[Maretropolis, Equestria]

*Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be...Click!*

“Ugh...Okay, come on Tresemme, time to get up and get to work,” Tresemme, a light violet earth pony with sky blue hair, said to herself. She sat up on her bed, running a hand through her disheveled mane and proceeded with her usual wake up ritual. Take a shower (using her company shampoos and soaps), get dressed (a casual business suit/skirt combination, with faux-leather horseshoes), eat breakfast (haybacon and eggs, with a glass of orange juice), and then look out the window while contemplating life.

Her father, Old Spice, had originally planned to marry her mother, Avon Q-tip, in order to merge their companies and increase his wealth. However, her natural beauty and her kind and caring nature melted his cold heart, and he fell in love. Their companies merged, but his wealth didn’t increase. Him and his wife started becoming philanthropists, donating to various charities, hospitals, orphanages, and providing scholarships for various colleges, universities, and academies.

A few years into their marriage, they had a child. An earth pony filly with a light violet coat and sky blue hair. They named her Tresemme. As she grew up, she became a bit arrogant and expected that everything was to be handed to her on a silver platter. This burdened her parents to no end, having to try and discipline her with limited results. Despite all of the trouble she gave them, they loved her to no end.

Then, when Tresemme was around age 12, her parents died in a violent manner. A crime mafia had finished attacking an armored truck filled with dangerous alchemic ingredients and other chemicals. The attack on the truck had caused a dangerous magical explosion that destroyed four city blocks and damaged the eight outside of that. Within the damaged portion of Maretropolis, a limousine was crushed by some of the rubble. In that wreck was her parents.

Tresemme was devastated. Gone were the days that she could just have this or that to her pleasure. Gone were the days of bedtime stories, family hugs, and home cooked meals. Gone were her parents. All that was left for her was regret and shame.

The only pony she could go to to confide to was Rarity Belle. Her parents were also buisness ponies and owned a rather successful jewelry business. When their daughter showed skill in the art of fashion, they allowed her to open a boutique and it was a huge hit. Tresemme’s parents actually decided to help her in the boutique by allowing some of their products be sold there, thus boosting the boutique’s business.

Now, a number of years later, Rarity owned a number of clothing stores and had ownership over the clothing brand ‘Fabulous Fashion.’ In all of her stores, she still sold her parent’s products. This connection allowed for both Tresemme and Rarity to bond and become friends. When she approached Rarity to talk about her loss, she was all ears. Tresemme was rather surprised by her generously allowing for her to talk and to be understood.

When she asked her about why she didn’t reject her in her sorrow, Rarity simply said, “Oh, Tres Darling. Just because you were rather uncouth in life doesn’t mean I will be. One thing I have learned is that no matter how crude a pony is or has been, they can be befriended and be given a chance to be better.”

Those words shook Tres to the very core. She was able to remember all that her parents had tried to get into her mind about being honest, kind, and generous to others, loyal to what is right, and to try to smile for the correct reasons. All of that came back to her from what Rarity had said. With that came a resolve to fix what what broken, leave the past behind, live in the present, and work towards the future. The next several years, Tresemme worked hard to fix her mistakes, try to work despite the pain of her loss, make better use of the fortune she was left with, and leave her mark on the world.

Now, standing at the window of her penthouse suite at age 25, having finished high school and college, she was ready to tackle the final task of leaving her mark on the world. She checked her watch and moved to the private elevator. She went down all 40 floors, exited to her 1016 Ponyota Stallion, and began the long tedious task of driving to her company office building through rush hour traffic.

As she endured the constant honking and shouting that comprised rush hour, she couldn’t help but glance at the picture of her parents that she taped to the dashboard of her car. As traffic was still slow, she was able to spare a few minutes to gaze upon them and remember their love.

A honk from behind her jolted her from her nostalgia and she tore her gaze from the photo and continued driving to work. After what felt like an eternity, she arrived at the office building. Spice and Nice Co. was what it was called. It specialized in various soaps, shampoos, personal hygiene and beauty products. While the 10 floors of offices were nice, what was next door was what both her parents and herself considered the best part of the family business. The Factory.

The Factory was the nickname that Tresemme had given that factory, even though it wasn’t the only factory in the business. It was just the first factory the company had, and also the largest. She could still remember the times that her parents would walk her through it and point out how a piece of machinery worked. The nostalgia was so strong that she wanted to skip going into the office and walk around the Factory.

She parked her car, got out and walked to the office to start her boring day.

