Ponyville's New Mayorby TorontoFCBronyChaptersChapter 1: It Came from the TrainChapter 2: The New Mayor is ChosenChapter 3: Spying on the New MayorChapter 4: The Fishing TourneyChapter 1: It Came from the Train"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have called this town meeting to discuss who will be the interim mayor while we continue our search for Mayor Mare," Princess Twilight Sparkle said in front of the town hall in Ponyville on a beautiful, sunny day. "As you may already know," Twilight continued, "our beloved mayor mysteriously disappeared a few days ago. Foul play is not suspected yet" The Ponyvillians in the audience all mumbled to themselves in both worry and confusion. None of them knew what had happened to their beloved mayor. She had cared for the small, quiet town for decades and was loved by all of the ponies. She also loved her job, so her mysterious disappearance was just that- a mysterious disappearance. Nopony knew if she was just deathly ill at home, on a vacation she never told anypony about, or if something else, even dangerous or horrible, had happened to her. "The Canterlot Royal Guard has been called in to form a search party for her, and all of the citizens of Ponyville are asked to join in in helping. In the meantime, the search for an interim mayor will begin today," Twilight added. "Who's going to watch over our town while they search?" Lyra, the green unicorn who was born in Canterlot but moved to Ponyville, yelled out. "For the time being I will forgo my duties in Canterlot to watch over Ponyville, but only while we search for our next mayor," Twilight Sparkle replied. "What are we going to do about all the weeds in Ponyville?" Roseluck yelled out. She didn't receive an answer, though, because the rest of the citizens of the quiet town began to all shout out questions and concerns. They were, after all, scared and worried and about the mayor they loved most. Shouts from the crowd included, "What are we going to do about all of the forged paintings in the shops?" "Why is our museum so empty?" "Who will think of the foals?" "When is the next fishing tourney?" As the commotion continued, Princess Twilight informed the crowd that she would need some time to come up with a decision. She left the podium with the crowd still quite concerned, but she needed to go consult her friends on what to do in this situation. After all, she would never have become a princess if it weren't for her friends "Guys, I don't know what to do. I'm worried about the mayor, but I also need to come up with a quick solution. Princess Celestia also needs me back in Canterlot as soon as possible," Twilight informed her friends as they stood in a circle behind the town hall. "Oh Twilight, we are so worried too," Fluttershy said. "Maybe you should go back to Canterlot," Rainbow Dash added. "You have a lot of duties already." "Yes, darling," Rarity added, "we will take care of finding a new mayor. We can also take care of the town ourselves in the meantime." "We can bake super-duper cupcakes for everypony to make them feel better," Pinkie Pie joyously added while hopping up and down. "Yeah, sugarcube, if the five of us can work together, we can take care of this town," Applejack said. "Besides, we have been through worse things many times." "Are you ladies sure you can take care of things without me?" Twilight asked, just to make sure. The five other ponies all nodded their heads with conviction. "Well, then, I guess I will return to Canterlot for now. I will check on you soon. If you need help just send a letter. Spike is waiting for me in Canterlot." Twilight gave a group hug to all of her friends. After informing the town of the news of what was going to happen now, Twilight spread her new wings and took to the sky, heading back to Canterlot from her royal duties. "How d'you suppose we take care of a whole town?" Applejack asked the others after their alicorn friend disappeared into the clouds. "The same way we saved all of their flanks on multiple occasions," Rainbow answered. Pinkie Pie shouted out, "Together!" The five ponies put their hooves together in the air to signify that they were ready for their new challenge, whatever may come their way. However, as they made their way through the town, trying to find ways that they can improve it to make the ponies happy, they were received with grumbling complaints everywhere. It was nothing really personal towards the five; it was more of just a complaining attitude by the villagers due to both their fear and the fact that Ponyville had become more run down in the few days since the mayor's disappearance. The five friends decided to split up in order to cover more ground. They all planned to write down what improvements needed to be made in the town. As Rainbow Dash went towards the train station, the Friendship Express was just pulling in. Out of interest, the blue pegasus looked over to see who, or what, was going to come off the train. She landed on the roof of the building and hid behind the chimney, hoping to get a good look at the travellers or newcomers to the town. However, she was shocked when she saw the creature that came from the train. "What kind of pony is that?" Rainbow muttered to herself. As the creature turned his face towards the sun, his face shined bright like a diamond (or rather, reflected). He stood there like an angel sent from heaven. He was a creature standing on his hind legs, fully clothed and had a shirt that said 'MVP' on it. He was furless, appeared fearless, and his smile could even make the grumpiest of cats happy. His brown mane stayed still even as the wind blew towards him. There was something weird about him, though. Behind his grin and triangle nose seemed like a creature who was disturbed for reasons unknown. What was he doing in Ponyville? Where would he live? What were his plans? These questions went through Rainbow's mind. There was one other thing that was odd about him. In his hands was a weapon. It was a weapon of terror. It was a big, fearsome, long butterfly net. Chapter 2: The New Mayor is ChosenRainbow just waited there in the roof, wondering what in Equestria that new creature was. There was something so odd about him, but his smile was so heartwarming. The pegasus decided to go tell her friends of the new arrival, hoping that one of them could figure it out. "He's right over there," Rainbow said while flying in the air pointing her hoof to the creature, who was still just standing in place on the platform, smile still intact. "What in tarnation is that?" Applejack asked. "Oh oh oh! Pick me, pick me!" Pinkie Pie shouted with her hoof raised. "Um, yes Pinkie?" Rainbow responded. "He's a human. I've seen many of them on my trips to different worlds," Pinkie responded. The four other ponies looked at each other in confusion, but then again, it was Pinkie Pie, after all. "Well, what do you think he wants?" Rainbow asked Pinkie. "I don't know, but he seems really happy," the party pony responded. The five friends looked back over to the creature, who was still just standing in place. His face remained the same- just a smile. His only action was just moving in place, as if he was dancing to a certain degree. "Maybe we should go see what he wants. He seems kind," Fluttershy suggested, to which the others agreed that they would at least welcome him to the town. "I'll go grab my welcome wagon," Pinkie said. As the five of them made their way over to the creature standing at the train station, they noticed that he didn't even glance over at them. He just kept staring in place, looking off into nothing. But that didn't stop the five from greeting him. "Howdy, Ah'm Applejack," the earth pony greeted while reaching her hoof forward. The creature turned his head toward her, but just continued to smile. The only thing he did was tuck his butterfly net into his rather small pocket. The mare looked at her friends as if to say 'Ooooo-kay?' "I know what will get him to say something," Pinkie said. She reached over off-screen and pulled out her welcome wagon. With the press of a button, instruments and flags popped out of the wagon. Pinkie sang, "Welcome, welcome, welcome, a fine welcome to you. Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say 'How do you do?' Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say 'Hip, hip, hooray.' Welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville today!" She finished her song with a hoofball goal style slide celebration towards the creature. "Wait for it," Pinkie finished. A shot of confetti filled the sky and a cake popped out. She seemed to have finally mastered the routine. The reaction of the creature was simply priceless. Actually, no it wasn't. He didn't even flinch, or blink. Rainbow Dash went up to the so-called 'human' to see if she could provoke a reaction out of him. She yelled, "Hello?" into his ear, but there was no response. She then took her hoof and slapped him across the face. He then turned his head only to look straight at Rainbow in the face. Rainbow, for once, actually had a look of fear. She was scared because the creature still just stood there with a smile. Rainbow quickly backed off and pulled her friends to the side. "Nothing seems to faze this guy," she said in the circle with her friends. "He seems happy," Pinkie replied. "Yes, but darling, if you are not that happy all the time," Rarity pointed out. "And why is he here?" Fluttershy asked. "Does he not have anywhere to go?" Their discussion had to be put on hold at that moment. The mares noticed that the creature was on the move, heading towards the town. "We have to follow him," Applejack said. "I'm on it," Rainbow boldly replied while taking flight. She flew atop of the creature at enough altitude and distance away that he didn't notice her. The creature walked towards town hall, and he drew quite the crowd. Everypony whom he passed stopped what they were doing. They were intrigued by this new kind of animal, who was just walking down their streets with nothing apparently on his mind. Rainbow continued to fly above him as he made his way to town hall. By that time half of the town's ponies were closely following him and discussing who or what he was and why he was even there in the first place. When the creature finally made his way to town hall, he stood at the front and turned around to see all of the ponies around him. "Whoa, look who just got to town," Bon Bon said. "That is definitely the person we've been waiting for," Lyra added. "Hey everyone, we should totally say hi," Derpy suggested. "Okay everypony, from those of us in Ponyville, we say," Cheerilee said. All of the ponies in the group yelled out, "Welcome!" Lyra, who was the secretary at the Ponyville town hall, approached the human and said, "Mayor! We are so happy you're finally here." The creature just stared back with his usual smile. "Oh, come on. Quit joking around. We know exactly who you are. You told us exactly which train you'd be arriving on." The creature continued to stare with no change in emotion. There was just something not normal about him. Lyra continued, "Oh no, you can't fool me. Things are just as you said they'd be. All is well, there is no mistake. You're a real jokester." Rainbow, who was watching from the roof of the building, was so deeply confused by this. She scratched her head with her hoof. "How are the ponies communicating with him? He hasn't even said a thing yet." "Let's continue this discussion in the town hall, shall we?" Lyra continued. She handed him a map of Ponyville. The creature went inside the town hall with Lyra, and Rainbow hovered outside one of the side windows to see what was going on. The green-ish unicorn showed the creature the town hall and gave a quick explanation as to what the mayor of Ponyville's duties actually were. "Hey Rainbow, what in tarnation is going on?" Applejack asked from the ground as the others caught up to Rainbow. The rainbow-maned pegasus flew down to them. "I'm not too sure, but I think the ponies just chose this thing as our new mayor." "Oh good heavens!" Rarity exclaimed. Just then, the creature and Lyra came out from the town hall. "Let's plant a tree for the new mayor!" she yelled out. The ponies all cheered in excitement. "What in Equestria is going on?" Rainbow yelled out. "Yeah, even I am confused," Pinkie said, "and I never get confused. Except for the time that I was actually confused, and that other time when I was confused." The five of them closely followed the crowd around the mayor. They were led to an area in town where there was a small dirt area with a hole in the ground. "Please take this sapling, mayor, and plant it in the ground," Lyra said while pulling out a baby tree in a pot out of thin air. "Put your heart in it." The creature stepped forward and planted the sapling, pot and all, in the ground, and buried it by patting dirt to cover the remainder of the whole. "This doesn't make any sense," Rainbow said to her friends as they stood watching from a distance. The whole group of ponies around the mayor began to stomp their hooves on the ground. "Presenting: the new mayor of Ponyville," Lyra exclaimed. The five friends all turned to each other in a look of shock. "What the buck just happened?" Applejack bluntly asked. "I think our job was just done for us," Fluttershy answered. The creature, while the crowd was celebrating the new mayor, turned his head ninety degrees toward the five ponies. He smiled, and there was a slight twinkle in his eye. Chapter 3: Spying on the New MayorNot much was known about this mysterious new mayor, but the ponies of Equestria treated him like a gift from Celestia herself. The five Ponyville friends decided to just go home for the evening. It was a busy day, and non of them were happy with the town choosing a new mayor for themselves. That was never part of their plan, but they had to just go with it. They didn't want to go against a whole town of ponies. The next morning, Rainbow Dash awoke in her cloud mansion. She seemed to be the one the most suspicion towards the new mayor. There was just something about him that didn't make any sense at all. Nopony or body could ever keep a smile that long. He never had any credentials in order to become mayor, but was selected almost instantly. There were also a few nagging questions in the mind of the pegasus, like: "What did he really come here for? What are his plans for this town? Where was he originally from? Another thing also bothered the mind and conscience of Dash: Mayor Mare was still missing. Her disappearance was quick and shocking to everypony. However, most of the ponies were already just focusing on the new mayor instead of helping in the search of their beloved old one. They seemed to just leave it all up to the Royal Canterlot Guard to find her. After eating a quick breakfast early in the morning, Rainbow decided to do a little investigative work on the new human mayor. She flew out of her cloud mansion as the sun was just rising on the horizon. The sky was a flare with red and orange hues. Rainbow flew around town, quick enough so as not to be seen very easily, but slow enough that she didn't make too much noise with her flapping. She was actually quite impressed with herself. Each flap of her majestic blue wings made hardly a sound as she glided across the morning sky. After abut fifteen minutes or so, she finally spotted the new mayor. Once again, he was not dressed in mayor-like clothing. This time he was wearing a red shirt with the number one on it. He didn't seem like a very classy creature to Rainbow. The pegasus found a cloud and landed on top of it. It was just big enough to cover her whole body so that ponies down below could not see her on it. She used her wings to slowly lower the cloud so that she could get a better look at the smiley human. However, upon further inspection, she was shocked to see what the mayor was doing. He was standing beside the river, fishing. He was not caring for any of his mayoral duties. He was just standing there, fishing. Rainbow decided to just stay on the cloud and see if he mayor would do anything