The Great Ponyville Election

Chapters

Setting the stage
Campaign 101
The Filth of the Trail
That Old Debate
Final Insults

Setting the stage

TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY MONDAY 1:00 PM

“It’s not fair!” Rainbow Dash shouted at Twilight. “I mean can you believe this Twi!””

The purple pony frowned. “Yes Rainbow,” she responded. “You’ve been complaining about it for the last hour.”

Rainbow turned to look at the tell-tale clock before shooting a glare back at her friend.”You don’t understand Twilight,” Dash protested. “The Mayor’s gone too far this time! I mean making it illegal for Pegasi to fly at 10 or more wing speed below 100 feet over Ponyville is is-”

“Is a good idea,” Twilight interjected. “Why just last week some pegasi crashed into some stands at the market because they were flying too fast near the ground.”

Rainbow scoffed. “That’s beside the point!” She cried continuing her tirade. “All these new laws prevent ponies’ from having any fun!” Dash grabbed a copy of the new Ponyville rulebook and threw it open. “No running through the streets except in an emergency, No building outlandish contraptions on public property, Look Twilight! There’s even a new law creating a curfew!”

“Look Rainbow,” Twilight said fed up with her friend’s whining. “I understand your upset, but I agree with the Mayor here. When it comes to everypony’s safety it’s better to be cautious.”

Rainbow gave Twilight a look of scorn. “Fine then,” she answered. “I guess it’s up to me to save Ponyville from the Mayor and her booooorrrrinnng rules!” And with that Rainbow Dash flew through an open window and left. Twilight rolled her eyes before returning to her book. Little did she know what Dash was planning.

TOWN HALL MEETING 4:30 PM

The Mayor addressed a large crowd of ponies. “Everypony please settle down,” the elderly mare said with poise. The group quickly grew silent. The Mayor smiled. “Thank you everypony. Now that we’re all here let’s begin with the week’s agenda.” Many ponies in the audience began to whisper amongst themselves. These town hall meetings were always notoriously boring. The Mayor continued. “The first upcoming event is the election for Ponyville Mayor. Hahaha sorry about that everypony. It’s just that nopony has challenged me for the title of Mayor in 20 years.” Murmurs could be heard from the crowd until suddenly a loud voice drew everypony’s attention.

“And that ends today!”

Everypony looked in the direction of the voice only to see it belonged to Rainbow Dash, who had just entered through the doorway since she was late to the meeting. The pegasus leapt on to the stage to face the Mayor. All eyes were on the spunky young pony.

“Citizens of Ponyville!” Rainbow Dash bellowed. “I would like to announce that I’m running against the Mayor for the title of… well mayor!” Rainbow suddenly realized she didn’t know the Mayor’s real name, but oh well did anypony?

The Mayor laughed off Rainbow’s challenge. “Well Miss Dash,” She said. “While I would be happy to run against you, I highly doubt you’re qualified to run for office.”

“Oh yeah?” Dash retorted. “Well what do I need to be “qualified to run for office” then Mayor?”

“Well first of all you need to be 18,” the older mare answered.

Dash pulled her wallet out from under her wing. “I just turned 18 last week!” She said as he proudly flashed her flyer’s license.

The Mayor looked cross for a minute. “Well you also need to have been a resident of Ponyville for 10 years.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Well my family moved to Ponyville when I was 8,” She happily responded. “I just went back to Cloudsdale for flight school!”

The crowd was surprised and actually entertained. This was the first time that a town hall meeting hadn’t been sleep inducing. Everypony looked up in wonder at what credential Rainbow Dash would pull out next. The Mayor on the other hand was getting noticeably annoyed.

“Well lastly you need somepony to second your nomination,” the Mayor said with an tired expression.

Rainbow Dash grew wide-eyed. “A second vote huh?” Rainbow said as she quickly surveyed the audience. Suddenly her eyes caught Fluttershy hiding in the back of the room. “Fluttershy!” She screamed as she flew over to her timid friend. The yellow pegasus almost fainted as Dash hoisted her up and flew back to the stage. To make matters worse, now all eyes were also on poor Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash lowered Fluttershy to the stage and stared at the Mayor confidently. “Come on Fluttershy,” Dash said in her most persuasive of voices. “You want me to be mayor right?”

Fluttershy seemed to shrink. The fear of everypony in the room staring at her was too much. “Um… I… uh,” Fluttershy was terrified, but Rainbow Dash scared her even more.

“Fluttershy!” Dash said shocked by her friend’s hesitation.

Fluttershy grew momentarily resolute. “YEAH SURE I SUPPORT RAINBOW DASH!” The yellow pegasus jumped behind the Mayor’s podium as the crowd began to stomp their hooves in approval of the show. Rainbow Dash looked at the roaring audience before shooting the Mayor a glance of superiority. The elder pony sighed before forcing a smile.

“Well Rainbow Dash,” The Mayor said. “I’m pleased to have you as an opponent. For too long has there never been any sort of real election in Ponyville. I think that with you running we’ll have an interesting-”

“Yeah yeah save it for later lady,” Rainbow Dash said as she gently pushed the Mayor from her podium. “Citizens of Ponyville! ARE YOU READY FOR A RAINBOW REVOLUTION?!” Dash raised her right hoof to the sky. The crowd mimicked Dash raising their own hoof while cheering as loudly as they could.

TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY 7:00 PM

“Are you crazy?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash.

“What are you talking about?” Dash answered while rummaging through Twilight's library. “I don’t like the Mayor’s rules so I’m gonna run against her!”

“You don’t know anything about running a town Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled back. “Besides the Mayor’s been mayor so long nopony even remembers her real name!”

“Ah agree wit Twilight,” Applejack cut in. “Don’t cha think it’s a little extreme to try and run for office all willy nilly?”

“Uh NOOO,” Dash responded annoyed by her pessimistic friends. “Besides I can’t lose with the help of my new campaign director, political pal and right-hoof mare Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash flew over to Fluttershy who had been trying to relax on a bed and again lifted her up in her hooves. Fluttershy wanted to scream, but by this point she had gotten used to it.

