A Bitter Poison

The room was dimly lit as several sewing machines worked, all enveloped in blue light. At the heart of the phantom sweatshop sat a lone white Unicorn mare with a slightly damaged purple mane. Her blue eyes gleamed with equal parts exhaustion and determination as they scanned over every detail of her design. Absolutely every detail had to be perfect for this to aid her in her mission for forgiveness. Nothing short of her undeniable best would suffice for her crimes.

Almost there, she thought as she worked. I just need to connect these last two pieces.

A split second later, a satisfied smirk graced Rarity's muzzle as she gave her latest masterpiece a look over.

"Finally," she sighed, her smile slowly shifting into one of inebriation as she swayed a little in her seat. "It's finally finished. It took me twenty-four hours and six minutes, but now its complete!"

All of the sewing machines stopped what they where doing, filling the room with an unnerving silence. Then, an manic chuckle filled the air that gradually grew into spine-chilling, insane laughter. At that moment, a concerned Unicorn filly peaked into the gloom, green eyes wide with fear as she stared at Rarity's back from the workroom door.

"Um......sis?" Sweetie Bell squeaked, not sure if she should get help or lock her sister in the workroom. "A-Are you okay in there?"

Rarity flinched, before slowly turning towards her on edge sibling. What the little filly saw would haunt her for many years to come. Rarity's normally pristine mane and coat was matted and frayed with stray hairs sticking out at random places. Her eyes were red and bloodshot in a manner that reminded Sweetie of the time she saw Pinkie Pie drink thirty cups of espresso on a dare. But what really unnerved the little Unicorn was the big twitchy smile plastered across her sister's muzzle.

"Sweetie Bell," Rarity gushed, her grin growing slightly larger. "Excellent timing! I just finished my Magnum Opus and was dying to show somepony."

D-Dying!? she thought as a chill shot down her spine. Nnnope! Not happening! I'm out of here!

Before she could make a break for it, her body was wrapped in a blue glow and she found herself floating towards her unhinged older sister. Not wanting to trigger a dangerous reaction out of Rarity, Sweetie Bell looked at her sister's creation. In spite of the situation she found herself in, she had to admit the seamstress really did out do herself. Laid out on the worktable in front of her was one of the fanciest suits the filly had ever seen. It was a subtle shade of navy-blue with seams linked by subtly woven golden thread. Even in the dim light, Sweetie Bell could tell Rarity put her all into this.

"Well?" Rarity asked, her tone showing a slight fray in her patience. "What do you think?"

Sweetie stared at the suit with silent aw for several seconds before her brain registered that her sister had said anything. With a quick shake of her head to snap herself back into reality, she looked at the eccentric Unicorn and with the biggest smile she could muster cheered, "It's amazing!"

Rarity smiled in response to her sister's praise, before unceremoniously dropping to her haunches.

"I most certainly hope so. Nothing short of my absolute best will do."

Sweetie raised a brow at this.

"Why? Who's the suit for; one of Princess Celestia's cousins?"

Rarity tittered dizzily, her exhaustion starting to catch-up to her.

"No Sweetie, it's for Noon Scribe."

Sweetie's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as her heart sunk with fear.

"WHAT?!"

"That's right," she smiled deliriously, now starting to sway a little. "But first......... When did we install the spinning ceiling?"

Before Sweetie Bell could respond, Rarity's eyes fluttered shut and she flopped onto the floor with the grace and poise of a sack of potatoes.

One thought passed through the stunned Unicorn filly's mind as her eyes shifted focus back and forth between the suit and the now comatose mare on the floor.

NOT good!

***

Noon Scribe walked through the Ponyville shopping district, silently fuming as memories of his discussion with the CMC yesterday ran in his head. Even though the talk helped answer a few questions, they were questions that were better left unanswered.

Oh come on man get a grip! he thought bitterly. Its not like you're ever going to see her again anyway. So why are you letting this get to you?

Noon let out an aggravated sigh. He knew that part of the reason was because of the way his body was built. The main part being something from before he tried to end his life. A set of moral codes that, before his fall into despair, he lived by.

Maybe some lemon drops will help me get my mind off things.

As he headed in the direction of Bonbon's sweet shop, he heard a familiar voice that made his already heated blood come to a boil.

"Good afternoon kind sir."

Noon Scribe stopped mid-step before slowly looking over his shoulder.

Standing roughly five feet away from him was Rarity. Noon noted that the white Unicorn had a rather bashful air to her and also was almost forcing herself to look him in the eyes. It almost reminded him of a sad puppy, but his barely contained anger prevented him from seeing her as cute. Instead, he saw her as nothing more than an annoyance. Not wanting to deal with her, Noon shifted his attention back to his original corse and started walking.