else. Eventually, the mayor seemed to have finally caught hold of something. Whatever it was, it put up quiet a fight. The pegasus on the cloud watched in excitement as the boy fought against whatever he was trying to catch. The poor little creature obviously wanted to be let go, but the boy wasn't giving up either. Eventually, it gave up and flew out of the water and landed straight into the hands of the mayor. He presented his new catch to the audience that wasn't there. It was a massive, black boot. He seemed proud of his catch, though, and somehow fit it into his pocket. Rainbow didn't know whether she should laugh or be scared. This new mayor was quite strange, but he was actually quite entertaining to watch. She continued to watch his actions. He fished for over an hour, eventually catching a carp, an angelfish, a goldfish, and a two-metre long arapaima. Rainbow ever even knew that all of this fish were in the small river that flew through the town. What was even more interesting was the fact that the mayor put each of the live fish into his rather small pocket, and he didn't even seem to flinch, and his pockets never seemed to grow in size. The mayor must have gotten bored of fishing at some point, but Rainbow did not notice. In fact, she fell asleep up on the cloud. She awoke with a large yawn and a massive stretch. Upon looking at the sun's location in the sky, and then to the clock tower in Ponyville, she realised that she had just wasted the last two hours sleeping. Well, they may have been considered a waste to some, but to this pegasus it was time well spent. She decided to spend the remainder of her day spying on the new mayor, hoping to find out something about him, anything. He still never said a word, still never told anypony his name, still had no real purpose in town, and still did not seem to have any sense as to what a mayor actually did. She buried herself deeper into the cloud she was on in order that she was now completely covered apart from her eyes. With the spreading of her wings, she went back around town, looking for this ever-elusive human that was wandering around town with all the power that Mayor Mare had. Finding him was not an issue, though. He was the only creature other than Spike living in this town who walked on his hind legs, and he was pretty much the only creature wearing any clothing. It was quite a difference spotting a bright red shirt in the nudist community that Ponyville was. He was running as fast as he could with an axe in his hand. In ended up falling into the ground quite suddenly; his eyes widening like he saw the face of death itself. He shook himself rapidly, eventually doing a complete forward flip out of the hole. It was the first time Rainbow had ever seen anything like that before. He acted as if nothing strange had happened, and he continued to run along his way, eventually taking himself to Sweet Apple Acres. As he approached the farm, he put his axe into his pocket, showing no signs of any discomfort. He then began to shake some of the many trees in the orchard, pocketing each individual apple that fell from the tree. The pegasus in the clouds could not bare to watch this poser steal from one of her best friends in the entire world. While still in the cloud, she perked her head up and yelled out, "Just because you're the mayor, it doesn't mean that you can just do anything you want!" Her shouting actually caught the mayor's attention. He looked around to see who could have said such a thing to him. He still held his smile the whole time, however. Rainbow fell back into the cloud to make sure that he didn't see her, and it appeared to be the case, because he decided to continue collecting apples that were not his. Rainbow finally gave up spying on the mayor after one more weird event. There was a boulder in the field just beyond the bridge over the river flowing through Ponyville. It wasn't just any boulder, though, it was a rock. A big, beautiful, old rock. The mayor pulled out a shovel from his pocket. Rainbow began to stare very closely as she could only wonder what was going through the boy's mind at this moment. She remained focused on him as he grabbed his shovel with both hands. He looked down at the rock, and with all his strength he hit the rock square with the shovel, causing him fly back about half a metre due to the vibration of the hit. However, him hitting the rock wasn't the weird part. As he hit the rock, a bag of bits flew out. In fact, every time he hit the rock, a new bag of bits would fly out. It did that for several hits, and he just picked up the bits and carried on like there was nothing to see. "That's it. I've seen enough," Rainbow said. There were enough weird things going on for the young mare to handle at that time. She didn't know if she was going crazy, if these things were the real life or just fantasy, or if the cider from the night before was just finally getting to her. The pegasus, who spent most of the day just spying on the new mayor, decided to go to see her friends to tell them of her findings. She found her friends eating a snack at Sweet Apple Acres, prepared by Applejack. "So then I said, 'Oatmeal, are you crazy?'" Pinkie said while finishing up her story, causing the other three ponies to chuckle. "Oh, Rainbow dear, where ever have you been all day?" Rarity asked as she saw Rainbow approaching. "I was busy checking out the new mayor," she replied. "Ah don't know about that, Rainbow," Applejack said. "Isn't that considered beastiality?" "Not in that way, you big dummy," Rainbow replied with a slight smile. "I wanted to see what he was up to in this town, and it's clear to me now. Guys, there's something weird about him. He seems to even defy the laws of psychics, or whatever they're called." "Um, I think you mean physics," Fluttershy corrected. "Why thank you, Twilight," Rainbow sarcastically replied. "I'm serious, though. He does things really weirdly. He was hitting rocks with his shovel, cutting down random trees, and he seems to have endless pocket space." "Ah think you're seeing things, sugarcube," Applejack responded. "But... but... I saw it with my own eyes! He's weird, I'm telling you!" "Darling, please don't judge him just yet," Rarity added. "He may ugly and weird, but he's from a totally different land. We can't be racist." "He's actually done a lot of nice things for Ponyville so far," Fluttershy said. "Yeah? Like what?" Rainbow harshly asked. "He seemed to have already pulled all of the weeds from out town," Applejack said. "We could have done that ourselves..." "He donated fish, bugs, fossils, and some delightful paintings to our museum," Rarity said. "Since when did we ever have a museum?" "Yeah Dashie, he seems really super! He tried my new MMM, and he loved it," Pinkie added, probably referring to a new cake that she made. "Maybe you shouldn't judge him yet," Fluttershy politely suggested. "But... come on, guys," Rainbow tried to argue. "Just give it time, sugarcube," Applejack sincerely said while putting a hoof over Rainbow's shoulder. "You'll see that the mayor is just... different. That doesn't make him weird, though." Rainbow let out a loud "Ugh" sound, and took her leave before she said something she would regret. Her friends were left with some thinking to do. Were they to trust their loyal friend? Or would they trust that the mayor was just a different creature, but he really had the town's best interests in mind? Only time would tell. Chapter 4: The Fishing Tourney"Fillies and Gentlecolts, the Fishing Tourney is about to being." "Huh? What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked while waking up in the morning. "Six? Six? Who makes an announcement at six in the morning? And where did that voice come from?" Rainbow woke up on an early Sunday morning to the announcement of the so-called annual fishing tournament, which had actually never happened before. She decided to look out the window of her floating mansion to all of the ponies down below. "This should be exciting. I'm so happy our new mayor has brought some of his