Tresemme’s day wasn’t exactly boring, but neither was it exciting. From licensing issues to labor favors, she was ready to hit the hay by the time that the day was closing down (thank Luna). She packed her stuff up and went to her car. She just barely had gotten into the car when she looked at the Factory longingly. She couldn’t hold her nostalgia back any longer. She left her car and went to the Factory.

Entering one of the side entrances, she saw some of the cleanup crew in the last stages of cleaning and closing for the day. One of them saw her and approached her. A good morale boost for Tresemme, as the few times she was in there when she was younger, she was rather snotty. It took years and many new employees to get the ‘old timers’ to at least respect her.

The employee that approached her was Kevin. He was one of the first few that was hired shortly after she reclaimed control of the company. He had the appearance of a grey unicorn with red and orange hair, with said hair styled to look like it was actual flames. However, those looks were only skin deep as he was actually a changeling.

She had discovered that in her interview with him. He had a rather nasty cold when he came in, and some of the disguise flickered every time he sneezed. About half-way through the interview, he threw out a violent sneeze that slammed his head on her desk and dispelled the disguise completely. When he saw his disguise fail, he made the attempt to flee, but Tresemme managed to get him to stay and finish the interview. Despite him being of a race that generally was looked down upon by most, Tresemme actually was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and hired him, under the provision that he maintain his ‘Live Coal’ disguise when at work.

Now, nearly a year later, he has proved himself time and time again to be a valuable asset to the Factory. And, if Tresemme was ever to admit it, she also had a bit of crush on him...and he probably knew it too.

“You’re doing it again,” she heard. Shaking her head slightly, she looked from her thoughts and saw Kevin ‘Live Coal’ standing a few hooves in front of her with a smirk on his face.

She blushed and tried to hide her face in her mane. “You felt my infatuation?” He nodded. “I’m sorry, I just...ugh...I can’t help but be fascinated by you being an independant...” Before she could go any further with her rambling, he stepped up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. She stopped and her blush increased.

“As much as I understand that you trying to keep a professional distance, but you need to know that, sometimes, it is just hard to not love,” he said, “And I know about love as much as the Star Sapphire does.”

Tresemme was confused. “Kev...er…’Live Coal’, why are you saying that?”

Kevin shrugged. “I’d have to say two reasons,” he held up two fingers to emphasize this, “One: if you try to hold back your feelings, it’s going to explode eventually. Think of it like a can of soda with too much carbonation. And two: while I enjoy the taste of infatuation, I can only take so much before I want a different emotion.” She gave him a bit of a scowl, before he threw his hands in defeat. “Alright Tres! Fine! The second reason was more of a joke, but it is still true all the same!”

Tres could only sigh in mild annoyance. “And to think I hired you for more than your looks,” She mumbled to herself. Kevin was about to speak again, but an explosion rocked the factory. “GRRR! What Now!? She shouted out at the ceiling, “Is it enough that the Board doesn’t trust me, but My Own FREAKING FACTORY IS SUBJECT TO BOMBINGS?!”

Kevin winced at her shrieking. He grabbed both of her shoulders, looked her in the eyes, and asked her, “Would it make you feel better if I checked where the explosion happened?” Tres nodded. He shifted to his changeling form and buzzed to the spot of the explosion.

After only a few seconds, she couldn’t wait any longer. She ran to a ladder that led to the catwalks. She traversed the maze of walkways and tanks for a few minutes. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted from behind one of the nearby tanks. Tres instinctively dove behind a different tank as the gunfire continued. She chanced a peek and saw Kevin placing up a force field around the tanks, shielding it from the bullets. He, himself, was unprotected, but his natural chitin exoskeleton protected him from the the bullets raining down upon him.

After he had placed the barriers, he started firing of green changeling fire bolts off at whoever was shooting at him. Abandoning his gun, the thug pulled out an orange and violet bladed switchblade and proceeded to try to go hand to hand with Kevin. Kevin was able to hold his own, but received a number of gashes that would have been impossible, if the switch blade was normal.

Changeling chitin is what most ponies would call ‘magical vibranium’. It was called that, because while a normal bullet or knife wouldn’t hurt them, bullets and knives coated in Lust could cut through chitin as if it was skin.

As the fight progressively started moving towards Tres’ hiding spot, she was able to see the thug in the light. He was an earth pony wearing desert combat pants, but the rest of him was wrapped in what looked like bandages. No doubt about it. He was a member of the Desert Snakes, Minions of the Phony Pharaoh himself, Pharaoh Phetlock.