"W-Wait a moment," Rarity called, galloping in front of him.It was also at this point that he noticed a pair of blue saddlebags strapped to her sides, but only spared them the bare minimum of interest. Seeing his path blocked, he stopped.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I was trying to find you all morning, darling."

Noon's eyes narrowed into a cold glare.

"Why?"

Rarity cleared her throat.

"Last time we met I may have, overreacted a bit."

"So?"

"So," Rarity continued. "I want to say, I'm sorry for my actions all those days ago."

Rarity's horn started to glow as she levitated a white square box out of her left saddlebag

"And as a sign of apology, I made you a little something to brighten your day."

Rarity waited until Noon's violet aura surrounded the package before letting go. Once it was freed from Rarity's magic, noon gave the box a scrutinizing glance.

"This is it?" he asked, tone flat. "You basically put a hit out on me and you think a half-assed apology and some lump of fabric would be enough?"

A look of shock crossed her face as she tried to process what she had just heard.

"W-What ever do y-"

"Applejack," he said dropping the box onto the ground.

Rarity tilted her head in confusion.

"What about Applejack?"

"You were the one that told her I was here."

Rarity took a step back, eyes wide with surprise and fear.

"H-How did you know-"

"The Crusaders."

Rarity felt her heart drop into her stomach.

A heavy silence passed between the two, all nearby ponies slowly creeping out of sight in fear of getting dragged into whatever disaster was about to befall the shopping district.

"Did you know that magic doesn't work on me?"

Rarity flinched.

"Not even healing spells. So I had to drink potions to get my body to recover. Ribs don't heal painlessly you, know."

Rarity was about to apologize, but Noon cut her off.

"Days of drinking bottles of what tasted like manticore piss to fix damage that I only deserved for the crime of breathing! And do you know what the real kicker of this whole thing is?!"

Rarity cringed, afraid of what the answer could be.

"I WAS WILLING TO ACCEPT THAT!!!"

Rarity's eyes shot wide open as the rage in Noon's voice washed over her like a scalding tide. For a moment, he had changed into the beast from her fillyhood nightmares. The only thing that kept her from running right then and there were the barely restrained tears she saw at the corners of his eyes. In an instant, her fear was replaced with regret as, with a clenched jaw, he took a deep breath to regain his composure.

"I was willing to accept that maybe I really should just disappear, if I can't even be happy here of all places. If it wasn't for Twilight, Spike, and Starlight I don't know were I'd be right now. "

With cold, dead eyes, he stared down at the dropped package.

"I really don't deserve friends like them. But if I had to pick between spending time with them or sharing the same space with an uppity bitch who's too much of a fucking coward to fight her own battles, I'll gladly take the former."

"B-B-But I," Rarity stuttered, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes.

"So if you really want to make it up to make it up to me, take your gift, shove it up your ass, and go BURN IN HELL!!!"

As he said that, he kicked the box into a nearby trashcan and walked away from the now weeping white pony. After getting all that off his chest, Noon felt a lot lighter then he did before. He also felt like he ran a marathon and his throat was sore from all the yelling. Aside from that he was back to his relatively normal melancholy mood.

But that didn't last long as suddenly, one of his forelegs was pulled out from under him. Too startled to react, the ebony Karkadann found himself flipped onto his back and pinned to the ground by his shoulders. With a pained grunt, he looked up at his attacker and was greeted by a very angry Rarity.

He opened his mouth to tell her to get off, but this time it was Rarity who had some things to say.

"Now listen you overgrown barbarian! I know that I fouled up! I know that you have every right to hate me and I will most likely never be forgiven for my deeds! But Celestia-damn it this is the only way I can think to do! So take your gift and ACCEPT MY APOLOGY!!!"

For a moment, the two stayed like that, eyes locked onto each other. Then, with a slight grin, Noon took a deep breath and said,"Apology accepted."

Rarity blinked.

"What?"

"Apology accepted," he repeated, all of the previous tension seeming to flow out of his body like water. "Now that you put your heart into it."

She gave him a look of confusion as she tried to decipher his words.

"Now," he continued, breaking Rarity out of her musings. "What do ya say you get off of me and we go grab a milkshake, my treat?"

Rarity's face turned beet read as she staggered off of the defenseless Stallion.

"Y-Yes," she squeaked, struggling to return to her refined persona. "That sounds lovely. Though, considering the situation, I think we should go dutch. Agreed?"

"Fair enough," he laughed as he rose to his hooves. "Just let me grab something first."

He quickly trotted towards the trashcan that held Rarity's gift then used his magic to pull the box out of the refuse. Aside from a few small coffee stains, the package was thankfully intact. With a weary sigh, he smiled as he teleported the package to his room.

"Alright," he grinned, "Let's go."