country's customs and celebrations over to our small town," Lyra said to Bonbon. "I didn't put those in my bag," Bonbon responded with a yell. "All of the ponies in this town seriously have issues," the rainbow-maned pegasus muttered to herself. It was about three weeks since the disappearance of Mayor Mare, and there was no good news yet. She hadn't been found, a reason was not given, and no leads were even discovered. In fact, the reason to her disappearance was the most important issue. Nopony knew if she had been murdered, fell off a cliff, turned into a trophy on the wall, or if she had just gone on vacation and nopony knew about it. The five members of the main six who remained in Ponyville hoped that it was the latter, as the Royal Guard had not made any kind of progress in the search. Rainbow continued to look outside, and she was surprised to see all of the ponies running toward the river with fishing roods somehow attached to their bodies. Everypony was excited for this new competition. The prize? Nopony knew just yet. "Do ponies even eat fish?" Rainbow asked herself. Since her friends were not as suspicious towards the new mayor as she was, she decided to take matters into her own hooves. She decided that she was going to continue her investigative work on this human, who seemed very nice, but oh-so weird. Rainbow looked in her closet, hoping to find something that she could fish with. She had never felt the need to fish before, but fishing beside the mayor could be a good way at getting a closer look at him. After not finding anything that she could fish with, she decided to just go down to the ground and make her way to the river. But before she took off, she passed her mailbox. The flag was up, and for some reason her mailbox was making a beeping sound, which it had never done before. Upon opening it, she pulled out a single letter that was inside. Rainbow opened the envelope, revealing a poorly hand-written note, which read, "To Rainbow Dash, Hello, friend. Let's be friends. From, Mayor." There was something else in the envelope, though. She reached into the envelope, which fit in her hoof, and pulled out a one-and-a-half metre long fishing pole, which somehow fit inside. Rainbow was starting to begin to think that she was going crazy. The ponies in the town were all acting out of their minds, physics had seemed to change, and yet nopony seemed to have a single concern in the world. "Remember what Twilight said," Rainbow muttered to herself, "'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' There's no logic here. I'm not asleep, on drugs, or in a new world. This must really be happening." She could hardly believe it, but it this entire ordeal was really happening. The only way she could keep herself from going mad was to just go along with it. Rainbow made her way to the river. Even though it was early in the morning, nearly every pony in the entire town had drawn together as a crowd. They were looking toward a small wagon that was by the side of the river. The wagon had a creature beside it, hideous in nature. "Welcome to the first annual Ponyville Fishing Tourney," the ugly creature responded. Rainbow deduced that he was some kind of beaver that stood on his hind legs. "I'm Chip, the organizer and judge of this tournament. Today you will be looking for bass. Nice, tender, delicious bass. Whoever brings me the biggest, most delicious, juicy, scrumptious..." He looked out at the crowd, staring at him in confusion. After clearing his throat nervously, he continued, "Bass will be crowned the winner. I will be measuring to see who will catch the biggest one. After today, I will be off to another town to eat more delicious bass. Ready... Set... Go!" Everypony who was in the crowd went to all different sections of the river that flowed through the town. The mayor was the first to cast his rod into the blue, peaceful waters of the Ponyville River. In nearly seconds, everypony had grabbed their fishing rods and were patiently waiting for a bite. Rainbow went to go find a spot close to her friends, who were all standing directly across from the mayor. "Rainbow, we're so glad you could make it," Rarity said. "Yeah, sugarcube, take up a spot next to me," Applejack added. Rainbow raised an eyebrow and nodded, not trying to look like she was suspicious of the whole thing. She cast her fishing rod in the river. The bobber floated on top of the water, and it went downstream a few metres before stopping in place when the line could go no further. She looked around at all of the other ponies. There must have been nearly a hundred ponies fishing. She looked over to Chip, who was speaking to Vinyl, who seemed to have caught a bass. "Let's see what you've caught today," Chip said. Vinyl pulled reached beside her, the spot where Rainbow could not see, and pulled out a sea bass. "Um, this isn't a bass," Chip said. "Well, technically it is a bass, but not the kind of bass I'm looking for. You'll have to catch one in the river, not in the ocean." "We have an ocean in Ponyville?" Rainbow mumbled. Vinyl trotted back over to the river. The DJ dropped the bass, and it fell into the fresh water and instantly died, because it was a salt water fish. Rainbow rolled her eyes and continued to try and fish. "Whoa, I think I caught something huge," she said as her bobber moved around in a circle violently. She pulled with all of her strength, desperately holding on to her pole. At any second it could have just flown right out of her hooves. She yanked hard and pulled out of the water a small goldfish. "Oh, goodness, it's so cute," Fluttershy came over and said. "Yeah, but it's not what I'm looking for," Rainbow replied as she threw it back into the water. After continuing to fish, Rainbow looked up and saw the mayor directly across from her. She looked down at his reflection in the water. As she raised her head, she saw the mayor staring back at her, smiling maniacally; or normally, she wasn't quite sure. His face didn't seem to change. He looked back down to the water. His rod began to shake; his bobber violently spinning in the water. He fought back hard, while still holding his smile, and pulled out a large bass. He showed it off and the other ponies clopped their hooves in reply. He shoved the bass in his pocket, walked over to Chip, and pulled it back out. "Now that's what I'm talking about," Chip said enthusiastically. He grabbed the bass, measured it, and said, "Thirty-seven inches long. Scrumptious." The way he said his final word just wreaked of love. It was almost as if a heart could appear over his head, in order to show how excited he was. He grabbed the bass, ate it in a few bites, and belched loudly. "We have a winner," he announced. Everypony looked over to Chip, who held up the mayor's hand up high, signifying that he had won the tournament for the day. Everypony applauded in sheer excitement. "Here is your prize," Chip said. He handed the mayor a large green leaf, and the mayor put it in his pocked. "Please take your trophy." Rainbow had to give her head a shake. A leaf. A leaf was the trophy. There were literally thousands, neigh, millions of leaves around the forests of Ponyville; yet that was the prize. She said her goodbyes to her friends for the day, and followed the mayor back to his home from the skies. The mayor ran as fast as he could, with no apparent reason for it, back to his house, which was a small one-story home with a red roof. It almost looked comically small. As he went inside, Rainbow went to the window. The house seemed much bigger inside as it did outside. The mayor pulled out the leaf he won from his pocket, and threw it on the ground. The leaf instantly turned into a trophy that was about the same size as the human himself. Rainbow could hardly believe her eyes. Her face, which beheld her shock, told the whole story. She cocked her head back, gave herself a shake, and looked again. Her eyes didn't betray her- there really was a trophy in his mostly empty house. Once again, Rainbow saw enough for the day. She had to return home to keep her sanity, hoping that somehow, someway, this would eventually all make sense. Patience was the key.
