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// Rise of a Hidden Gem 
// Story: An old timers tale 
// by Ecthelion_Yuda 
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After two weeks I had cleared out my work station, my desk and the locker in the gym of the Fancy and Free head office and headed out onto the streets of Canterlot. I was still quite young at only 25, so I had ample time to plan, prepare and build my empire. Grace had managed to convince about 30 junior models as well as a few of their more experienced companions and two junior designers. I hadn’t even considered the idea that anypony would want to leave Fancy Pants other than me and Grace, let alone tried to convince anypony to come with me. Grace truly was nothing short of incredible.

I wasn’t completely unprepared for this move though. I had managed to procure a small warehouse on the outskirts of Canterlot. It was cheap and needed a lot of renovating, but it was enough to get us started. We all knew that life would not be easy for a while, but we knew that we could pull through if we stuck together. However, the first month hit us harder than I had expected. 

We didn’t even have a name for our business yet, we had huge structural problems with our warehouse and with only three designers including myself, the models were frequently left with absolutely nothing to do. I was absolutely terrified that I would lose my exclusivity deals with each of them. If that happened, then I was finished. Thinking about it, I am absolutely gobsmacked that nopony did leave me. There were three huge holes in the roof of the warehouse which not only allowed the rain to fall through them, but they were at such an angle that a lot of rain also ran along the inside of the roof to fall in seemingly random positions. It was impossible not to get wet when it rained. Furthermore, the air conditioning didn’t work, and since that first month we were together was August, that meant that the warehouse became an oven very easily. When that combined with the permanently sodden floors the humidity in our little warehouse was nigh unbearable.

That was the first time that I ever really considered going home to Ponyville. My life was what can only be described as a complete disaster, my fledgling business was failing, I was unlikely to have any employees by the end of the month and my only building constantly threatened to collapse. And I just missed my friends and family so much during those early days. Trying to secure buyers and book enough fashion shows was so similar to making the preparations for cider season back at Sweet Apple Acres. Everything had to be precise, my attitude with the store owners and event organisers, just like our quality controlling making cider. And with our very very limited resources, it brought back memories of having to battle against Flim and Flam to produce enough cider.

I wanted to go home so much. To just throw in the towel, give up on the business and go back to working the farm with Applejack and Big Mac. But I couldn’t. I had designers and models to pay as well as a few fashion shows and shop owners to negotiate with. Finally, it all paid off. We managed to secure a few stores in Canterlot who were willing to stock some of our products. My past with Fancy Pants helped me to no end and I managed to secure a further three up-market boutiques by the end of the second month. Both of my designers were working overtime, but they were just as enthusiastic as I was to get our business off the ground. Actually, remembering that just makes me feel even worse about myself now. There were ponies who had believed in me and my ideas and I let them down.

Anyway, without spending too much time in the past, by the end of the first quarter, we had made enough money to be able to upgrade from our ramshackle warehouse into a larger and far more effective warehouse. It still wasn’t spectacular, but it was 100% better than our last one. Our roof had no holes in it, the floor was clean and dry and we had enough room to work comfortably, even with the extra ten designers that I had been able to hire.

Remembering how dejected I had felt when Fancy Pants had taken credit for my designs, so I vowed to never allow myself to do that. I spoke with some of my designers as well as Grace and some of her models and together we decided on a name for our group: The Hidden Gem Company. Looking back, I can’t help but think that it must have been fated that we would choose that name. Hidden Gem was just so perfect as an homage to my mentor, Rarity. We agreed on calling ourselves a company because that meant that while I was the chairpony of the company, I wouldn’t be able to take credit for the designs that my employees presented me with.

With our initial success, Hidden Gem was able to secure more and more floor space in stores as well as attracting interest from a further fifteen stores including Thousand Down, the most exclusive boutique in Equestria. On signing that contract, every major fashion show in Equestria had to have at least one of our designs featured in their catwalk. Hidden Gem was growing incredibly quickly, and I was leading it. The biggest expansion of a business in Equestrian history and I was at the forefront of it. I thought that life could not get better.

Regrettably, I think I may have been right. While I believe that my life started to go wrong the moment I teamed up with Fancy Pants, I count the end of my initial success as the chairpony of Hidden Gem as a close runner-up.

Fancy Pants resented my growing success and power, and he did everything that he could to stop me and Grace. He seemed not to care what it was doing to his own business, he just wanted to grind us into the dust. He became a permanent obstacle in our way, trying desperately to weaken us and bring us down. He bought out our fabric suppliers so that we had to try and find other ponies to work with at higher prices, he offered his garments to the same stores as us, but of course because he was Fancy Pants he easily gained more floor space than we did. He set up rival fashion shows in the same locations as ours, just to limit the amount influence we could have.

He was trying to force us out of the market, and with his organisations reputation, he was doing a good job.

But one thing was undeniable, even Fancy Pants couldn’t disagree. Fancy Pants’ population was beginning to wane. There are many things that I have done in my life that I feel guilty for and most of them I richly deserve punishment for, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I don’t feel one shred of guilt for laughing when I learned that Fancy Pants was becoming less and less popular.

Without my designs, Fancy’s fashion line had gotten worse and worse, and fewer ponies were willing to pay the extortionate prices that his clothes came with. What really made me laugh at the time was the fact that all of those ponies who had stopped buying from Fancy Pants had started turning to Hidden Gem. I don’t know whether it was the fact that they recognised my needlework or whether we were simply the next best alternative to Fancy Pants, but I do know that we were not only the fastest growing textiles company in Equestria, but the fastest growing company in Equestria full stop.

It took us less than a year before we were a household name. As I look back on that year, just that one year, and I imagine just how bright the world seemed back then. It almost brings a tear to my eye to think about it. We were by no stretch of the imagination the largest company in the fashion industry, but we weren’t far off it.

I look out at Canterlot in the distance and I can just make out the shape of the first warehouse I worked out of, the holes in the roof causing the sunlight to look dappled, like it does under trees. I can’t believe that old rust shack is still there, still standing. I suppose, ponies might take one look at me and ask the same question. I can’t remember exactly when Hidden Gem became such a corporate juggernaut, or when I morphed into a tyrant of the board room. Not that it matters any more. The conductor calls out that the next station will be Ponyville and my heart skips a beat. It doesn’t have too many of those left I shouldn’t think, so I just sit here and wait for us to pull into the station.