//------------------------------// // Rarity's Watch // Story: Echoed Time // by Chezmonkey //------------------------------// Tuesday, May 22nd Rarity stepped into the Carousel Boutique, peering through the gloom as her hoof fumbled for the lightswitch. Illumination blazed throughout the store as she trotted inside, closing the door behind her. With a small sigh of relief, she dropped her saddlebags next to the entrance and pulled out the dirty blanket, levitating it over to the basket of clothes-to-be-washed in the hallway behind the counter. Normally, she would be getting ready for the business day ahead. There were still orders from previous days to be finished, and new designs and swatches of fabric to be carefully placed upon the shelves and displays of the store. She would swap out yesterday's mannequins for those with today's highlighted dresses and when all of that had been done, she would flip the sign on her store to Open. With practice, of course, she could do all of that within the first 15 minutes past her return from the hill outside Ponyville. The orders waiting to be finished never changed, the new designs had been memorized ages ago and the mannequins would switch with a simple flare of magic. Rarity glanced at the clock above the counter and sighed, levitating Sweetie Bell's schoolbags free of their hook. Right on cue, Sweetie dashed out of the kitchen and raced for the door. She was late, of course, and barely noticed Rarity settling her bags over her back as she slammed out into the busy street. Rarity couldn't help but chuckle, all things considered. Rarity could make the conscious effort to ensure Sweetie wasn't late for school, or arrange it so she wouldn't forget her books if she so chose. Rarity even knew the correct sequence of events to use to get school cancelled for the day, for a whole garden's variety of reasons. If the others played along, of course. Still, the amount of effort that went into arranging things just so was... tiresome. They had all agreed it was best to let things play out in the natural fashion, so long as it wasn't involved in trying to fix the problem. Today, however, she wouldn't be opening the store. It was her turn with the watchmaker, and that meant she had to go and introduce herself to the poor lad. She had only thirteen minutes to freshen up and prepare her latest scheme, so she quickly made her way to her restroom to get ready. In the hall, she passed by her room and paused. Stepping inside she tiptoed over to her bookshelf and ran a hoof across a few titles, near the very bottom. A thin layer of dust came off the spines of the books, staining the bottom of her hoof grey. Despite their current condition, they were the only books she had near-memorized by now. A set of 4 assorted fiction novels, with the only similarity being that there were stories related to temporal spells and curses. Time loops, as it were. Rarity sighed wistfully, before wiping her hoof and turning back towards the restroom. It was all well and good to write about a person getting stuck repeating the same day over, and over, and over again. It was something else entirely to live it. Besides, only two of the books had endings where the main character escaped their living hell. Of the others, one went slowly insane and retreated within themselves and the other died a somewhat gruesome death. The stories of escape weren't much help either, as the key to their escape had been in the rules of the loops. As best as Twilight, and therefore the rest of them, could tell their loop was a Stabilized Temporal Circulation Loop, Class Three Retrodynamic Adjustment. In plain Equish that meant a few specific things, she supposed. Their loop was stable, so everything reset to it's precise condition at the start. The town, the ponies, their own bodies and physical state. Even death wouldn't release them from the loop. They'd tried. As she washed her mane, Rarity idly supposed it was lucky they were in a "Class Three Retrodynamic Adjustment" loop. According to Twilight, while that meant they couldn't escape through death or changing their bodies, it also meant that they wouldn't fall prey to several of the many pitfalls of continuous loops. They would remember everything that had occurred in prior days, including their past attempts to fix the situation. Apparently, their memories were being preserved outside of their own physical minds so they wouldn't run into what Twilight liked to call the "Nero-plasticity Problem". Supposedly, it meant none of them would go insane or experience a radical shift in their personality. It was like having an aethersphere at your hooftips, so that while you could search for things and be given information you wouldn't directly be forced to remember whatever it was you wanted to know. Rarity didn't know how an eternal millennia of repeating the same day over and over would affect her personality, but she was certainly glad she didn't have to find out. She'd freely admit, with her limited understanding of the matter, that it could also mean that once they finally broke the hellish loop they were caught in none of them would remember anything that had occurred. That poor stallion could die, would die, and while they might mourn the passing of a visiting salespony it wouldn't affect them personally. It wouldn't be right, it wouldn't be fair or kind or respectful to the poor deceased stallion. On the one hoof, it would be a great relief to them all to finally be free of