Chapter 1: It Came from the Train"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have called this town meeting to discuss who will be the interim mayor while we continue our search for Mayor Mare," Princess Twilight Sparkle said in front of the town hall in Ponyville on a beautiful, sunny day. "As you may already know," Twilight continued, "our beloved mayor mysteriously disappeared a few days ago. Foul play is not suspected yet" The Ponyvillians in the audience all mumbled to themselves in both worry and confusion. None of them knew what had happened to their beloved mayor. She had cared for the small, quiet town for decades and was loved by all of the ponies. She also loved her job, so her mysterious disappearance was just that- a mysterious disappearance. Nopony knew if she was just deathly ill at home, on a vacation she never told anypony about, or if something else, even dangerous or horrible, had happened to her. "The Canterlot Royal Guard has been called in to form a search party for her, and all of the citizens of Ponyville are asked to join in in helping. In the meantime, the search for an interim mayor will begin today," Twilight added. "Who's going to watch over our town while they search?" Lyra, the green unicorn who was born in Canterlot but moved to Ponyville, yelled out. "For the time being I will forgo my duties in Canterlot to watch over Ponyville, but only while we search for our next mayor," Twilight Sparkle replied. "What are we going to do about all the weeds in Ponyville?" Roseluck yelled out. She didn't receive an answer, though, because the rest of the citizens of the quiet town began to all shout out questions and concerns. They were, after all, scared and worried and about the mayor they loved most. Shouts from the crowd included, "What are we going to do about all of the forged paintings in the shops?" "Why is our museum so empty?" "Who will think of the foals?" "When is the next fishing tourney?" As the commotion continued, Princess Twilight informed the crowd that she would need some time to come up with a decision. She left the podium with the crowd still quite concerned, but she needed to go consult her friends on what to do in this situation. After all, she would never have become a princess if it weren't for her friends "Guys, I don't know what to do. I'm worried about the mayor, but I also need to come up with a quick solution. Princess Celestia also needs me back in Canterlot as soon as possible," Twilight informed her friends as they stood in a circle behind the town hall. "Oh Twilight, we are so worried too," Fluttershy said. "Maybe you should go back to Canterlot," Rainbow Dash added. "You have a lot of duties already." "Yes, darling," Rarity added, "we will take care of finding a new mayor. We can also take care of the town ourselves in the meantime." "We can bake super-duper cupcakes for everypony to make them feel better," Pinkie Pie joyously added while hopping up and down. "Yeah, sugarcube, if the five of us can work together, we can take care of this town," Applejack said. "Besides, we have been through worse things many times." "Are you ladies sure you can take care of things without me?" Twilight asked, just to make sure. The five other ponies all nodded their heads with conviction. "Well, then, I guess I will return to Canterlot for now. I will check on you soon. If you need help just send a letter. Spike is waiting for me in Canterlot." Twilight gave a group hug to all of her friends. After informing the town of the news of what was going to happen now, Twilight spread her new wings and took to the sky, heading back to Canterlot from her royal duties. "How d'you suppose we take care of a whole town?" Applejack asked the others after their alicorn friend disappeared into the clouds. "The same way we saved all of their flanks on multiple occasions," Rainbow answered. Pinkie Pie shouted out, "Together!" The five ponies put their hooves together in the air to signify that they were ready for their new challenge, whatever may come their way. However, as they made their way through the town, trying to find ways that they can improve it to make the ponies happy, they were received with grumbling complaints everywhere. It was nothing really personal towards the five; it was more of just a complaining attitude by the villagers due to both their fear and the fact that Ponyville had become more run down in the few days since the mayor's disappearance. The five friends decided to split up in order to cover more ground. They all planned to write down what improvements needed to be made in the town. As Rainbow Dash went towards the train station, the Friendship Express was just pulling in. Out of interest, the blue pegasus looked over to see who, or what, was going to come off the train. She landed on the roof of the building and hid behind the chimney, hoping to get a good look at the travellers or newcomers to the town. However, she was shocked when she saw the creature that came from the train. "What kind of pony is that?" Rainbow muttered to herself. As the creature turned his face towards the sun, his face shined bright like a diamond (or rather, reflected). He stood there like an angel sent from heaven. He was a creature standing on his hind legs, fully clothed and had a shirt that said 'MVP' on it. He was furless, appeared fearless, and his smile could even make the grumpiest of cats happy. His brown mane stayed still even as the wind blew towards him. There was something weird about him, though. Behind his grin and triangle nose seemed like a creature who was disturbed for reasons unknown. What was he doing in Ponyville? Where would he live? What were his plans? These questions went through Rainbow's mind. There was one other thing that was odd about him. In his hands was a weapon. It was a weapon of terror. It was a big, fearsome, long butterfly net.
Chapter 2: The New Mayor is ChosenRainbow just waited there in the roof, wondering what in Equestria that new creature was. There was something so odd about him, but his smile was so heartwarming. The pegasus decided to go tell her friends of the new arrival, hoping that one of them could figure it out. "He's right over there," Rainbow said while flying in the air pointing her hoof to the creature, who was still just standing in place on the platform, smile still intact. "What in tarnation is that?" Applejack asked. "Oh oh oh! Pick me, pick me!" Pinkie Pie shouted with her hoof raised. "Um, yes Pinkie?" Rainbow responded. "He's a human. I've seen many of them on my trips to different worlds," Pinkie responded. The four other ponies looked at each other in confusion, but then again, it was Pinkie Pie, after all. "Well, what do you think he wants?" Rainbow asked Pinkie. "I don't know, but he seems really happy," the party pony responded. The five friends looked back over to the creature, who was still just standing in place. His face remained the same- just a smile. His only action was just moving in place, as if he was dancing to a certain degree. "Maybe we should go see what he wants. He seems kind," Fluttershy suggested, to which the others agreed that they would at least welcome him to the town. "I'll go grab my welcome wagon," Pinkie said. As the five of them made their way over to the creature standing at the train station, they noticed that he didn't even glance over at them. He just kept staring in place, looking off into nothing. But that didn't stop the five from greeting him. "Howdy, Ah'm Applejack," the earth pony greeted while reaching her hoof forward. The creature turned his head toward her, but just continued to smile. The only thing he did was tuck his butterfly net into his rather small pocket. The mare looked at her friends as if to say 'Ooooo-kay?' "I know what will get him to say something," Pinkie said. She reached over off-screen and pulled out her welcome wagon. With the press of a button, instruments and flags popped out of the wagon. Pinkie sang, "Welcome, welcome, welcome, a fine welcome to you. Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say 'How do you do?' Welcome, welcome, welcome, I say 'Hip, hip, hooray.' Welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville today!" She finished her song with a hoofball goal style slide celebration towards the creature. "Wait for it," Pinkie finished. A shot of confetti filled the sky and a cake popped out. She seemed to have finally mastered the routine. The reaction of the creature was simply priceless. Actually, no it wasn't. He didn't even flinch, or blink. Rainbow Dash went up to the so-called 'human' to see if she could provoke a reaction out of him. She yelled, "Hello?" into his ear, but there was no response. She then took her hoof and slapped him across the face. He then turned his head only to look straight at Rainbow in the face. Rainbow, for once, actually had a look of fear. She was scared because the creature still just stood there with a smile. Rainbow quickly backed off and pulled her friends to the side. "Nothing seems to faze this guy," she said in the circle with her friends. "He seems happy," Pinkie replied. "Yes, but darling, if you are not that happy all the time," Rarity pointed out. "And why is he here?" Fluttershy asked. "Does he not have anywhere to go?" Their discussion had to be put on hold at that moment. The mares noticed that the creature was on the move, heading towards the town. "We have to follow him," Applejack said. "I'm on it," Rainbow boldly replied while taking flight. She flew atop of the creature at enough altitude and distance away that he didn't notice her. The creature walked towards town hall, and he drew quite the crowd. Everypony whom he passed stopped what they were doing. They were intrigued by this new kind of animal, who was just walking down their streets with nothing apparently on his mind. Rainbow continued to fly above him as he made his way to town hall. By that time half of the town's ponies were closely following him and discussing who or what he was and why he was even there in the first place. When the creature finally made his way to town hall, he stood at the front and turned around to see all of the ponies around him. "Whoa, look who just got to town," Bon Bon said. "That is definitely the person we've been waiting for," Lyra added. "Hey everyone, we should totally say hi," Derpy suggested. "Okay everypony, from those of us in Ponyville, we say," Cheerilee said. All of the ponies in the group yelled out, "Welcome!" Lyra, who was the secretary at the Ponyville town hall, approached the human and said, "Mayor! We are so happy you're finally here." The creature just stared back with his usual smile. "Oh, come on. Quit joking around. We know exactly who you are. You told us exactly which train you'd be arriving on." The creature continued to stare with no change in emotion. There was just something not normal about him. Lyra continued, "Oh no, you can't fool me. Things are just as you said they'd be. All is well, there is no mistake. You're a real jokester." Rainbow, who was watching from the roof of the building, was so deeply confused by this. She scratched her head with her hoof. "How are the ponies communicating with him? He hasn't even said a thing yet." "Let's continue this discussion in the town hall, shall we?" Lyra continued. She handed him a map of Ponyville. The creature went inside the town hall with Lyra, and Rainbow hovered outside one of the side windows to see what was going on. The green-ish unicorn showed the creature the town hall and gave a quick explanation as to what the mayor of Ponyville's duties actually were. "Hey Rainbow, what in tarnation is going on?" Applejack asked from the ground as the others caught up to Rainbow. The rainbow-maned pegasus flew down to them. "I'm not too sure, but I think the ponies just chose this thing as our new mayor." "Oh good heavens!" Rarity exclaimed. Just then, the creature and Lyra came out from the town hall. "Let's plant a tree for the new mayor!" she yelled out. The ponies all cheered in excitement. "What in Equestria is going on?" Rainbow yelled out. "Yeah, even I am confused," Pinkie said, "and I never get confused. Except for the time that I was actually confused, and that other time when I was confused." The five of them closely followed the crowd around the mayor. They were led to an area in town where there was a small dirt area with a hole in the ground. "Please take this sapling, mayor, and plant it in the ground," Lyra said while pulling out a baby tree in a pot out of thin air. "Put your heart in it." The creature stepped forward and planted the sapling, pot and all, in the ground, and buried it by patting dirt to cover the remainder of the whole. "This doesn't make any sense," Rainbow said to her friends as they stood watching from a distance. The whole group of ponies around the mayor began to stomp their hooves on the ground. "Presenting: the new mayor of Ponyville," Lyra exclaimed. The five friends all turned to each other in a look of shock. "What the buck just happened?" Applejack bluntly asked. "I think our job was just done for us," Fluttershy answered. The creature, while the crowd was celebrating the new mayor, turned his head ninety degrees toward the five ponies. He smiled, and there was a slight twinkle in his eye.
Chapter 3: Spying on the New MayorNot much was known about this mysterious new mayor, but the ponies of Equestria treated him like a gift from Celestia herself. The five Ponyville friends decided to just go home for the evening. It was a busy day, and non of them were happy with the town choosing a new mayor for themselves. That was never part of their plan, but they had to just go with it. They didn't want to go against a whole town of ponies. The next morning, Rainbow Dash awoke in her cloud mansion. She seemed to be the one the most suspicion towards the new mayor. There was just something about him that didn't make any sense at all. Nopony or body could ever keep a smile that long. He never had any credentials in order to become mayor, but was selected almost instantly. There were also a few nagging questions in the mind of the pegasus, like: "What did he really come here for? What are his plans for this town? Where was he originally from? Another thing also bothered the mind and conscience of Dash: Mayor Mare was still missing. Her disappearance was quick and shocking to everypony. However, most of the ponies were already just focusing on the new mayor instead of helping in the search of their beloved old one. They seemed to just leave it all up to the Royal Canterlot Guard to find her. After eating a quick breakfast early in the morning, Rainbow decided to do a little investigative work on the new human mayor. She flew out of her cloud mansion as the sun was just rising on the horizon. The sky was a flare with red and orange hues. Rainbow flew around town, quick enough so as not to be seen very easily, but slow enough that she didn't make too much noise with her flapping. She was actually quite impressed with herself. Each flap of her majestic blue wings made hardly a sound as she glided across the morning sky. After abut fifteen minutes or so, she finally spotted the new mayor. Once again, he was not dressed in mayor-like clothing. This time he was wearing a red shirt with the number one on it. He didn't seem like a very classy creature to Rainbow. The pegasus found a cloud and landed on top of it. It was just big enough to cover her whole body so that ponies down below could not see her on it. She used her wings to slowly lower the cloud so that she could get a better look at the smiley human. However, upon further inspection, she was shocked to see what the mayor was doing. He was standing beside the river, fishing. He was not caring for any of his mayoral duties. He was just standing there, fishing. Rainbow decided to just stay on the cloud and see if he mayor would do anything else. Eventually, the mayor seemed to have finally caught hold of something. Whatever it was, it put up