Twilight shot Fluttershy a glare. “Fluttershy do you really support Rainbow Dash?” The purple mare asked.

“Um… well… uh,” Fluttershy answered.

“I guess I won’t have you guy’s help then,” Rainbow Dash yelled to the room. “Well that’s fine! Fluttershy and me will win this election by ourselves! Come on Fluttershy! Let’s get outta here!” Rainbow Dash again exited through Twilight’s window this time dragging Fluttershy along with her.

Twilight looked back at her remaining friends. “Can you believe her?”

“Oh oh oh!” Pinkie Pie had been keeping quiet, but now she was bouncing up and down. “I should run for Mayor too!”
The rest of the group all gave Pinkie a confused look. “Pinkie now why would you want to be mayor?” Twilight asked fearing the answer.

“Well I don’t like the Mayor’s new laws either!” Pinkie shouted. “She banned cooking on public streets! I mean that like totally ruins my welcome to Ponyville wagon!”

“Pinkie, the last time you used that wagon, you spilled cake batter all over the road,” Twilight responded.

“Yeah, but that only happened cause I put the dough in the wrong compartment!” Pinkie cried. “Otherwise it would’ve worked!”

“Hay we have a question?!” Said an unknown voice.

The group turned to the direction of the sound. It emanated from a pile of Twilight’s books in the corner. Suddenly the Cutie Mark Crusaders pushed their way out of the clutter to reveal themselves.

“Applebloom! What are you and yer friends doin here?” Applejack said annoyed.

“Well we heard Rainbow Dash was running for mayor!” Scootalou cheered.

“And besides were always spying on you guys anyway,” Sweetie Belle laughed. Her fellow Crusaders both faced the white filly and shushed her loudly.

“Look girls,” Twilight said authoritatively. “Rainbow Dash won’t be mayor and Pinkie, you can’t even run.”

“Why not?!” Pinkie answered distraught.

“You’re not old enough darling,” Rarity said as she rose from her pillow. “It’s like the Mayor said earlier you have to be 18 to run for office. Your only 14 dear.”

“Well that’s not fair!” Pinkie cried.

“OH oh oh can we run?” Applebloom shouted.

“Yeah if we won then we could be,” Sweetie Belle began as the group prepared to scream in unison.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER POLITICIANS!” The trio bellowed to the captive audience. Each pony was somehow blown by the sheer strength of the fillies’ scream. The sound was so loud it cracked one of Twilight’s windows.

“NO YOU CAN’T!” Twilight yelled back angry over the ringing in her ears. “You guys are too young to even vote!”

The Crusaders all stared at Twilight with tears falling from their eyes. “We….we can’t even vote?” Sweetie Belle sobbed.

“That’s not cool…” Scootalou whimpered. “That’s not cool at all.”

“Wait I’ve got an idea!” Pinkie screamed trying to break the melancholy. The pink pony pointed at her white unicorn friend. “Rarity you could run and I could be your right-hoof mare!”

“I would totally vote for Rarity,” Spike chimed in.

“Yeah sis you should run for mayor!” Sweetie Belle declared as she wiped away her tears.

Rarity blushed, she didn’t like being put on the spot like this. “I’m sorry darlings but I can’t run for office,” Rarity answered. “I’m much too busy and to be honest I like all the new laws the Mayor has made. They’re keeping Ponyville a less rowdy and more in order.”

A large sigh of disapproval and multiple shrugs ensued. Twilight walked over to her dragon assistant. “I’m sorry Spike, but you can’t vote either,” Twilight said trying to ease the blow. “You’re also too young.”

“Well this just bites!” Spike cried.

“I can’t take this anymore!” Pinkie screamed. Every creature turned to face the now fuming pony. “These stinky no good rules are making it so we don’t have a voice in our own town! I say we change that!”

The Crusaders and Spike all ran over to Pinkie. “You’re right Pinkie!” They cheered.

“We gotta make it so the town gives us the attention we deserve!” Applebloom yelled.

“If Rainbow Dash would leave me out like this then I’ll gladly vote for you!” Scootalou shouted.

Spike and Sweetie Belle each shot Rarity a look of betrayal. The white unicorn recoiled a bit. She didn’t realize how badly she hurt her two biggest fans.

“Help us Pinkie it’s up to you!” Spike begged.

“Yeah Pinkie if you become mayor then everypony will be happy!” Sweetie Belle laughed.

Pinkie grinned with pride. “Alright guys! Let’s get this campaign going!” The group ran out threw Twilight’s door and within seconds they were long gone. Twilight, Applejack and Rarity all exchanged glances each unable to explain what just happened.

“Well this is gonna be one heck of an election,” Applejack said.

“I think this may be fun to watch,” Rarity chuckled.

“Ugh,” Twilight let out. “Neither Pinkie or Dash has any idea how to run Ponyville!” If either of them wins it’ll be chaos!”

“Don’t worry Twilight,” Rarity answered. “What are the odds Rainbow Dash could actually become mayor?”

“Or Pinkie Pie for that matter,” Applejack laughed.

“I just don’t like this guys,” Twilight said. “I just don’t like this one bit.”

TOWN HALL 9:30 PM

Twilight walked into the deserted town hall building. It was still being renovated following the Derpy incident and the old hall at night was truly ominous. Twilight looked at the letter she found on her door an hour ago. It read:

Twilight Sparkle

Please come to Mayor’s Room in Town Hall at 9:30 tonight alone

The note wasn’t even signed. Twilight worried over a possible trap and had her unicorn magic at the ready. However as she reached the end of the hallway and opened the door to Mayor’s room Twilight found no deception.

The Mayor was facing the window looking away from Twilight. As the door closed she turned and smiled at the purple mare. “Hi Twilight good to see you.”

“Um Mayor why did you want to see me so late?

“Well Twilight I need a favor,” After saying this, the Mayor turned away from Twilight again. She looked up at the full moon intently. “I want you to run for mayor in my place.”