the endless torture they faced every waking day of their lives. It wouldn't even be a source of shame for the ponies who knew, because they'd never remember it. On the other hoof, an innocent pony would die with nobody who knew them, nobody to mourn his passing. They'd each lose a pony they'd come to count as a friend, if for no other reason than that they'd interacted on a daily basis for a long, long time, and never even remember the joy they'd shared and the memories they'd made. Rarity couldn't, wouldn't decide what she would rather have occur. It was just too painful to decide. She entered the marketplace with a brisk pace, hat firmly held in place atop her head as she moved towards the far end of the market. Rarity had been so distracted by her musings she'd run a little late, and was paying for it now by needing to hurry to catch the silly stallion. She ignored ponies calling greetings and offering special discounts as she passed, laser-focused on her target. Ah, there he was. Already, he was moving to take down his awning and pack away his goods. He'd sold nothing all morning, not a single watch or timepiece and just had to be feeling rather dejected at his loss. Slightly out of breath, she nearly bowled Echoed Beat over as she skidded to a stop. "Wait, h-hold on!" She was gasping for breath, taking deep inhalations of precious air. Startled, Echo backed away from the crazy mare as she gulped in air, briefly scanning the marketplace to see if there was a member of the police anywhere nearby. Looking back to Rarity, he coughed and asked "Uh, yes? Might I help you?" Rarity nodded, reaching into her saddlebags and pulling out a large brown sack. "Yes my good stallion, you may. I am here to purchase your wares, as I'm sure you have guessed." She sat the sack on the ground, pushing towards the merchant as he eyed the slightly sweat-soaked boutique owner. "Right. I seeee." He looked at the sack, and then Rarity, and then the sack again. Finally, he sighed and turned to step behind the counter, sweeping a leg over all of the timepieces on display. "Well madam, what suits your fancy? Personally I might suggest these decorative fans, as you may in fact use them to-" She held up a hoof, stopping him in the middle of his spiel. "Darling, you misunderstand. I'm not here to buy a single watch from you." As Echoed Beat frowned and began to speak, she interrupted him again with a wide grin on her face. "No, no, I'm not here to buy a single watch from you. I'm here to buy the lot. All of them. Every ticking watch and clicking clock, as it were." She set the sack on the counter, bits jangling as it settled. Echo reared back in shock, staring at the madpony before him. "A-a-a-all of them?!" He gaped, reaching a hoof forwards to open the sack and reveal the numerous bits and precious jewels contained within. Rarity smiled and nodded, indicating the cart he had set up his stall against. "Indeed, good sir. All of your wares, including what's in your cart. I'm sure you'll find the contents of that sack to be satisfactory in covering your expenses. If not, well..." Rarity took off her hat, brushing her mane to one side of her face as she continued speaking. "I'm sure we could come to some satisfactory compromise. I assure you, I am quite 'good for it', as they say." By this point in time Echo was shaking and pointing his hoof at the revealed identity of the mare before him. "Y-y-you're R-r-rarity Belle!" He gave a whimper of disbelief, staggering forwards a few steps as if to shake her hoof. He only made it a few feet, however, before reality caught up with his brain and it decided to check out for lunch. Echo pitched forwards, face-first into the dirt, and lay still on the ground. Rarity sighed, reaching into her saddlebags for the spray bottle. Evidently this particular combination of tardiness and forwardness was a bit too much for poor mister Beat to handle. She'd have to remember that if she found herself running late again on another particular day. The rattle of the wagon's wheels grated on Rarity's poor distressed nerves as she and echo trotted back to her boutique. Once she had revived the poor stallion, he had been insistent on delivering everything that very moment. Of course, Rarity knew perfectly well that he would, as he had every time she bought his entire life's works. Her explanation was simply that she wished to pair his watches with her fashion, broaden her market so to speak. The real reason was that she wanted to have yet another opportunity to chat with him. She could get him to reveal bits and pieces of his past while he was unloading his wares, more often than not. All it took was a gentle hoof and a firm direction and he would happily chat away. She had heard the same bits over and over, of course, but that was what experimentation was for. When she managed to pry free a little tidbit or two that she hadn't heard before it was always the highlight of her month. Yes, she was rather consistent with how she approached poor Echoed Beat. Her friends might try grand changes or sweeping gestures all they wished, for Rarity knew she would rather take a far subtler road. A single piece of the larger puzzle here and there, until she finally had a complete picture. Once the stallion was understood, the root cause of this little problem would become crystal clear. She hoped. Still, Rarity knew that understanding who this simple watchmaker from Canterlot truly was would be handy, in predicting his behavior if