Years earlier….
It was a bright and warm summer day, the type that one wanted to go out and play all day in. But Rarity, being a shop owner, had to forfeit some of that fun in order to stay in business.
The young artisan was currently at the counter of her shop, leaning on it with her hooves supporting her head as she switched between watching the clock and the front windows. It had been a long, boring day, but not because she was self-employed and worked. She would never say that! She loved her trade, there was nothing like the thrill of taking fabric and measurements and crafting something truly beautiful out of it, be it a gown for a special occasion, a wedding dress, or just a clubbin’ outfit, she loved to make them all.
But that was not the problem, she would not be bored if she actually had something to do! Instead of wrapping a pony in measuring tape and then choosing design ideas and suggesting colors, she had spent the last two and a half hours doing nothing!
Luckily, her boredom was almost over. Finally, as she was not able to take it anymore, the last 15 minutes of working hours arrived. It was time to close the shop.
Rarity first went to all of the stations and put her respective devices away, filing them neatly in their cabinets and compartments. Instruments hung limply by their hooks, and all the drawers were closed tightly. It was not going to be long now, just a few more seconds and she would be free. Rarity was not one to "hang out", but after a long day of nothing she was more than willing to go visiting her friends. To hear of something interesting that had transpired throughout her work day. The Idea of doing something fun to do felt enticing.
Maybe Applejack would need some help preparing supper. Or better yet she may be able to join them if she brought a dessert!
Maybe Pinkie had a new juice recipe that she found in one of those magazines that she is subscribed to.
Maybe Twilight had a "thrilling" tale to recount about chasing down an overdue book.
Or maybe Fluttershy could try to help her learn to groom Opalescence so she wouldn’t have to depend on her so much.
So many choices and not much longer until it was time to choose.
The clock ticked, two minutes to the hour. Not much longer now.
Rarity gave the shop one more look over, checking for anything else to clean. It was somewhat strange, she would have closed two and a half hours ago if she knew that she would be sitting around, but the sad part was that the chance that anypony, even just one customer, would have made staying for all the extra time worthwhile.
Amid scan, she noticed that her broom was leaning against a wall. She got up and picked it up and walked it back to the closet. It wouldn’t be much longer now.
While her back was turned, the bell above the doorway rang. Rarity turned, having a reluctant smile on her face, but a smile nonetheless. As the bell tolled, there was a pony standing under her doorway. She glanced to the clock, and sure enough, the Carousel Boutique was still open for one more minute.
She looked at the newly arrived customer who cleared his throat and asked, "Ms. Belle?"
Rarity confirmed his question, even if it sounded like a statement. She did not recognize this individual, but then again he could have come into possession of one of her business cards or heard of her through word of mouth.
"I need a new suit."
Rarity's mind began to wonder on her options on what to do. "Greetings sir, would you mind clarifying what you mean?" For all she knew, the need of a new suit may not be necessary. Perhaps he had an old suit in good condition but needed to be repaired, or perhaps he hadn't a suit and wanted one.
"I need a new suit, regardless the cost."
"Well," she boasted, "you have come to the right place! I am confident that I will be more than able to fulfill your clothing needs. But if you would like, we could schedule for tomorrow or a more convenient time."
The stallion answered evenly, "That will not be necessary." As he unzipped his overcoat and hung it up.
The dressmaker became frozen in a sudden jolt of shock as the stallion turned. From what she could deduce, her new guest was wearing what looked like a rental suit. A plain white shirt and an ordinary black suit jacket. But what set it so far out of the ordinary was its condition.
The suit was ripped to ribbons, some sections cut away from the major parts while other held on by mere threads.
"Oh, my! What in the world-“
“I need a new suit.” He repeated, keeping an even gaze upon her as she covered her mouth over the travesty that was hanging from this stranger’s frame.
“Oh, Yes Indeed, you do need a new suit! Come along!” She said, leading her way back into the stalls and other workstations that she had been cleaning mere moments earlier. As she walked, she heard a small clicking against the glass door entrance. She turned and gave it a look, and surprisingly, the sign said that she was closed.
Odd… But oh well.
She walked to the front desk, where her wastepaper basket, appointment sheet, quills, pens, and register waited and took her position behind it. Like a proper businessmare, she gave another smile and opened up her registration book, found the most recent page, and then turned it around for her guest.
“Would you care to sign in, Dear?”
The new customer to the boutique looked ahead with his cold blue eyes, almost like a recruit for the Canterlot guard and stared at the mare, almost as if he did not understand what she wanted.
She smiled and used her magic to uncork a bottle of ink.
No response.
“Oh, and here’s a quill….” She pulled a pen out of the hoof made clay cup that they were lying in.
No response.
“Just sign your name right there….” She said in a chipper tone, pointing at the empty blank in the book.
Rarity kept smiling and tried to whittle away at the frigid character before her until her self-consciousness felt that her smile was as awkward as her new client’s unwillingness to comply. Watching her with a stone cold look as if she was asking a non-magically inclined being to perform a spell.
Almost as if he was too afraid to use his own signature…
“Ooh!” she quipped, acting like she had just remembered something, “would you like me to sign for you?”
The navy blue unicorn who was watching her from across the counter nodded slowly and answered, “yes.”
Rarity returned to her happy act and slipped the book around and readied the quill with some ink, “I will be more than happy to do that for you. And your name is, sir?”
“Esproc, Mr. Esproc.”
Rarity happily signed the name and set the writing utensil aside. Ready to move on, she pointed to one of two stalls in the shop with a curtain hanging over it acting as a blind and said, “Feel free to make use of one of my dressing rooms while I prepare for your fitting. And before I forget,” she added, “There is a washroom in case you need to clean up. No use in dirtying a brand new ensemble!”
Immediately, the new visitor walked his battered self towards the changing area and used his own magic to open and close the curtain, just as Rarity had hoped.
She indeed needed to get her measuring tapes and other tools ready, but there was one thing that made her uneasy… made her think twice about her incredibly antisocial customer, his name.
She looked back at the drying ink and read it to herself, “Esproc…” why was that so peculiar?
Without making a sound, she pulled the quill back out and set it on the paper, thinking of what was making her mind so upset over a simple name.
Esproc….
She wrote it down at the bottom of the page and wrote it again, this time in finely printed characters instead of fancy and elegant cursive swoops.
Still, there was something wrong about that name that she could not shake… what was it?
Even though it sounded silly, Rarity took a stab in the dark, and rewrote the name again, but differently. This time, backwards.
C
O
R
P
S
E
The dressmaker’s eyes shot wide awake at her result.
“Corpse?”
Present...
It was not a joke, like a foal who could talk announcing the fact that they made an accident instead of using a potty. Nor was it a humbled request or genuine beg of assistance of necessity. It was an order, one that she could not refuse.
Like a coward approaching an old rickety rotten rope bridge, Rarity took tentative steps forward, pondering the few options she had to choose from.
Should she tell him why she was closed, that she had closed the shop for the night?
“Mister… I…”
Or should she comply to his…Requests..
“ *Ahem* I mean.. Sir…” Her voice trembled.
She was standing much closer to her uninvited guest, and from her perspective she could see the front leg of the jacket had its shoulder ripped, separating the sleeve from the coat. Several tears penetrated through the suit coat and all the way until blue fur was present. The tie was cut in half. The buttons were missing from the vest, and through the opened articles, she could see, what she could only hope, was red wine stained on the dress shirt. A strange dark colored dust seemed to cover and cling to the ensemble as well as its owner.
“Oh… my, you do need a new suit!”