Twilight was shocked. “What?!”

“You heard me. I want you to run for mayor against Rainbow Dash.”

“But why?”

The Mayor stopped her and turned again to Twilight. “I’ve been mayor for 20 years Twilight.”

“But don’t you love being mayor?”

“I do, but everypony needs to know when to call it quits. Besides I really want to travel Equestria! See the sights you know! Live a little! I mean I can already feel this old body giving out on me. The last thing I want to do right now is actually have to campaign again.”

“Why me then? Rainbow Dash would never forgive me if I ran against her!”

The Mayor gave Twilight a serious stare. “You have to Twilight. You know what will happen if Rainbow Dash wins.”

Twilight remembered her fears of the chaos under Rainbow Dash as mayor. She shuddered. “I’m still not sure I can run,” Twilight said looking down.

The Mayor simply smiled back at Twilight. “Just win the election over Rainbow Dash. Then you finish your 4-year term as mayor. By then my daughter will be 18 and she can take the position from you.”

“It sounds like you’ve got this all planned out.”

“I do Twilight. I do.”

Twilight thought to herself for a moment. She couldn’t let Rainbow Dash become mayor much less Pinkie Pie. Ponyville needed order. It needed a strong leader to keep the rules in place. Without rules there would be chaos. And Twilight couldn’t let that happen.

“Alright Mayor,” Twilight said with a sudden newfound passion. “I’ll run for office and I’ll defeat Rainbow Dash!”

Campaign 101

TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY TUESDAY 8:00 AM

Rainbow Dash exploded into Twilight’s library. The purple unicorn rose from bed to see Dash flying above her with a scowl on her face. The pegasus revealed a newspaper clipping. The headline read:

Mayor gives support to new candidate Twilight Sparkle!

Rainbow Dash was mad and she couldn’t hide it. “You’re running against me?!” Dash yelled accusingly.

Twilight yawned before shooting a counter glare at Rainbow. “Yes I am Rainbow Dash,” Twilight answered calmly. “I can’t let you run Ponyville into the ground by getting rid of all the rules!”

“And you think you’re more qualified than me?!” Rainbow was fuming now.

Twilight sighed. “No. I’m not more qualified than you, but I’m still going to give you a run for your money.” Twilight managed to smile with those last words. Dash let out an annoyed growl before flying off. The pegasus was out Twilight’s door in a less than a minute.

THE SKIES OF PONYVILLE 10:00 AM

Fliers fell down from the skies on to streets of Ponyville. The papers showed Rainbow Dash in her iconic salute with the slogan:

SUPPORT THE RAINBOW REVOLUTION!!!

Fluttershy and Dash flew around the town dropping fliers. Fluttershy had been hard at work last night. She searched desperately to find a magic copying service that did 24-hour delivery, but after 2 hours with the reference book she finally found one. Now the fruits of her labor were falling all over the perplexed citizens. Each pony looked at the fliers with a mix of wonder and confusion.

“Good work Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said. Suddenly something caught the pegasus’s eye. It was a giant pink banner hanging from Sugarcube Corner that said:

VOTE FOR PARTIES! VOTE FOR PINKIE!

Dash growled and flew down towards the bakery. Outside the store happy ponies were eating pink cookies, cakes and more. Rainbow Dash maneuvered through the mob and managed to enter the store. There she found the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Spike and Pinkie Pie giving away baked goods. More vote for Pinkie signs could be seen hanging all around the store.

Pinkie turned to Dash and smiled. “Hi Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cheered as happy as could be. “Do you want a vote for Pinkie cookie?!”

Rainbow Dash scowled. “Pinkie Pie!” She said annoyed. “You’re running against me too?!”

Pinkie bounced up and down with glee. “Yep I sure am! I’m gonna beat you and and Twilight!”

“Yeah Pinkie Pie is the voice for all us kids!” Applebloom yelled.

“Pinkie will be mayor for sure!” Scootalou cut in.

“Yep (munch) and too help her win we’ve been baking stuff all night to give away,” Spike shouted in between eating a cookie. Sweetie Belle shot Spike a death glare causing him to back away from the goods.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash,” Sweetie Belle said. “But there’s no way you’ll beat Pinkie!”

Dash stomped the floor before managing to regain her composure. “Fine,” she answered. “Have your little baking giveaway! I’ll still be mayor!” Rainbow Dash turned to leave proudly, but a sudden stomach growl ruined her escape plans. She quickly looked back. “Actually can I have a cookie?”

Pinkie was about to pass Dash a treat when Sweetie Belle caught the pink hoof mid trajectory. The white filly then pushed Rainbow Dash out of the store much to blue pegasus’s chagrin. “Sorry Rainbow Dash, but this is Pinkie Pie Headquarters and I’m gonna need you to leave!”

“Meh,” Dash responded as she trudged away. Fluttershy met up with her outside the bakery.

“I gave away all the fliers Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said giving her own salute to her leader.

“Excellent work,” Dash said. “But with both Twilight and Pinkie trying to beat me we’ve got to work even harder! Quick let’s make our own cookies!”

Fluttershy looked dismayed. “But Rainbow Dash we spent all our money on the fliers.”

“Darn it!” Rainbow Dash cried. “I don’t get another paycheck till next week! How are we supposed to get money to win the election?”

TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY 11:30 AM

“Alright guys, I’m really glad you both agreed to be my campaign managers,” Twilight said with an optimistic smile.

“Why it’s nothing Darling,” Rarity answered.

“Yeah I mean we all gotta take sides sometime,” Applejack laughed.

“So what should we do first?” Rarity asked.

Twilight's horn lit up. “We should open this box the Mayor gave me last night,” Twilight said as she magically floated a pair of scissors. “I don’t know how the news traveled so fast, but now everypony knows I’m running. We need to start campaigning right away!”

“But Twilight don’t you need a lot of money to run for office?” Rarity asked with a confused look.