nothing else. As he set his cart against the side of the Carousel Boutique and began to bring carefully wrapped packages inside, she tiptoed behind the cart and deftly snatched a small box from inside. Stage set, she trotted into her store and set the package behind a potted plant that was close by, out of sight. "So, Echo was it? Might I ask what brings a fine watchmaker to our humble town? I must admit we hardly ever get a specialized craftspony such as yourself all the way out here, unless they're sent for." Rarity batted her eyelids slightly and watched as Echoed Beat stumbled for a single step, before catching himself and continuing on. Nervously, Echo chuckled and said "Well miss Belle, I'm flattered you asked. I, uh, thought it would be a good chance to broaden my horizons. Canterlot is rather overflowing with craftsponies right now, so competition is, well, fierce." He set the latest load of goods into the back storeroom and trotted out, wiping a hoof over his brow. "I thought Ponyville might have enough distance that I could find some customers, and it wasn't so far that I'd break my back making the trip." Rarity nodded, pretending to look over a scarf-in-progress with a disinterested stare. "Oh, I see. Well, I certainly hope my purchase hasn't put you out of sorts then. If you wanted, I could..." She trailed off, turning to look at the cart that was still half-full. Quickly, Echo waved his hooves in a negative fashion. Sweatdrops began to form along the side of his head as he sputtered. "N-n-no, no, there's no need for that Miss Rarity. I'm glad you thought my watches were of sufficient quality to use in your store, honest! It's just..." He rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly looking down at the floor. "Well, I never expected to run into one of you guys." Rarity cocked a head in feigned surprise, looking at Echo with a curious glance as she said "One of who, darling?" Echo moaned and cradled his head, voiced tinged with embarrassment as he softly said "Well, one of the Elements of Harmony, I guess." Looking up, his voice firmed. "Any of you six are incredible mares, heroes of the nation! It's, well, unusual for great ponies such as yourselves to even look at a pony like me, let alone-" Rarity cut him off with a well-timed tutting noise. "My dear Mister Beat, we may be heroes but we certainly aren't some 'great ponies' that wouldn't even look down our nose at an incredible stallion such as yourself. Honestly, I promise you have the wrong impression. Heavens, Twilight herself leaves the doors of her castle open for just about any pony to waltz in and say hello." The look of faint surprise on Echo's muzzle was welcoming, if common enough to induce. She continued, angling for the bite. "In fact, an excellent craftspony such as yourself would be welcomed for sure. Heavens above, your pieces are quite fetching, don't you know?" Rarity held up a hoofband watch, white gold with emerald insets, and looked at it with a discerning eye. Giving a small sigh of satisfaction, she snapped it along her foremost left leg and adjusted it to fit. "In fact, I do believe I'll keep this particular watch for myself!" Beneath her calm exterior, Rarity watched Echo's reactions as if a predator sighting their prey. When the stallion slightly slumped, it took all of Rarity's self control not to shout with glee. Dejectedly, Echo muttered "They're not so good, miss, but it's kind of you to say. Coming from Canterlot, even I can tell they're mediocre at best. After all, they-" He cut off with a snap of his jaw, looking away from Rarity as he nervously rubbed his side. Rarity's eyes narrowed slightly, and internally she grinned. "Why Mister Beat, I'll not hear another word of such nonsense in my shop! These works are exquisite, despite whatever those nebulous they-ponies might say, or else my name isn't Rarity Belle!" Her fierce exclamation surprised Echo into looking up, jaw hanging slightly open. Recovering quickly, he amazed himself by blurting out "You may be Rarity, miss, but surely even you wouldn't argue with the Master Clocksmiths of Canterlot now would you?" Slapping a hoof over his mouth, he mentally cursed his traitorous tongue for it's sudden outburst. Before he could begin to stutter apologies, to say that he never meant to snap at her or share his personal woes with a lady of standing, he heard a loud stuttering snort echo through the room. Staring at Rarity, Echo watched as her serene facade cracked away to reveal a mare on the precipice of a full-on laughter attack. His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, and he began to shuffle towards the door. Desperately trying to hold in her laughter, Rarity motioned for him to stop, to wait. "Echoed Beat, darling, wait! Hold on, let me explain" she chortled, moving to block his path. "I'm not laughing at you, sweet Echo. I'm laughing at those stupid, ignorant so-called 'Master Clocksmiths of Canterlot'." Echo was forced to stop, mouth yet again swinging open in disbelief. Rarity finally stopped laughing and patted his shoulder, a faint wistful expression appearing on her face. "Echo dear, the Master Clocksmith Association in Canterlot is one of what some ponies refer to as an 'Old Stallion's Club'. Those old fogies don't speak highly of anyone that's not sponsored by one of their own members, you see. It's been so long, why I doubt any of those fuss-buckets could tell quality craftsponyship from that piss they call 'beer'." The shock of