowing smile before saying, "Trying to make a move on Starlight again?"

I balked.

"What?! No! C'mon Twilight, she's my Magic Teacher for Peet's sake!"

Twilight chuckled.

"Whatever you say Casanova," she winked.

I grimaced, ignoring the heat rising to my face.

"Whatever," I grumbled, turning away from her. "Be back whenever."

"Alright, see you later."

With a sigh I opened the door with my magic and stepped out into the open world to begin the long walk to Ponyville. It was another gorgeous day with a clear blue sky and just the right amount of heat to allow myself to wear my cloak without boiling. As I pulled my hood up to keep the sun out of my eyes, my thoughts started to wander towards what Twilight was talking about.

Starlight and me? Together? Really? I mean, yeah, we spend a lot of time together, but that's because she's trying to help me figure out how to control my Rune Magic.

Besides, I thought, my head drooping. She could do a hell of a lot better then me.

With a sigh, I shook my head and stared at the path ahead of me.

Whatever. I'm not out here to get lucky anyways.

After a few minutes, I finally reached my destination. Careful to avoid the market district, I walked around, more eager to see the sights then I was to get an orange hoof slammed into my face. As I was checking out an intricate sculpture of Princess Celestia, the sound of someone clearing their throat got my attention. Standing about a foot away from me were the five CMC members I "met" a few days ago.

Huh, déjà vu.

"Howdy," Applebloom said, awkwardly pawing at the ground. "Can we have a word with ya?"

"Depends," I said, keeping my face neutral. "Are you guys gonna tie me up again?"

She shook her head.

"Or try to have me thrown off of a cliff?" I asked, casting a look at Scootaloo.

The Pegasus filly flinched when our eyes locked before she looked away in shame.

"No sir," Applebloom said remorsefully. "Ah promise. All we wanna do is talk."

I stared down at the five fillies, three of which shook slightly as my gaze ran over them. Then, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath through my nose. When I opened my eyes, I let out the breath as a weary sigh and smiled.

"Sure. Why not?"

***

What the devil are they doing?! Rarity thought, peeking out the edge of an ally way.

About twelve feet away she could see five infamous fillies standing before a cloaked stallion. At the head of the small herd, Applebloom and the stallion had a short back-and-forth fallowed by a momentary pause. To Rarity, it looked as if he was trying to come to some sort of decision, and that scared her to death. This wasn't what Rarity planned on doing when she stepped out of the boutique today. She was going to spend a good part of the day getting pampered at the spa to help rid herself of her nerves. Instead, she found herself tailing the source of said nerves. For the last half hour, she fallowed him all through Ponyville, keeping a cautious distance so she could safely monitor his movements. It wasn't until her sister and friends appeared near the monster that several years of her natural lifespan had disintegrated. Her fear peeked when the hooded stallion seemed to come to some sort of decision, but before the urge to jump into action could take her, she noticed a sudden shift in his demeanor. He seemed more relaxed with a much more lively gleam to his eyes, but what really gripped her attention was his smile. Instead of the cold leer she would've expected from somepony of his presumed upbringing, he had the kind smile that held almost as much warmth as Celestia's sun. Stunned, but still cautious, Rarity continued to shadow the group.

As the day went on, Rarity's view of the world continued to flip around. After an hour of talking with the CMC at Sugar Cube Corner, she watched him step into Bonbon's Bonbons to purchase a bag of some sort of candy, a bit more pep in his step as he returned to the streets. Next, she fallowed him all the way to Fluttershy's cottage, where he spent a good part of the day tending to several small animals, again displaying that gentile smile and gleam in his eyes. As he was leaving, Fluttershy handed him two small bottles, one of which was glowing a bright orange light. Rarity raised a brow at this, but otherwise didn't react to this slight turn of events. After a brief exchange, she saw him bow to the usually anti-social Pegasus before walking away.

Rarity's mind was racing as she continued to tail the hooded pony. Everything she saw just didn't make sense! Karkadanns were supposed to be violent monsters that killed without hesitation! And yet, this whole day he acted no different from any other pony going about their business. Then there was that smile. Though she didn't have Pinkie's expertise in regards to such things, even she could tell that wasn't the smile of a monster.

Perhaps I've made a mistake, she thought with a pang of guilt. Maybe he wasn't the monster I made him out to be. Oh sweet Celestia, what have I done?!

As she pondered this, she found Noon Scribe making his way out of town. Returning her focus to the stallion, Rarity continued to fallow him, using what little cover she could find. Eventually, he came into an open field dotted with a few large trees. As he sat down at the clearing's center, Rarity dashed behind the closest tree. Cautiously, she peeked around the trunk of her hiding place to watch the black stallion. First, he used his magic to pull back his hood and summon the glowing bottle from his sattle bags. Next, he placed the bottle down next to him before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. For a few minutes nothing happened, then, a small slip of paper drifted out of Noon Scribe's cloak, wrapped in a dark purple glow. For some reason, this small slip of paper gripped Rarity's attention. She couldn't quite understand how she knew it, but that one slip of paper held a force much more powerful than anything she had ever seen. Still entranced, Rarity watched as it slowly drifted to the ground. The second it did, her eyes widened in wonder as the whole field burst into a mighty aurora of light and color. Right before her eyes, beautiful flowers started to spring forth from the ground, filling the once green field with a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors. Suddenly, a wave of the same magic washed over her hiding place, forcing her to face Noon Scribe's magic directly. It was at that moment that Rarity knew that she was wrong about him. His magic wasn't cold and sharp like what she felt from Sombera's magic. It was warm like the sun at late dawn and gentle, yet held a slight sting to it that reminded her of the thorns of a rose. As she let the feeling pass over her, she shifted her attention back to Noon. Looking extremely winded, he grabbed the glowing bottle in his hooves, bit off the cork, and drank the glowing elixer. Once it was empty, he let out a contented sigh, then lowered his head to the ground. Once she heard the sounds of snoring fill the air, Rarity came out of her hiding place and with as much care as she could, approached the sleeping stallion. He just looked so peaceful. Like somepony who had the wight of the world on his back and finally found a moment to breath.

As she watched him sleep, her previous feeling of regret returned with double the force.

I was so blind. How could I think that this stallion was a monster? she thought, a tear sliding down her cheek. A monster could never make such beauty. A monster could never sleep with such a peaceful expression. A monster could never look so.........vulnerable.

With a determined gleam in her eye, she wiped the tear from her face stared down at the sleeping stallion.

That's it then. Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I swear I will make this up to him!