“Yeah,” Applejack cut in. “Rainbow Dash’s all but flooded Ponyville in fliers already! How’re we gonna top that?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered disillusioned. Finally as the box opened Twilight took a peek inside. Her legs grew wobbly and she started to babble unintelligibly. “Oh… My...Celestia,” she managed to say as she dropped to the floor.

“What is it Twilight?’ Applejack said as she and Rarity looked inside the box. Both ponies grew wide-eyed and their jaws dropped. The box was filled with money. There were more bits in that one box than any of the three had seen before in their whole lives. Amongst the cash was small note written by the Mayor.

Dear Twilight

Please use this legitimate campaign donation of 3,000 bits to safely and efficiently win the election. Oh and don’t worry about paying me back.

Sincerely, the former Mayor of Ponyville

“That’s quite the donation,” Twilight said regaining her sanity.

“A…donation?” Applejack said still drooling over the shimmering money.

“Yes,” Twilight answered. “A donation is when somepony gives you money for your campaign because they want you to win.”

“You…don’t…say,” Rarity said her eyes entranced by the cash.

Both Applejack and Rarity both began to fantasize about what they could do with all that beautiful money. Huge puffy clouds of their aspirations appeared over each pony’s head.

“I could buy that new tractor for the farm! Heck! I could buy a whole new barn!” Applejack said with a smile.

“That’s nothing,” Rarity said with her own fantasy induced grin. “I’d be the toast of Canterlot with all the outfits I could buy with that much money. Not to mention all the perfumes, shampoos, lotions! There’s no end!”

Twilight magically popped both ponies’ dream clouds with a comically oversized needle. Each pony turned to their purple friend heartbroken as she shut the box. “No guys,” Twilight said with integrity. “This money is for the campaign! We can’t just spend it on ourselves.”

“But you’ll win the election fer sure!” Applejack cheered.

“Yes Twilight,” Rarity interjected. “Applejack is right! You will surely win the election. You don’t need all that money the Mayor gave to you. Let’s spend some of it!”

“NO!” Twilight roared.

“Well what if we buy stuff to help you win the election?” Applejack said thinking fast.

“Yes Darling,” Rarity jumped in. “We’ll help you win by giving you a total political make-over!”

“I don’t know,” Twilight responded. “I think this election should be about the issues. Not just which pony can be the flashiest.”

“Nonsense Twilight,” Rarity retorted. “Why with Applejack and my help, you’ll win this election in style!”

“I don’t usually say this, but Rarity is right,” Applejack cheered. “Let’s just spend some of the money on campaign stuff. Besides it says in this book called Pony Politics lookin good never hurt nopony running for office.”

“Okay fine,” Twilight said giving in. “What else did that book say?”

“Well,” Rarity said as she levitated the book over to her. “It says the easiest way to win a campaign to tell everypony about bad things your opponent did. This is referred to as mudslinging. Hmm it sounds messy, but that seems easy enough.”

“Yeah,” Applejack laughed. “Pinkie and Rainbow have both done a mountain of crazy stuff we could tell!”

“No guys,” Twilight said. “I’m not going to attack Rainbow or Pinkie. I want to run a clean campaign. Mudslinging is just mean.”

“But Twilight,” Rarity said. “It says so right in the book.”

“Sorry Rarity,” Twilight answered. “But this time a book is wrong. Now come on, let’s go buy some campaign stuff.”

With that the trio hoisted their fortune up and left Twilight’s tree house. Little did they know that outside the tree two ponies had been listening in on their conversation. And that those eavesdropping ponies had wings.

“So that’s how you get money,” Rainbow Dash said proudly. “Ha! And now we know how to campaign too! We just have to tell everypony about bad stuff Twilight and Pinkie did!”

Dash let out a mischievous laugh. Fluttershy looked fearful. “But Rainbow Dash didn’t you hear Twilight,” the yellow pony said slowly. “Wouldn’t it be really mean to… you know… throw mud at our friends?”

Rainbow Dash shot Fluttershy a quick glare that made the timid pegasus squeal. “No Fluttershy,” Dash growled. “What’s really mean is when your friends run against you for no good reason!” Dash stared up at the sky as a new smile appeared on her face. “Alright get the address book. We’ve got a lot of ponies to find.”

The Filth of the Trail

HEDGEMONT CENTER WEDNESDAY 1:00 PM

A huge crowd of pegasi exchanged confused glances in the middle of the Hedgemont Center. Each had been received a note or some form of message to assemble at the field. Many ponies hadn’t seen each other since the time they united to bring water to Cloudsdale. However a familiar whistle blew causing everypony to turn and face the stage. A certain well known pegasus with a rainbow mane and a tenacious smile cheerfully greeted her audience.

“Attention pegasi! Rainbow Dash yelled to the crowd. “I’m glad you all came to this field today! Because today is the first step to a better Ponyville for all of us!”

Everypony stared up at Rainbow Dash in confusion. They also couldn’t help, but give a few worried glances over to Fluttershy, who was barely standing a few feet behind Dash. Little did everypony know the amount of time it takes to message every single pegasus in Ponyville. Poor Fluttershy had been up all night flying letters and knocking on doors to get the audience Rainbow Dash now had. The yellow pony struggled to keep her eyes open. She kept her sights glued on her friend and her leader.

“Now I hope everypony knows that the Mayor’s new laws make life not only boring, but also harder,” Rainbow Dash said opening a copy of the new rulebook. “Under the Mayor’s boring leadership we’ve lost the right to fly at 10 or more wingpower at heights below 100 feet of the town!” The ponies in the crowd still looked up at Dash confused. The pegasus tried to find an example. Suddenly her gaze became transfixed on a perculiar gray pony with a yellow mane.

“Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said pointing at the mail pony.

Derpy grew scared for a minute. “Who? Me?” She said awkwardly.

“Yes you!” Rainbow Dash responded. “You deliver mail right? Well this rule makes it so you can’t zip over the buildings to deliver mail faster! Are you ok with that?!”

Derpy thought for a few seconds. “I…guess not,” she said slowly.

“And what about,” Rainbow Dash said as she scanned the crowd again. “You Flitter!”

