//------------------------------// // My name is Pantene // Story: Tangled // by Pathious //------------------------------// Power is something that can get to even the most sophisticated of ponies. Power comes in many forms and can strike in either positive or negative forms. There was a mare of a rather popular Hair care products company who was too caught up in her power to realize she was causing aggression amongst her staff. Pantene sat in her office as she did on a regular basis. She sat there loving how she got paid watching others slave over chemical science. She realized she could use something to drink so it was best to call her secretary. Pantene leaned forward using a hoof to press a button on her desk. “Sweetheart would you please get me some coffee.” She said in a soft tone of voice. Pantene was not one to be angry. Well she preferred to get what she wanted by being somewhat kind. If she did not get what she wanted she would find herself being rather cruel. Her secretary entered levitating a pot of coffee. The mare was a light mulberry color with violet shaded irises that always seemed to be staring off. Her mane and was in a ponytail and her wings hidden as usual under the suit that she was wearing. “Sorry Pantene but we were out so I had to quickly brew you a cup.” Said the secretary said as she levitated the mug onto the desk. She gave a look of concern as she waited to see if Pantene wished for anything else. “If you need anything else mam I am here for you.” “That is all for now dear, please do fill out this paperwork for me. It would definitely make me consider giving you that raise you still wish for.” Pantene said as she sipped her coffee. “Also there is a group of men in the experimental testing area that have been brewing something all morning that I must say has done nothing but make my muzzle itch. If you would ever so kindly tell them to dump that crap down the drain, I would appreciate it.” Pantene said as she raised her hind legs to cross across the top of her desk. Her blueish Main silky as ever for she always used her won product to keep her hair healthy. “No problem mam, I will get right to floor B and I will tell them to dump it. I suppose I will also do your paperwork for you.” The secretary said as she levitated the paperwork with her rapidly changing magical aura. Pantene watched her secretary leave her eyes watching her very closely. She looked back to her magazine as the smell of the rancid test Shampoo was growing much stronger. Those stallions were going to regret it is they made her get up and make them dump it. She didn’t pay them to stink up the place. The rules for experimental shampoo making were always the same. Rule one do not randomly mix chemicals without writing down what you have put in. The biggest and most important rule was the one that they seemed to have forgotten. Dump the rancid smells so you do not make Pantene mad. Pantene sniffed the air as the smell burned her nostrils. Her secretary had to do the paperwork, so Pantene wished she had told her to actually take care of the smell first. She slowly got up out of her chair and exited her office looking down at floor B. Her eyes seemed to be a red and green color in this light reflecting off this rancid mix of shampoo. “Where is Charlie~!” Pantene shouted as she looked down at the working stallions. The stallions looked at Pantene and shrugged. “He said he was looking for you~!” They shouted back. “Then tell him if his butt isn’t in my office in thirty second I will make him eat that rancid shampoo you’re making down there.” Pantene said as she began to make her way down to the B floor. “Boys you do realize the rules clearly state Rancid smells are a no~!” She smacked one of them with the side of her magazine. “Do you think I pay you to goof off?” Pantene would be a lovely mare to date if she hadn’t had the attitude she had. She was incredibly gorgeous; she just had a very bad temper. “Sorry mam it’s just that Charlie said he think if we keep at this mix we will get your best shampoo yet.” One of the stallions said as she had hit his friend with a booklet. “No mare is going to buy something that smells like the rear end of a yak. We want something that smells as beautiful as we are. So unless you find a way to make that smell like an autumn day then I want you to dump it. Not in five, not in ten, I mean now~!” Pantene said as she held her breath making her way back to her office. The stallions of floor B shrugged it off and continued to work on the green vat of smelly shampoo. Pantene sighed deeply as she sat back down in her office chair. She opened up her magazine once again to read about competition this year. Of course she found very little to compete with, her company was top notch and loved by many. She let out a chuckle as she read. “When will these shampoo companies learn that they simply can’t keep up?” She put her magazine down as she called for her secretary once again. Pantene was surprisingly enough married. She was married to Charlie who ran the experimental floor for her. That’s why it angered her he was nowhere to be found today. So she called in her little affair. Her secretary, Pantene was not loyal to the money grubbing Charlie of floor B. “Pantene you rang me? May I ask what it is you needed me for?” She said as she looked towards her boss. “I have not seen Charlie around all day? Has he even checked in?” Pantene said as she was using a file on her front right hoof. “He knows how mad I get when he says he’s going to take care of floor B so I get a break and then he doesn’t even show.” Pantene said as her eyes looked at her secretary in a cold stare. Pantene was clearly angry as she sat there giving herself an aggravated hoofacure. “Well, if you wish I could check the computers log and see if he ran his card in the machine today?” “Sure, sure, why don’t you go do that while I grovel a little?” Pantene said as she looked out her office window to see if Floor B had dumped that rancid Shampoo yet. She was very displeased with the work ethic of her husband. She had only hired him because he was a chemist with no job. He was what she needed; she loved him very much but could hardly stand him a lot of the time. Industry was something Pantene took very seriously. Now a days Industry ran this damn city. She had the mares of this place eating out of her hooves. Maretropolis was a place that politicians considered highly important. This made Pantene feel important because she had some politicians invested in her stocks. They had money, a lot of it. Her secretary left her office to check the machine as Pantene sat in her own fuming rage. “I don’t see what’s so hard about sitting on a hot floor mixing chemicals. Especially when you have a degree in such fields. Why do I keep you around Charlie even when you are here I find myself running everything.” Pantene said to herself as she sipped on her coffee. She waited for her Secretary to return with the news about her tumor of a husband. “He’s checked in Mam, He just doesn’t seem to be around. He hasn’t checked into the break center so he has to be around somewhere.” The secretary said as she entered the room. Pantene growled as she stood up and chucked her mug at the wall putting a dent in the plaster. She angrily pressed on her loud speaker and spoke. “Charlie, get your lazy ass up to my office noooooowwwww” Pantene said as she had hit a nerve. She took out a prescription bottle as she popped a couple pills for her anger. Pantene started to breathe heavily. “I put up with so much shit, you have no idea~!” She angrily fell back in her chair. “You need me sweetheart.” The deep voice sounded of Charlie. “I’m sure it’s about my ethic again.” “Oh no why would you ever think I would talk to you about ethic~!” Pantene said as she slammed her right hoof on her desk. “You come here every morning and you disappear leaving me to wonder where you are and why you don’t have my back. Those ponies don’t know chemistry they have no idea what they are doing~!” She used her back leg to kick her rolling chair across the floor. “Your my husband but that does not give you the right to slack in my house not in my industry~! I expect your high degree to make use around here~!” Pantene said knocking Charlie’s working helmet to the ground. “Sweetheart I do my best around here. Your working conditions are hard and you overwork you workers. I leave occasionally to get the guys properly fed and hydrated. We work in the hottest part of the building. I am only looking out for the men I have worked with for 12 years.” Charlie said as calmly as he could. “I have never had an accident in this building. These men get what they need to work no more, no less. I don’t need you wandering off because you think the working conditions are unfair.” Pantene said as she used her hoof to tell her secretary to leave the room. “Pantene, you’re angry, I can see that. I will do as I do, simple enough, these men will die if they are not hydrated correctly.” “They won’t die, not in my factory. Now get your as to the work floor and get that vat dumped. It smells like yak.”