Chapter 7: The Mayor's Choice

"Row faster!" The Mayor barked. She was frustrated, but did not know why, Bulk Biceps was rowing them so fast he was sweating! She ignored this and pushed them on anyways. "We have to get there as quickly as possible!"

"I don't know why." Bon Bon complained. "They've handled worse things before."

Mayor Mare bit back an insult that she was surprised she'd even considered saying and sighed, "I'm sorry for being so rude. I'm just worried about them is all. I also have a weird agitated feeling that I don't understand. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, or something else. Please forgive me."

"It's alright." Lyra huffed, "But can we please slow down?"

"yeah..." Bulk heaved.

"Yes." The Mayor held back her unusual disappointment. She looked around, she saw movement in the upstairs of a small house, almost consumed by the bog. "Actually no."

"Ugh!" The five moaned angrily.

"Somepony is trapped in that house!" She gestured.

The five looked and nodded, their exhaustion forgotten with somepony's life on the line. The boat slowly listed until it bumped up to the edge of the home. Bulk Biceps got up and picked up a paddle.

"What are you doing?" The Mayor asked.

"I'm going to break the window open?" He told her, confused.

"The mud is halfway up the window, if you do that it'll flood the room." The Mayor pointed out. "And if there is a foal, or filly in there they'll get hurt. Even if there's a stallion or mare in there they might be hurt by a dresser falling over on them."

"Oh... yeah..." He sat back down.

"How do we get in?" Cherilee asked.

"If only I had my... oh nevermind, I don't have it, and it doesn't work on wood." Time Turner sighed.

"Mayor?" Lyra pointed at the roof. "There's a chimney."

"Good, um Bulk... Could you toss me up there?" The Mayor asked.

"YEAH!" He gently lifted her and tossed his elected official onto the roof.

The pain began the moment she landed. Her eyes flew wide, but strangely she could not see. She felt the thatch of the roof on her face, a puff of air escaped her lungs before her throat sealed from the shock. She began to slide down the roof as she rapidly in took breath. Her vision returned somewhat and she bit down on the straw of the roof, her weight pulling it from its tightly woven structure. She heard screams from below her. She bit down hard on the old, industrial, straw and stopped her decent by driving her forehooves into the roof. Slowly she arose and moved forward. Blinking away the blurriness in her eyes she saw a red streak on the roof. She couldn't put weight on her back leg. The pain returned, dulled by shock. She heard calls of "Sweet Celestia!" and "Oh my, are you alright!?" Ignoring them she shuffled up to the chimney. It was slow going. As she stood over the sooty hole a strong, yet soft hoof touched her shoulder.

"I cannot allow you to continue." A voice said. The Mayor turned to see a great glowing figure standing over her, mighty wings flapping, haloed by the high sun. The mane flowed regally. A blur of white, yellow, and red.

"Celestia?" The Mayor weakly murmured. She blinked away the visions and saw her rescuer clearly. Bulk Biceps. His piercing red eyes filled with concern. His white coat flecked with red, as was his golden mane. There was quite a bit of it actually.

"No." He frowned. "I need you to focus on me." She heard a crash of wood splintering and her head lolled to the side to see Time Turner had broken through the roof and was helping a small family out of the home. A hoof pushed her focus skyward.

"Focus. Stay awake." He reminded her.

The Mayor hissed as something pressured her leg.

"CAREFUL!" Bulk yelled at something out of her vision. "Stay awake. Focus on me."

"Um... Bulk? There's a strange smoke coming out of her leg wound!" A panicked voice near her leg screamed.

"Bind it! There are Doctors at town hall still!" Bulk commanded.

The pressure returned, but did not hurt as much. Her eyes closed a moment before she heard Bulk yell at her again, she opened them as she was lifted off the roof.

"Stay awake!" He told her.

She tried to listen, she kept her eyes fixed on him focusing as she was told. Her mind clouded with rage. The rage distracted her. Her eyes closed, she heard Bulk yell, she felt him shake her. Her eyelids were too heavy to lift. She heard a great roar in the distance. The voices around her seemed panicked. They were quieter than before...

***

Her head hurt. No... not just her head. Her mind hurt. Her body hurt. Everything hurt. She heard muffled movement. Something sharp pierced her mind. A thought... A sharp thought pierced through the haze. It was not her own. It glowed gold. It was radiant, it took over her bodily functions, she was breathing, but not of her own volition. Her blood pumped at another's command. It felt unnatural and wrong. A second thought slipped in through her subconscious, darker than the first. But no less radiant. It pulled her back to it. She was in... Ponyville! But not as it is, or was! She looked around, there was no trash on the ground, the buildings were clean, the sky spotless. Everything was perfect! Her mane fell in front of her face. It was pink! She smiled. Everything really was perfect. Her town was thriving, as was she! The hair told her so much. She swore she'd let it go natural once she no longer had to worry about reelection season. She sighed at the beauty of it.

"I see it hasn't changed much." A familiar voice coaxed her attention away from the surroundings.

The Mayor turned and saw Princess Luna. "Of course not, this is my dream, always has been, always will be."

"I'm not here to chat. You know that."

The Mayor thought back on her last few moments she could remember and the dream grew darker. The homes sagged, and the dirt road turned to mud.