quiet a fight. The pegasus on the cloud watched in excitement as the boy fought against whatever he was trying to catch. The poor little creature obviously wanted to be let go, but the boy wasn't giving up either. Eventually, it gave up and flew out of the water and landed straight into the hands of the mayor. He presented his new catch to the audience that wasn't there. It was a massive, black boot. He seemed proud of his catch, though, and somehow fit it into his pocket. Rainbow didn't know whether she should laugh or be scared. This new mayor was quite strange, but he was actually quite entertaining to watch. She continued to watch his actions. He fished for over an hour, eventually catching a carp, an angelfish, a goldfish, and a two-metre long arapaima. Rainbow ever even knew that all of this fish were in the small river that flew through the town. What was even more interesting was the fact that the mayor put each of the live fish into his rather small pocket, and he didn't even seem to flinch, and his pockets never seemed to grow in size. The mayor must have gotten bored of fishing at some point, but Rainbow did not notice. In fact, she fell asleep up on the cloud. She awoke with a large yawn and a massive stretch. Upon looking at the sun's location in the sky, and then to the clock tower in Ponyville, she realised that she had just wasted the last two hours sleeping. Well, they may have been considered a waste to some, but to this pegasus it was time well spent. She decided to spend the remainder of her day spying on the new mayor, hoping to find out something about him, anything. He still never said a word, still never told anypony his name, still had no real purpose in town, and still did not seem to have any sense as to what a mayor actually did. She buried herself deeper into the cloud she was on in order that she was now completely covered apart from her eyes. With the spreading of her wings, she went back around town, looking for this ever-elusive human that was wandering around town with all the power that Mayor Mare had. Finding him was not an issue, though. He was the only creature other than Spike living in this town who walked on his hind legs, and he was pretty much the only creature wearing any clothing. It was quite a difference spotting a bright red shirt in the nudist community that Ponyville was. He was running as fast as he could with an axe in his hand. In ended up falling into the ground quite suddenly; his eyes widening like he saw the face of death itself. He shook himself rapidly, eventually doing a complete forward flip out of the hole. It was the first time Rainbow had ever seen anything like that before. He acted as if nothing strange had happened, and he continued to run along his way, eventually taking himself to Sweet Apple Acres. As he approached the farm, he put his axe into his pocket, showing no signs of any discomfort. He then began to shake some of the many trees in the orchard, pocketing each individual apple that fell from the tree. The pegasus in the clouds could not bare to watch this poser steal from one of her best friends in the entire world. While still in the cloud, she perked her head up and yelled out, "Just because you're the mayor, it doesn't mean that you can just do anything you want!" Her shouting actually caught the mayor's attention. He looked around to see who could have said such a thing to him. He still held his smile the whole time, however. Rainbow fell back into the cloud to make sure that he didn't see her, and it appeared to be the case, because he decided to continue collecting apples that were not his. Rainbow finally gave up spying on the mayor after one more weird event. There was a boulder in the field just beyond the bridge over the river flowing through Ponyville. It wasn't just any boulder, though, it was a rock. A big, beautiful, old rock. The mayor pulled out a shovel from his pocket. Rainbow began to stare very closely as she could only wonder what was going through the boy's mind at this moment. She remained focused on him as he grabbed his shovel with both hands. He looked down at the rock, and with all his strength he hit the rock square with the shovel, causing him fly back about half a metre due to the vibration of the hit. However, him hitting the rock wasn't the weird part. As he hit the rock, a bag of bits flew out. In fact, every time he hit the rock, a new bag of bits would fly out. It did that for several hits, and he just picked up the bits and carried on like there was nothing to see. "That's it. I've seen enough," Rainbow said. There were enough weird things going on for the young mare to handle at that time. She didn't know if she was going crazy, if these things were the real life or just fantasy, or if the cider from the night before was just finally getting to her. The pegasus, who spent most of the day just spying on the new mayor, decided to go to see her friends to tell them of her findings. She found her friends eating a snack at Sweet Apple Acres, prepared by Applejack. "So then I said, 'Oatmeal, are you crazy?'" Pinkie said while finishing up her story, causing the other three ponies to chuckle. "Oh, Rainbow dear, where ever have you been all day?" Rarity asked as she saw Rainbow approaching. "I was busy checking out the new mayor," she replied. "Ah don't know about that, Rainbow," Applejack said. "Isn't that considered beastiality?" "Not in that way, you big dummy," Rainbow replied with a slight smile. "I wanted to see what he was up to in this town, and it's clear to me now. Guys, there's something weird about him. He seems to even defy the laws of psychics, or whatever they're called." "Um, I think you mean physics," Fluttershy corrected. "Why thank you, Twilight," Rainbow sarcastically replied. "I'm serious, though. He does things really weirdly. He was hitting rocks with his shovel, cutting down random trees, and he seems to have endless pocket space." "Ah think you're seeing things, sugarcube," Applejack responded. "But... but... I saw it with my own eyes! He's weird, I'm telling you!" "Darling, please don't judge him just yet," Rarity added. "He may ugly and weird, but he's from a totally different land. We can't be racist." "He's actually done a lot of nice things for Ponyville so far," Fluttershy said. "Yeah? Like what?" Rainbow harshly asked. "He seemed to have already pulled all of the weeds from out town," Applejack said. "We could have done that ourselves..." "He donated fish, bugs, fossils, and some delightful paintings to our museum," Rarity said. "Since when did we ever have a museum?" "Yeah Dashie, he seems really super! He tried my new MMM, and he loved it," Pinkie added, probably referring to a new cake that she made. "Maybe you shouldn't judge him yet," Fluttershy politely suggested. "But... come on, guys," Rainbow tried to argue. "Just give it time, sugarcube," Applejack sincerely said while putting a hoof over Rainbow's shoulder. "You'll see that the mayor is just... different. That doesn't make him weird, though." Rainbow let out a loud "Ugh" sound, and took her leave before she said something she would regret. Her friends were left with some thinking to do. Were they to trust their loyal friend? Or would they trust that the mayor was just a different creature, but he really had the town's best interests in mind? Only time would tell.