The pegasus shook when Dash pointed at her. “Mmm me?”

Rainbow flipped to the next page in the rulebook. “You and your brother wanted to start a flight school here in Ponyville right?”

The pegasus looked at her brother who also seemed confused and scared. They both turned to Dash and said, “Yeah that was our plan why?”

“Well this rule by the Mayor says that all flight classes must be taught by a teacher 20 years or older,” Rainbow Dash said slamming the book against the podium. “Sorry, but both of you are too young to start your school.” The pair of ponies started to tear up. The crowd all felt sympathy for the saddened duo. That was when Rainbow Dash decided to make her grand declaration.

“My fellow Pegasi!” Dash cried. “For too long we’ve accepted boring and lame rules. We let ourselves be fooled into believing that our safety was at stake. When the real thing in jeopardy was everypony’s right to have fun and live their dreams! Well I think if we’re all happy and unrestrained, we’ll be more than safe. Because what’s the good of this safety if life becomes a total bore! So listen up everypony! If you vote for me as new mayor of Ponyville, I promise to remove every single rule that stops us from doing our jobs and having fun!”

The crowd all started to look at Rainbow Dash with some pride. Then a few ponies started to cheer and stomp in approval. The feeling spread and soon the whole crowd was exploding with support for Rainbow Dash. The pegasus smiled strengthened by the surge of happiness. Dash raised her right hoof to the sky as she did before and shouted aloud her slogan.

“Join the Rainbow Revolution!” Dash yelled as the crowd again began to mimic her pose. The audience began to chant Rainbow Dash’s name over and over again. The blue pegasus was ecstatic. “Hehe, let’s see Twilight beat me now.”

PONYVILLE HAT SHOP 2:34 PM

“Now now Twilight,” Rarity said as she tried to force a size 2 hat on Twilight’s size 4 head. “You need to stop struggling.”

“UGGHHH!” Twilight screamed. “GET IT OFF ME!” Rarity heeded Twilight’s words and levitated the hat away.

“Oh ok,” Rarity said. “We’ll just have to custom order a hat in your size then!”

“Rarity,” Twilight said depressed. “Ever since we left the house yesterday, all you and Applejack have done is spent the money on superficial things like my clothes! We haven’t made a single flier yet!”

“Nonsense Darling,” Rarity answered. “Why with the improvements we’ve made to your wardrobe, you’ll beat Dash and Pinkie in no time!”

Twilight let out a sigh. “What do you think Applejack? Applejack?” Twilight turned to see Applejack happily wearing a scuba diving helmet. Twilight facehoofed.

“What do ya think?” Applejack laughed. “Aint this the craziest space hat ya’ll ever seen?”

Rarity giggled. “Oh it looks lovely AJ,” the white pony chuckled.

“Alright guys,” Twilight said. The big debate is tonight and I need to do as much campaigning as possible before then. Rarity how much money do we have left?”

Rarity grew dumbfounded. “Umm well let’s see here,” she said pulling out a VERY long list. “Well it looks like we still have about 800 bits.”

“800 BITS!” Twilight screeched. “WE HAD 3000 BITS YESTERDAY! HOW DID WE SPEND 2200 BITS IN LESS THAN ONE DAY?!” Applejack and Rarity each looked away and whistled a guilty tune. Twilight’s was growing physically red now. “What did you guys buy?!”

“Well,” Applejack said slowly. “I kinda bought a new tractor… and a new barn to put it in. But I swear it only cost 800 bits!”

Twilight threw a peeved look at Rarity. The white unicorn recoiled, beginning to sweat profusely. “I ah,” Rarity began. “I might have bought a few imported perfumes. But I did it for the campaign really! You need to smell your best dear!”

“How much did you spend?” Twilight growled.

“Only a measly… um 500 bits,” Rarity whimpered.

“Well that doesn’t add up,” Twilight said. “We only spent 300 bits on my outfit. Where did the last 600 bits go?” Rarity and Applejack exchanged glances and smiled. The duo then escorted Twilight from the hat store.

TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY 3:14 PM

Twilight stared with a rage far greater than any she had ever felt before. Rarity and Applejack kept their most optimistic smiles on as they pointed at the eyesore in the middle of Twilight’s living room. The purple mare slowly asked her question. “You guys spent 600 bits… ON A NEW MAGIC SCREEN TELEVISION!”

The giant crystal screen was randomly placed in the center of Twilight’s room. It was shiny and eye pleasing even while turned off. Magic television was all the rage in Canterlot, but it hadn’t taken off anywhere else due to the high price of the system.

“But Twilight think of this,” Rarity said as she caressed the huge crystal. “When you get announced as the new mayor we can watch the event right here on this beautiful high def magic screen TV!”

“Yeah Twi,” Applejack said running over to the device. “Besides now we can watch all the great magic TV shows! Oh boy I can’t wait!”

“How did you two even agree on this?!” Twilight bellowed in rage.

“Well it’s simple,” Rarity answered. “I get the TV on the weekdays and Applejack gets it on the weekends.”

Applejack leaned in close to Twilight. “Rarity’s a sucker Twi! All the best shows air on the weekends! Everypony knows that!”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” Twilight shouted causing AJ to back up. “I can’t believe you two! We’re saving Ponyville from chaos remember?! You guys have been acting totally selfish and-”

Suddenly Spike ran into the room right past the three mares. He grabbed a few books and was about to bolt when Twilight called him. “Spike where have you been?”

“Oh what?” Spike said quickly. “Sorry Twilight I’m really busy!” The little dragon was running in place. “I need some books on baking and politics and stuff! You know how it is!”

“Spike why are yer eyes red?” Applejack asked.

“Well I’ve been up all night helping Pinkie make fliers and stuff,” the dragon answered. “I’ve also eaten nothing but cookies for the last two days.”

“Spike how many times do I have to tell you that eating too many sweets is bad for you!” Twilight’s maternal instincts momentarily distracted her from her corrupt campaign staff. However, before she could get an answer Spike was already at the door.