having his worst critics fiercely discredited by one of the very Heroes of Equestria was enough, barely, to keep Echo from reacting to the fact that said gallant hero had used very unladylike words in her rant. Regardless, his reddened cheeks began to burn even hotter as he slowly realized exactly what her statement meant for him, and his livelihood. "Those rat bastards!" Echo swore, stamping his hoof in outrage. "They claim to be the 'premier judge of fine clockwork' to every apprentice and journeyman in the city, all while they put down those who haven't paid to join their, their cavalcade of con-stallions!" He was practically spitting fire as he paced in front of the counter, much to Rarity's delight. She'd known he hadn't thought highly of himself, of course. One could pick that up from a casual conversation in passing, honestly. This, however, was a breakthrough. If Rarity had known, had figured out his poor rating from the 'MCA' sooner she could have progressed much further. Why, this brought an entire additional section of the puzzle clear into view, if only she could- The tinkle of the door above her shop brought her out of her internal musing as it clicked shut. Whipping around in disbelief, Rarity saw Echo racing up the road towards the town border. She could practically see the steam rising off of his head as he galloped towards the edge of Ponyville. Horrified, Rarity glanced down at the hoofband on her leg and checked the time. 'Oh, no no no! It's too soon!' she thought in dismay. 'I was just about to- Oh, bother!' Rarity slammed her door open as she raced out into the street, following behind Echo as best she could. Her horn blazed with a magical aura as she set off fireworks in the sky above. Rainbow Dash should be watching, and with any luck- She skidded to a halt as a rainbow blur passed by overhead. Rarity knew Dash was fast, but Echo had an awfully large head-start. If Rainbow couldn't catch him before he left the town... "Stupid, stupid stupid mare!" she muttered to herself, ignoring the looks she received from the ponies around her. Resigned, she turned and began to trot back into her shop. The door clicked shut behind her as she lit up her horn, clearing away discarded fabrics and pulling out a big roll of fabric from behind the counter. Rarity settled her glasses on her snout, and began to sew. She had black mourning gowns to prepare, after all. Rarity looked down into the coffin and stared at the corpse of Echoed Beat within. He looked almost peaceful in death, hooves crossed upon his chest and eyes shut as if in blissful sleep. She had thought, after the first dozen repetitions or so, that she would eventually stop having tears to shed. That her heart would grow numb, and her mind aloof and disinterested. As tears dripped down her snout to mix with the downpour of the storm that thundered around them, she realized she was rather grateful that it hadn't. Yes, it hurt when he passed, each and every time. It felt as if every death gnawed a tiny hole at the edges of Rarity's heart, as if the loss splintered a bit of her soul. But, it happened every time. The tears always continued to flow from the corners of her eyes. The loss was as fresh and painful as if it were the first, though knowing more about the stallion did make it feel as if it hurt just a little more. Thunder crashed as a jagged bolt of lightning split the sky above. Rarity choked out a chuckle, breathless enough to be mistaken for a sob. Rainbow Dash's anger was evident, as it was every time she wasn't fast enough, wasn't able to stop Echo from- It wasn't her fault, though. Rarity knew, intellectually, that it wasn't any of the mare's fault. They had tried, were trying every possible combination of events in a continuous effort to save this blasted stallion's life. Twilight had been quite clear that her magical examinations indicated that was the turning point, the fulcrum. Every day, Echoed Beat died. Every day, they failed. And time ground to a halt, picked up its dress, and skipped back to the beginning once more. Another Tuesday, another May 22nd. Another chance to save a life. Rarity didn't know if it was a curse, or a spell-gone-wrong, or some horrific manipulation by an unknown foe. Just about the only thing they were certain of was that it wasn't Discord. He'd never do, this, to Fluttershy. If he knew what was going on, if he could have stopped whatever force was causing the loop, surely he would have by now. They had been forced to agree that, beyond all belief, he simply wasn't aware that it was happening. Rarity wiped away the wet trails she'd left on her snout, blowing her nose into the crook of her leg where she had stashed a tissue. Gently, she set the items in her hoof down upon the deceased pony, and turned away. The group was going to the bar after this excursion, for yet another night of heavy drinking and blackouts. She mused upon that thought, enjoying one of the few benefits from the current situation: no hangovers the next morning. As she trotted back down the aisle, Big Mac and Bulk Biceps lifted up the simple coffin and began to carry it away towards the cemetery. Another bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the scene in harsh white light for a split second before fading away, leaving an afterimage burned in the mourner's eyes. Though nopony could see it, a hoofband watch of white gold lay next to a brilliant red rose on Echoed Beat's chest, its emeralds gleaming in the sudden glare.