Rarity was only a week past having given birth when she got a letter from Canterlot bearing the YSL logo. Once she had made sure that Sweetie Belle was happy looking after her new niece, she withdrew to the kitchen so she could have a bit of privacy, but also be free to keep an eye on the pair of them should any intervention be needed.
She had a pretty clear understanding of what the letter would contain, and sure enough, few words had been wasted in getting straight to the point. She read, with little surprise, that because of late delivery, her contract had been terminated with immediate effect.
At any time earlier in her career, she would have cried and thrown a regal tantrum befitting a true drama queen, but a quick glance at her foal told her she had things to consider now that were far more important than pandering to her former idol, that self-obsessed, narcissistic philanderer. She raised her nose into the air and sniffed haughtily, leaving the letter on the side to show to all her friends when they arrived.
First to arrive that morning was Twilight, capitalising upon the opportunity of some flying tuition from Rainbow Dash. Once Rarity had welcomed them in, she showed them the letter and Rainbow had been furious, having to be forcibly restrained to prevent her from flying directly up to Canterlot and punching his lights out. Indeed, if Twilight hadn't had restraining magic at her disposal it was unlikely that either of them would have been able to stop her, such had been her anger.
“So what are you going to do now, Rarity?” asked Twilight.
“Well, I’ll let you girls into a little secret, if you want” she smiled conspiratorially, “As a new mother, I have found precious few outlets for foals’ clothing, and those that you can buy are simply a crime against fashion, so I have identified an opening in the market where I can positively clean up; stylish foalwear!”
“But what about those fancy frocks you’re so famous for?” asked Rainbow.
“Oh, I can still make the occasional one on a commission basis or for friends, but the business is too cutthroat, darling. Now I have the security of a foal to think of, I want to have a more reliable source of income that doesn’t keep me up all hours of the night and doesn't take me away to fashion shows for days at a time.”
“Wow, Rarity” exclaimed Twilight, “That’s brilliant!”
“Yeah” agreed Rainbow, ”Cool outfits for fashion conscious foals and their parents, huh?”
“Why, of course darling” agreed Rarity, “Never too early to start them off on a habit that will last them a lifetime, wouldn’t you say?”
“You know, maybe having a foal has turned out to be just what you needed” pondered Twilight.
“Yes, I think you could well be right. It didn’t seem so at first, but she has opened me up to this whole new venture that I would never have recognised before” she agreed, adding, “And she is so adorable, I simply cannot imagine my life without her now.”
“Talking of which, have you come up with a name already?” pushed Rainbow.
“Funny you should ask” smiled Rarity, “I was going to save it to later, but there’s no reason why you can’t know now; I’ve decided to call her Pearl. You see, her coat is purest white and she’s very precious, so it suits her to a tee. Also, ponies will be able to think of me as Mother-of-Pearl, so that's what I'm going to call the new line.”
“Only you, Rarity” giggled Twilight, ”Only you.”