An old timers tale

by Ecthelion_Yuda

A break away from Free and Fancy

Canterlot is in view now, and I almost can’t bear to even look at it. That’s where everything started to go wrong. Fancy Pants had hired me as a designer for his fashion line, Fancy and Free, but because of my youth and because I was so new to the company my ideas were often shunted by my co-workers. But every so often, one of my designs would find its way into the next collection. I was the only pony who actually sat down at a sewing machine and prototyped my designs, and that’s what gave me an edge in the competition. My designs wouldn’t go to Fancy Pants unless they were absolutely perfect.

There was one model in particular who I really liked due to her willingness to help me test the fit of my designs. Her name was Grace and like me she was just starting out in the fashion industry. I can still remember being stunned into silence by how beautiful she looked when we first met. She was taller than your average pony, but in all honesty most Canterlot unicorns were very tall. She had a dark pink coat, so dark that it was almost purple but it was a soft shade and completely non aggressive. Her mane was a waterfall of gold, falling down just past her right shoulder. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to suggest that she had the ability to stare deep into one’s soul. But in spite of that, everything about Grace was perfectly disarming. It simply was not possible to be in a bad mood around her.

Grace and I became good friends relatively quickly and she offered to help me as much as she could. Every single fashion show that she did, she tried to get at least one of my designs in her set. She did everything she could to show off my designs and her hard work paid off. Fancy Pants’ business partner and lover, Fleur de Lis, absolutely loved my dresses and was able to bend Fancy’s ear to get my designs featured more and more frequently in his collections. I had taken me almost two years by this stage, but I finally made it to the position of Head Designer for Fancy Pants’ fashion empire.

It didn’t pay as much as the title might suggest. I frequently found myself staying in disgusting motels and renting equally wretched houses for most of my time away from Canterlot. Most of the places I stayed had more mice than the barn back at Sweet Apple Acres and smelled worse than that bushel of apples that Big Mac forgot to take out of the sun. The beds couldn’t have been more than slabs of wood between four posts and while the accommodation fee didn’t put too much of a dent in my wallet, I was loathe to pay anything most nights. In Canterlot I shared an apartment with Grace. Thankfully, she was from a wealthy family, so we could afford a decent apartment to live in.

Fancy Pants would tell us on a daily basis how myself and Grace were headline news and he would send us off all over Equestria, to all the major towns and cities conducting interviews and showing off my latest designs matched with Grace’s natural talent for modelling. It wasn’t until our second visit to Manehattan that I began to think that my name wasn’t big enough.

Fancy Pants had invited me, Fleur and Grace to attend fashion week with him in Manehattan. There was supposed to be an interview with all four of us so that the public could understand more easily what our industry was like and what the world of fashion really was all about through the eyes of designers and models alike. By that stage, both myself and Grace had a chieved what we believed to be some level of fame as Fancy Pants’ top designer and model, but it became clear that most of Equestria still saw us as being just his employees.

The interview had been going exactly as planned: Fancy took all of the vital questions, Fleur and Grace split the modelling questions between those that required a more experienced approach and those that needed a fresh pair of eyes and I answered every question about how honoured I was to work with somepony like Fancy Pants.

But then a reporter from the Fillydelphia Tribune threw me a question that completely shook me.
“So Applebloom, when do you plan to bring out your own clothing line? Our readers seem to believe that it is the logical next step for somepony in your position.”

I hadn’t been planning on ever leaving Fancy Pants until then, the idea had never even occurred to me. I brushed the question off quickly so that Fancy Pants wouldn’t suspect anything and part of me even then wanted to believe that I was still happy in my position. But that interview changed the perception that I had of my job forever. It always hung in my mind, like the lyrics of a song that you desperately want to forget: Could I do it? Could I break away from Fancy Pants and actually set up my own business?

I had the money to do it, definitely and I could be certain that Grace would come with me. But could I do that to Fancy and Fleur? They had taken me and Grace completely under their wing and had given me my first major break in the world of fashion. But something happened that made my decision very easy.

I was out shopping in Canterlot with Grace, nothing particularly out of the ordinary, when a small group of fillies cantered out of the boutiques.
“I just adore this new dress! Fancy Pants has done it again. I can’t fault him, he’s the perfect designer!”
“Oh I know just what you mean darling. He is simply the best there is.”
Normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to the chatter of other ponies, never really being one for gossip after the whole Gabby Gums incident, but this one conversation peaked my interest and sparked a flame of rage in my spirit. It wasn’t one of Fancy Pants’ designs that they were admiring. It was mine. A white summer dress, low cut enough to get any colts attention but modest enough that a pony of the higher classes would still be happy being photographed in it. There was some particularly intricate needle work on the flank designed to look something like a Cutie Mark.

I hadn’t realised until that point that Fancy Pants had been taking credit for everything that I did. I was his Head Designer, but all that meant to the world was that I gave him a lot of pictures and he went off and made the dresses. Every design I had made, every prototype that I had stitched together personally, he had been taking full credit for. All of the hours of hard work and effort that I put into each and every one of my designs was directly accredited to him. When he had sent me all over Equestria for interviews and fashion shows, it wasn’t because ponies wanted to see me. He sent me to be his eyes and ears because he couldn’t be bothered to go himself. I was a glorified PA!

I felt cheated, robbed and violated. Fancy Pants had used me! I decided there and then that I was going to leave Fancy Pants for good. After all, it was my designs that were making him rich and once I started selling my designs elsewhere I would see 100% of the profit. I couldn’t hide anything from Grace, she saw my decision in my eyes as soon as I had made it and she immediately offered to go with me. The very next day, we both handed in our notice and left Fancy and Free for good.

Looking back on that day I can’t believe how childish I really was. I had entered the big grown-up world of business, but I hadn’t had the intelligence or experience to see when I was being exploited. I’m glad I left Fancy Pants, in a way at least. Had I not left him, then some of my happiest memories may not have happened. I never would have met Ray, I never would have founded Hidden Gem and I never would have become as powerful as I am. But part of me also wishes that I had stayed with Fancy Pants, in spite of everything he was doing. Had I stayed with him, I never would have pushed Ray away, nor Grace and I wouldn’t have become a vicious tyrant in the world of business. It all boils down to what if’s again, and I’m not sure what I could have done to make everything better. Perhaps I was always doomed to be this way. I hope not though.