“Well gotta run!” Spike yelled as he took off down the road.

“Ughhh I don’t believe this,” Twilight moaned.

“Oh don’t worry Twilight,” Rarity said reassuringly. “You’ve got this election in the bag so to speak!”

“Yeah,” Applejack said as she put on the new slightly bigger cowboy hat she had bought with the campaign money. “Rainbow and Pinkie could never beat you!”

Twilight shot her friends an angry glare. “I’m still mad at you guys. But I guess your right. I mean what could Rainbow Dash possibly do to beat me?”

Suddenly the door to the library was thrown open as Spike ran back inside. “Sorry I forgot something! He said grabbing another book from the nearby shelf. “Also somepony gave me this flier while I was running here. I thought you might want it.” Spike handed the paper to Rarity before again fleeing the tree house at a ridiculous speed.

“What is it Rarity?” Twilight asked ignoring her concern for Spike.

“Um… I don’t think you want to see this darling,” Rarity answered dismally.

Twilight magically pulled the paper from Rarity and gave it glance. The flier showed Twilight with a pair of glasses poorly drawn over her face. The caption of the image read:

DO YOU REALLY WANT THIS EGGHEAD AS MAYOR?

Twilight crumpled the flier with her magic. “That little,” she said fuming. “I can’t believe Rainbow Dash would sink so low!”

“Ah don’t let it get under your skin Twi,” Applejack said trying to reassure her friend. “Rainbow Dash probably doesn’t have any really mud to throw at ya so she’s just makin jokes!”

The door opened up again as Spike ran into the room. The trio all looked at him with confusion.

“Well,” Twilight asked.

“Well what?” Spike answered scratching his head.

“What book did you forget this time?” Twilight chuckled.

“Oh I didn’t forget any books,” Spike answered cheerfully. “I just got a ton a fliers from Fluttershy!” The dragon ran outside and then reentered the tree with his arms filled with papers. “I figured, why not store them here and read them later! Well see ya!” Spike dropped the pile of fliers on the ground and for the third time took off down the road. Twilight took the precaution of locking the door.

“Hmm let’s see here,” Applejack said pulling some of the fliers. “Uh oh.”

“What uh oh?” Twilight said as she walked over to AJ.

Rarity took a glance at the flier in Applejack’s hooves. “Ohhhh that was cold of her,” Rarity said as she read the flier.

“What did Rainbow Dash do?!” Twilight said grabbing the flier from her friend’s hooves. The purple mare looked at the document and grew wide-eyed. The flier showed Twilight dressed in one of her most secret of princess gowns. The unicorn grew red. “HOW DID SHE?!” The flier was also captioned with the words:

Don’t vote for Twilight! She’s a total weirdo!

Twilight ran over to the pile of fliers Spike had left. Each paper had some embarrassing photo of Twilight. Some fliers even had articles calling the purple mare as a freak, a snob and worst of all, a total nerd. Twilight clenched her teeth. Her horn grew as red as her face. Applejack and Rarity both backed away in fear. Twilight’s mane lit on fire again scorching the fliers around her. Her fiery rage almost set fire to the very tree house. Luckily Applejack grabbed a nearby fire extinguish and sprayed the gray deluge all over Twilight. Within seconds the blazing pony was covered from head to hoof in foam. Only her very angry eyes were visible.

“Rainbow Dash is gonna pay for this.”

That Old Debate

The Great Ponyville Election

TOWN HALL WEDNESDAY 8:00 PM

The Town Hall was packed for the first Ponyville debate in 20 years. Everypony in town had been somehow affected by the explosive campaign. None were able to walk more than a few feet before seeing a pro-Rainbow Dash flier and more than half the ponies had eaten some of the delicious pro-Pinkie Pie baked goods. Even now the Crusader’s classmates were still handing out treats. Where were the Crusaders and Spike at this time? Well the sugar high little creatures were finally feeling the horrid effects of their 2 day straight binge in Pinkie’s dressing room.

Pinkie’s Dressing Room

“You guys,” Pinkie said endearingly. “I already told you we’ll have a race later right now we need to focus!”

“I can’t Pinkie!” Scootalou said as she tried to run up the wall to no avail. “I just can’t stop!”

“Yeah,” Applebloom moaned. “Ah think we ate too many sweets.”

Spike had fallen to the floor. “Ughhh…Tell me about it,” he whined.

Sweetie Belle had also crashed. She curled up in the corner. “I think I’ll gonna hurl,” Sweetie cried.

“Hmmm,” Pinkie struck a pensive pose. “Oh I know!” The pink pony grabbed a couple pills from inside her tail. The group looked at her stoically, yet sadly they were not surprised. “When I used to get owwies in my tummy from eating too much candy, I would eat these pills to feel better!” Pinkie threw a pill to each of her campaign staff. Every creature looked at the large blue capsule with a common terror. Pinkie smiled as she left to get on stage.

“Wait Pinkie!” Applebloom said.

“Yeah Applebloom?” Pinkie responded.

“You ate a lot of sweets too,” the yellow filly said slowly. “Shouldn’t you eat a pill too?”

Pinkie laughed. “Oh you guys,” she chuckled. “No amount of yummy sweets hurts me anymore! Well wish me luck!” And with that the pink pony left leaving her staff to mull over eating the strange pill or waiting in agony.

Rainbow Dash’s Dressing Room

Meanwhile in Rainbow Dash’s dressing room the only pony about to collapse was Fluttershy. The tired pegasus yawned as she finished giving Dash all the grooming the blue pegasus could tolerate. Fluttershy had managed to get all the lint out of her friend’s mane, bathe her and get her to wear a tie. Rainbow Dash said she thought the tie was trying too hard, but Fluttershy convinced her that ties were cool.

“Did you finish my talking points Fluttershy?” Dash asked as she stared at herself in the mirror. Fluttershy eyes were red from depravation. She reached into her saddlebag and grabbed a sheet of highlighted topics for Dash to talk about. Rainbow Dash took the paper and gave her friend a sincere smile. “Thanks Fluttershy, really.”