"I... I know."

"Celestia is keeping you alive, while the Doctors attempt to heal you. I am here to try to keep you well. Also... to check on the damage to your mind."

The dream only grew darker, a storm was brewing, windows shattered, and mud rose.

"Why are you really here? You know I am of stalwart conviction." The mare challenged her nighttime intruder.

"This time has been traumatic for us all, and we found large quantities of the chemical in clouds, in your blood. It makes you angry, aggressive, and reckless. An easier target for the Hydra I supposed. I am here to evaluate the damage it may have caused to your mind. Or at least that's what I told my sister."

"Why are you really here?" She demanded.

"You are dead." Luna said, resolute, as if she had just asked her over for tea.

The Mayor panicked, homes erupted in flames, every monster the Mayor had seen, or even thought of lurked in the darkness. The storm began to lift Luna.

"What?" The Mayor half whispered.

"Your brain has told your organs to stop functioning, Celestia has literally taken over your body like a life support system. Without her you'd have died an hour ago."

The Mayor glared at the destruction, and forced back her fear, the homes repaired, the monsters gone, the storm subsided.

"You have yet to answer me, WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" The Mayor demanded.

"To give you the choice!" Luna blurted, unable to remain emotionless as she had promised herself she would.

"What choice?" The Mayor asked, rhetorically.

"Do you want to die, peacefully? Or live, maybe only a few more hours in pain, maybe a few years in pain, maybe even years fully healed. The physical damage was extensive, best case, your leg loses some functionality but you live normally after a few months. Worst case, extreme pain the rest of your life. I can end it from in here, nopony would know but me."

The Mayor looked down at her hooves. At perfect Ponyville, at an imagined life she'd never live to see, at the life she may be forced to suffer though. She turned to her intruder and gave her answer.

***

Thunderlane and Scootaloo stared at the medical tent, watching the two glows from within. The mud had sunk away as the Hydras had fled from Spike into the Everfree and through to the Badlands. They heard the celebration behind them as ponies chanted Spike, Princess Twilight, Fluttershy can really fly, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Party Time, or some other joyful praise of their heroes that got rid of the mud. But they did not turn, they could not. Before them they saw the real hero, fighting for her life. Scootaloo sniffled.

Thunderlane placed a hoof on her shoulder and shared a comforting look. "She'll pull through. I know she will." He lied to the little filly.

"How can they all do that? Celebrate while the Mayor is on her death bed?" Scootaloo spat.

"They do as they do Scootaloo." He sighed. "Because they were saved by their heroes."

"But Mayor Mare saved them! She organized the rescue teams! She gave those heroes the plan to distract the Hydras! She helped Spike know when to leave! Without her half of them wouldn't even be here! And now she'll be the only casualty!? She's there dying because she fought FOR THEM! AND THEY ARE PARTYING!? HOW IS THAT FAIR!?" Scootaloo sobbed.

Thunderlane shook his head and kneeled in front of Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, listen well. Mayor Mare is not the hero. The hero stands in front of the camera. The hero has the spotlight. They do what is necessary and do it well. In Batmare, do you know Batmare?"

"A little... from the movies..."

"Batmare is a hero. In the end everypony knows that. But do you remember Any Grace?"

"No..."

"Any Grace was the Mayor of Gotham, killed because she appointed the new DA and created tons of new laws that ended up helping Batmare. In fact, without Any Grace, many of the villains would have walked free within days of Batmare catching them. She risked more than Batmare in some ways. But do you remember her?"

Scootaloo did not answer out loud, she only stared downwards.

"Because she's not the hero. She's not meant to be. When the town hosts a party and everything goes well, everypony has fun and goes home. When it goes poorly, everypony complains that Mayor Mare is incompetent and should leave control of parties to Pinkie Pie! When we can't afford to fix town hall, everypony blames the Mayor for not spending smartly, but Celestia forbid she raise taxes or cancel a government funded program or celebration. It is a thankless job."

"Why?"

"It has to be. If politicians were treated like celebrities, the position would attract selfish ponies. Their job is to serve us, not the other way around. The Mayor knows this."

"It's not fair!" Scootaloo yelled.

A cyan pegasus bolted from the party upon hearing this and ruffled the little filly's mane. "What's the matter squirt?"

Scootaloo looked deep into the hero's eyes. "It's not fair..."

"What's not fair?" The Rainbow maned savant tilted her head.

"I... I don't want to talk about it." Scootaloo sat and stared at the tent.

Rainbow looked at her, she was not stupid. She knew what she really meant. She didn't want to talk to her. It hurt. "I... I'll be over there when you want to talk." She assured her.

Thunderlane was about to try to comfort Scootaloo when the tent's flaps fluttered open. Celestia trudged out, stumbling from exhaustion. Behind her Luna came, helping her sister. Then a doctor trudged out, wiping his brow. He had red on his gloves, and mud. Scootaloo's heart crashed. She heard a sound, similar to sharpening a knife, when metal slides against metal. A pole pushed aside the flap, and out limped Mayor Mare, leaning on a crutch. Flinching, but smiling.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading and please tell me how you liked, or disliked it! I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or critique or whatev's!