Chapter 4: The Fishing Tourney"Fillies and Gentlecolts, the Fishing Tourney is about to being." "Huh? What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked while waking up in the morning. "Six? Six? Who makes an announcement at six in the morning? And where did that voice come from?" Rainbow woke up on an early Sunday morning to the announcement of the so-called annual fishing tournament, which had actually never happened before. She decided to look out the window of her floating mansion to all of the ponies down below. "This should be exciting. I'm so happy our new mayor has brought some of his country's customs and celebrations over to our small town," Lyra said to Bonbon. "I didn't put those in my bag," Bonbon responded with a yell. "All of the ponies in this town seriously have issues," the rainbow-maned pegasus muttered to herself. It was about three weeks since the disappearance of Mayor Mare, and there was no good news yet. She hadn't been found, a reason was not given, and no leads were even discovered. In fact, the reason to her disappearance was the most important issue. Nopony knew if she had been murdered, fell off a cliff, turned into a trophy on the wall, or if she had just gone on vacation and nopony knew about it. The five members of the main six who remained in Ponyville hoped that it was the latter, as the Royal Guard had not made any kind of progress in the search. Rainbow continued to look outside, and she was surprised to see all of the ponies running toward the river with fishing roods somehow attached to their bodies. Everypony was excited for this new competition. The prize? Nopony knew just yet. "Do ponies even eat fish?" Rainbow asked herself. Since her friends were not as suspicious towards the new mayor as she was, she decided to take matters into her own hooves. She decided that she was going to continue her investigative work on this human, who seemed very nice, but oh-so weird. Rainbow looked in her closet, hoping to find something that she could fish with. She had never felt the need to fish before, but fishing beside the mayor could be a good way at getting a closer look at him. After not finding anything that she could fish with, she decided to just go down to the ground and make her way to the river. But before she took off, she passed her mailbox. The flag was up, and for some reason her mailbox was making a beeping sound, which it had never done before. Upon opening it, she pulled out a single letter that was inside. Rainbow opened the envelope, revealing a poorly hand-written note, which read, "To Rainbow Dash, Hello, friend. Let's be friends. From, Mayor." There was something else in the envelope, though. She reached into the envelope, which fit in her hoof, and pulled out a one-and-a-half metre long fishing pole, which somehow fit inside. Rainbow was starting to begin to think that she was going crazy. The ponies in the town were all acting out of their minds, physics had seemed to change, and yet nopony seemed to have a single concern in the world. "Remember what Twilight said," Rainbow muttered to herself, "'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' There's no logic here. I'm not asleep, on drugs, or in a new world. This must really be happening." She could hardly believe it, but it this entire ordeal was really happening. The only way she could keep herself from going mad was to just go along with it. Rainbow made her way to the river. Even though it was early in the morning, nearly every pony in the entire town had drawn together as a crowd. They were looking toward a small wagon that was by the side of the river. The wagon had a creature beside it, hideous in nature. "Welcome to the first annual Ponyville Fishing Tourney," the ugly creature responded. Rainbow deduced that he was some kind of beaver that stood on his hind legs. "I'm Chip, the organizer and judge of this tournament. Today you will be looking for bass. Nice, tender, delicious bass. Whoever brings me the biggest, most delicious, juicy, scrumptious..." He looked out at the crowd, staring at him in confusion. After clearing his throat nervously, he continued, "Bass will be crowned the winner. I will be measuring to see who will catch the biggest one. After today, I will be off to another town to eat more delicious bass. Ready... Set... Go!" Everypony who was in the crowd went to all different sections of the river that flowed through the town. The mayor was the first to cast his rod into the blue, peaceful waters of the Ponyville River. In nearly seconds, everypony had grabbed their fishing rods and were patiently waiting for a bite. Rainbow went to go find a spot close to her friends, who were all standing directly across from the mayor. "Rainbow, we're so glad you could make it," Rarity said. "Yeah, sugarcube, take up a spot next to me," Applejack added. Rainbow raised an eyebrow and nodded, not trying to look like she was suspicious of the whole thing. She cast her fishing rod in the river. The bobber floated on top of the water, and it went downstream a few metres before stopping in place when the line could go no further. She looked around at all of the other ponies. There must have been nearly a hundred ponies fishing. She looked over to Chip, who was speaking to Vinyl, who seemed to have caught a bass. "Let's see what you've caught today," Chip said. Vinyl pulled reached beside her, the spot where Rainbow could not see, and pulled out a sea bass. "Um, this isn't a bass," Chip said. "Well, technically it is a bass, but not the kind of bass I'm looking for. You'll have to catch one in the river, not in the ocean." "We have an ocean in Ponyville?" Rainbow mumbled. Vinyl trotted back over to the river. The DJ dropped the bass, and it fell into the fresh water and instantly died, because it was a salt water fish. Rainbow rolled her eyes and continued to try and fish. "Whoa, I think I caught something huge," she said as her bobber moved around in a circle violently. She pulled with all of her strength, desperately holding on to her pole. At any second it could have just flown right out of her hooves. She yanked hard and pulled out of the water a small goldfish. "Oh, goodness, it's so cute," Fluttershy came over and said. "Yeah, but it's not what I'm looking for," Rainbow replied as she threw it back into the water. After continuing to fish, Rainbow looked up and saw the mayor directly across from her. She looked down at his reflection in the water. As she raised her head, she saw the mayor staring back at her, smiling maniacally; or normally, she wasn't quite sure. His face didn't seem to change. He looked back down to the water. His rod began to shake; his bobber violently spinning in the water. He fought back hard, while still holding his smile, and pulled out a large bass. He showed it off and the other ponies clopped their hooves in reply. He shoved the bass in his pocket, walked over to Chip, and pulled it back out. "Now that's what I'm talking about," Chip said enthusiastically. He grabbed the bass, measured it, and said, "Thirty-seven inches long. Scrumptious." The way he said his final word just wreaked of love. It was almost as if a heart could appear over his head, in order to show how excited he was. He grabbed the bass, ate it in a few bites, and belched loudly. "We have a winner," he announced. Everypony looked over to Chip, who held up the mayor's hand up high, signifying that he had won the tournament for the day. Everypony applauded in sheer excitement. "Here is your prize," Chip said. He handed the mayor a large green leaf, and the mayor put it in his pocked. "Please take your trophy." Rainbow had to give her head a shake. A leaf. A leaf was the trophy. There were literally thousands, neigh, millions of leaves around the forests of Ponyville; yet that was the prize. She said her goodbyes to her friends for the day, and followed the mayor back to his home from the skies. The mayor ran as fast as he could, with no apparent reason for it, back to his house, which was a small one-story home with a red roof. It almost looked comically small. As he went inside, Rainbow went to the window. The house seemed much bigger inside as it did outside. The mayor pulled out the leaf he won from his pocket, and threw it on the ground. The leaf instantly turned into a trophy that was about the same size as the human himself. Rainbow could hardly believe her eyes. Her face, which beheld her shock, told the whole story. She cocked her head back, gave herself a shake, and looked again. Her eyes didn't betray her- there really was a trophy in his mostly empty house. Once again, Rainbow saw enough for the day. She had to return home to keep her sanity, hoping that somehow, someway, this would eventually all make sense. Patience was the key.