The yellow pony managed to return Dash a serious glare that made the blue pegasus recoil. “After all the work I did Rainbow Dash you better win!” Fluttershy yelled breaking her usual quiet demeanor. Suddenly as if that shout took all her energy, Fluttershy fell to the ground fast asleep. Rainbow Dash lifted Fluttershy up and placed her on a nearby couch. As Dash walked away she glanced back at her exhausted ally.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said with pride. “I won’t let you down!” The pegasus took off flying toward the stage.

Twilight’s Dressing Room

“I look silly,” Twilight sobbed.

“Nonsense dear,” Rarity countered. “Why you look truly like mayor material!”

“Yeah Twilight,” Applejack cut in. “I admit it is a little much, but as long as you believe in yourself you’ll do fine!”

Twilight realized she could no longer depend on Applejack for sound fashion advice. The farm pony was now wearing the bigger cowboy hat over her smaller hat to make it look even bigger. Rarity had said the idea was “truly fetch” whatever that meant. Now all dressed up from head to hoof in weird clothing Twilight only hoped she could remain focused on what really mattered in this election. Getting her sweet revenge on Rainbow Dash.

“Well,” Twilight moaned. “I guess it’s now or never.” The purple mare walked clumsily out the door as Rarity and Applejack left to take their seats.

MAIN ROOM OF TOWN HALL: THE DEBATE 8:30

Applejack and Rarity strolled into the large yet somehow crowded meeting hall looking for a place to sit. There didn’t seem to be anywhere they could go. That was when the pair heard a familiar voice call to them.

“Oh hello Applejack, Rarity,” said the unknown voice. Applejack and Rarity turned to see that the voice belonged to none other than Princess Celestia. Both ponies gave a quick bow.

“What’re you doin here princess?” Applejack asked.

“Well when I heard Twilight was running for mayor I decided to come check it out for myself,” Celestia answered. “I’m so proud of her for showing such leadership. Anyway here you go” Celestia’s horn flashed as two new seats appeared in the front row. Applejack and Rarity both thanked Celestia for the chairs as they each took a seat. Celestia took a seat next to the pair. “Though I also heard some of your other friends are also running for mayor.”

“Oh yes,” Rarity responded cheerfully. “Twilight’s running against Pinkie Pie and Rainb-”

Suddenly a huge rainbow explosion enveloped the stage. A storm of confetti flew over the audience. Most of the ponies began to cheer as the smoke cleared revealing Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus descended to her podium and waved at the excited crowd. Rarity looked mortified at the confetti scattered in her mane. Celestia laughed shaking off some of the confetti. “Well this is going to be fun,” the princess chuckled.

Pinkie Pie bounced to her podium to the right of Rainbow Dash. She also waved at the crowd. Every foal and filly began to cheer for Pinkie wildly. Among the youth of Ponyville Pinkie was their only hope at having a voice in the town. The entire school was in attendance that night and everypony under the legal voting age was cheering for Pinkie.

Lastly Twilight walked on the stage. The crowd murmured and stared in confusion at her outfit. Rainbow Dash was wearing a modest tie and Pinkie Pie was naked as usual. But then here was Twilight, totally overdressed. She was wearing a lavish blue dress Rarity had bought for her with a pair of matching high heels. Twilight wasn’t used to wearing the weird shoes and almost tripped trying to get to her podium. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but laugh at Twilight’s plight as did some of the crowd. Twilight did her best not to blush as teleported to the podium to avoid any further mishaps.

Celestia got up and flew over to the stage. “Greetings everypony.” The crowd all fell to the ground bowing.
Twilight was confused. “Princess Celestia,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“Well Twilight,” Celestia answered. “I wanted to see your election and if you don’t mind can I announce this debate?”

Twilight looked perplexed. As if she would ever say no to anything the princess would ask of her! “Of course you can announce the debate Princess,” Twilight answered.

Celestia smiled as if this was some fantasy of hers. “Alright citizens,” she said. “Now we’re going to begin the debate!” Stomps of approval echoed through the room. A mix of cheers and yells deafened the hall for a few minutes as Celestia magically floated a stack of papers in front of her. “Ehem.” The room grew silent. “The first question is for you Rainbow Dash.” The blue pegasus grew psyched. Now was her time to shine. “How do you plan to improve the economic output of Ponyville?”

Rainbow Dash looked confused. Eco-what? She thought to herself. “Um I plan to…,” Dash stared around aimlessly. Twilight was giving her a cocky smile while Pinkie was still waving to her fans. Come on, Dash thought. You need to say something! “I would totally like…” Suddenly Rainbow Dash remembered why she started this campaign in the first place.

The rules, the rules had to die. “Ehem,” Dash went clearing her throat. “Sorry about that everypony. Now where was I? Oh right! When I’m elected mayor, I’m gonna get rid of all rules that slow down travel in Ponyville. With nothing to slow us down, everypony can do their jobs faster and thus… uh… improve economically.” Rainbow Dash made a guilty smile. She was worried that she blew it, but the thunderous applause of the crowd quickly changed her mind.

“Excuse me Princess Celestia,” Twilight asked.

“Yes Twilight,” Celestia answered.

“I would like to rebut Rainbow Dash,” the purple mare said proudly.

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with a mix of surprise and fear. “WOOAH Twilight. I know your scared, but how is messing with my butt gonna help you?!”

“Yeah Twilight!” Pinkie jumped in. “Rainbow’s butt is fine! At least I think it is.” Pinkie took a gander down at Rainbow’s posterior. The crowd began to laugh uproariously. However, Rainbow Dash grew annoyed by Pinkie’s conduct and flew into the air.

“Stop checking out my butt Pinkie!”

“But I was seeing if Twilight needed to replace it!” The pink pony cried.

Twilight facehoofed….hard. “No no no guys. I’m not trying to give Rainbow Dash a new butt! I want to challenge the answer she gave!”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh my Twilight. Why didn’t you just say so?”