When the changeling and the mummified pony passed by her hiding spot, Tres jumped out and shoved at the criminal. It didn’t do much but distract him. Kevin took advantage of the distraction and delivered an uppercut punch and a subsequent headbutt. The knife wielder went down hard on the catwalk floor.

After that, Kevin looked to be light headed. Tres rushed to him and supported him. “Damn Desert Snake,” he swore, “Either that Snake just happened to have a knife with my bane coated on it, or the gang was prepared for anything...including changelings.” He made the motion to try and walk forward, but he stumbled. A nasty gash was on one of his legs, dripping blood onto the catwalk, which in turn, dripped onto the floor below.

“We need to get you out of here!” Tres said, moving him so that she could help support him, getting his blood on herself in the process. They began moving towards the set of stairs, in the opposite direction of the ladder she came up on. Before they reached it, they heard whispering. Tres stopped moving, as she swiveled their ears to hear what they were saying. It was difficult, as Kevin would lightly moan, and there was still gunfire going off within the Factory.

“Did you find the vault?”

“Yes, we did.”

“And the preservative herbs?”

“Still inside the vault. It’s reinforced steel and has a magical lock that can only be opened with the magic of a specific unicorn.”

“Have you had any luck finding the unicorn that has access to the vault.”

“Negative. We’ve tried several unicorns already, but it still isn’t opened yet.”

“GRRR!!! Comb the factory and office building for every unicorn available! If none of them open the vault, find the register that holds the names, races, and addresses of those that work here and we’ll try again!”

Tresemme paled from the conversation. The Desert Snakes were trying to break into the Alchemy vault for a certain herb of some kind. More than likely for their Pharaoh so he could perform some ritual to end the Princess’ reign over Equestria.

Tres moved herself and Kevin on a different path. Kevin was about to protest, but Tres waved off his attempted questions and continued to their new destination. After a few minutes of evading any other Snakes that were on the catwalk, they arrived at one of the factory power panels. Tres set Kevin down and began searching the panel for something.

“What are you doing?” Kevin asked, rather weakly.

She opened one of the panels, revealing a red button with a silver horseshoe inlaid on the front. “If I heard things correctly, The Phony Pharaoh is involved in this. We need the Power Ponies.” She then pushed the button.

Outside the Factory, red spotlight lit up the entire factory, catching the attention of a young teenage drake and a well dressed unicorn on a nearby rooftop.

Author's Note

There are a lot of things that may need to be explained in this chapter. We can list off a few.
To start, lets look at Tresemme's car. A 1016 Ponyota Stallion.
My car I use for work is based off of the Toyota Allion. Here's a cool picture I found while breaking the fourth wall.

The next bit is the Star Sapphire.
Before you ask, yes the Star Sapphire, as mentioned in the story, is both the same as and is based off of what is found in the DC comics.
I don't own that, BTW.
Of course. Anyway, the Star Sapphire uses a special power ring to manipulate the emotion of love in crystal like ways. It is different from what Radiance can do, primarily because Radiance uses a magic bracelets, while the Star Sapphire uses a power ring (advanced alien technology).
We'll give you three guesses as to who the Star Sapphire is. Just leave your guesses in the comments below.
What about the reference to my parents' names?
Okay. Guess about those too.
Now as for what was said about changeling chitin...well...
In this universe, there are three forms of unbreakable/tough materials. Vibranium, adamantium, and chitin. Vibranium is a natural occurring metal that is extremely difficult to mine, melt, and mold. Zebrica have mastered how to do all three, making Vibranium worth almost as much as the Spice and Nice Co.
I still think that's a lame name.
Adamantium is a magically created alloy. It isn't vibranium, due to the fact that it doesn't reflect/amplify what is thrown at it.
If Captain America had a shield of adamantium instead of vibranium, then Thor would have killed him in that Avengers movie.
Changeling chitin is considered more of the magical vibranium. It is tough like both adamantium and vibranium, but it has a weakness that makes it lesser than the other two.
Negative emotions.
Lust, as shown in the story, is basically a combination of Avarice and Love. The main reason to this and other negative emotion colors being a weakness to Changeling Chitin is because of Changeling biology. Will, Hope, Compassion, and Love and their positive variations are safe for Changelings to handle. However, negative emotions and variations are dangerous to them. If a positive emotion is mixed with a negative emotion (Rage, Avarice, and Fear), it is ultimate kryptonite to Changeling Chitin.
Anywho, we hope you enjoyed the chapter, and we'll see you when the next chapter comes.