Twilight suppressed her rage. Hadn’t anypony else read the debate guidebook?! Twilight let out a sigh. “Ok so Rainbow Dash, even if you cut all the travel rules you can’t prove Ponyville will improve economically. In fact I think things will grow worse due all the accidents and injuries that might happen due to ponies speeding around town.” The crowd solemnly nodded their heads in agreement with Twilight. What the purple unicorn lacked in charisma, she made up for in brutal honesty.

“Oh oh oh,” Pinkie said raising her hand wildly. “I wanna rebut Twilight’s rebut!”

“Pinkie you can’t rebut a rebuttal,” Twilight responded.

“But that’s not fair!” Pinkie shouted at her opponent.

“Yeah Twilight,” Rainbow chuckled. “Since when do you get to make the rules!” Rainbow Dash pointed an accusatory hoof at Twilight. The crowd ate it up and started to roar in approval.

Twilight magically teleported her debate guidebook to the stage. “As it clearly states on page 320 of Equestrian Debate Etiquette, you cannot rebut a rebuttal.” Twilight triumphantly shut the old tome. Pinkie was on still making puppy dog eyes at the purple mare. The crowd also seemed to disapprove of Twilight’s cruel conduct. The hall had grown silent.

“Come on Twilight,” Celestia asked. “Can’t we just skip that rule this time?”

Twilight pouted before causing the book to vanish. “Fine.”

“Awesome!” Pinkie yelled as she bounced at her podium. “Then when I’m mayor, I’ll make a new rule that every week the whole town has a big party! Parties will make everypony happy! And happy ponies work better than bored ponies!” Loud roars were heard from the crowd. Pinkie’s plan may have been simple, but her passion was real.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Pinkie how are we going to afford a party every week?”

Pinkie looked at Twilight in disbelief. “Oh Twilight there’s always money for a party.”

“Of course we’ll need to break a few rules though,” Rainbow Dash laughed.

Twilight let out a sigh. “You guys money doesn’t grow on trees. You can’t just spend it all without thinking.” Twilight shot her campaign staff an angry glare. Rarity and Applejack both started whistling trying to avoid her gaze.

“Well Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said coolly. “I find it hard to trust a pony whose magic caused parasprites to eat half the town last year.” Murmurs erupted throughout the audience. Twilight grew panicked. So Dash was going to sling mud now? In the middle of a debate? Twilight wouldn’t take it anymore.

“That’s big talk Dash,” Twilight answered. “Coming from a pony who robbed a hospital!” Gasps of shock were heard all over the room. Rainbow Dash tensed up and went on the defensive.

“Those charges were never even filed!” The pegasus cried. Rainbow Dash turned to the sea of angry faces. “Umm uh, well….oh I know! Tell them what I tried to steal Twilight!”

The purple mare clenched her teeth. All in all, robbing a hospital sounds a lot more sinister when the stolen property wasn’t a cheap book. “Regardless of what you tried to take, stealing is still stealing Rainbow,” Twilight said proudly.

“Yeah yeah,” Dash answered. “But let’s not forget when you went nuts and cast that Want it Need it spell on the town!” The audience was murmur central. Once again Rainbow Dash had turned the tables on Twilight. The purple mare struggled to find more mud to sling. Rainbow Dash looked at her triumphantly. Twilight wanted to punch her.

“Well you um,” Twilight began.

“Led a group of pegasi to transport much needed water to Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Yes I did that.”

Shouts of approval were heard as Dash stole Twilight’s thunder. The unicorn looked to Celestia in hopes that she would restore some level of order to the debate. However the princess was giggling at the current display. Clearly this debate would be decided by who won over the crowd.

“Let’s not forget who also won the Young Flyer’s competition and saved both Rarity and the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow Dash gloated. The crowd was cheering wildly for Dash. It seemed there was no hope for Twilight to recapture their attention. Then suddenly another pony did it for her.

“What about when I led the whole town to smile smile smile!” Pinkie said proudly. “We all had a lot of fun that day!”

“Pinkie that doesn’t count,” Rainbow Dash shot back.

“Why not?” Pinkie whined. “Besides why should anypony trust you? You ate part of my Marzipan Morang Madness cake after I told you not to!”

“That was like one bite!” Rainbow Dash growled.

Twilight had a sudden epiphany. This may have been her one chance to steal Dash’s favor with the crowd. “Well Dash what about the time you traded Ponyville’s future to get your wings back from Discord!” The crowd again was ablaze with gasps.

“Low blow Twilight,” Rainbow Dash groaned. Suddenly the pegasus smiled. “At least I didn’t force Pinkie and Spike to break into Canterlot in order to stop time!” Twilight started to sweat. Rainbow Dash was slinging mud like a champ.

Pinkie grew annoyed. “Hay I told you to keep that secret Dash!”

Rainbow Dash then grew bold. “Well I think the citizens of Ponyville deserve to know that two of the ponies running for mayor are criminal nutballs!”

Twilight and Pinkie both scowled at Rainbow Dash, but it was pointless. The crowd was stomping and cheering for Dash. There was no way to quash that enthusiasm. The debate was over and Rainbow Dash had won.

Final Insults

TWILIGHT’S LIBRARY THURSDAY 9:00 A.M.

Twilight woke up and began to sulk in a corner. After a few minutes of watching the new magic screen TV, Rarity and Applejack grew guilty and walked over to her to see what was wrong.

“What wrong Twi?” AJ asked in caring voice.

“Yes darling,” Rarity said. “You’re messing these great shows!”

Twilight looked up to glare at her staff. “Rainbow Dash destroyed me last night. If she wins, Ponyville will be thrown into chaos. I can’t let that happen.”

“Oh Twilight,” Applejack laughed. “There’s no way Dash will actually beat’cha!”

“We now interrupt this cartoon for a breaking PNN news bulletin.” The trio turned to their expensive magic screen TV. A group of ponies in suits were standing at a table. A unicorn with a black suit and a white mane began to speak. “It’s clear from the polls that Twilight just doesn’t stand a chance in this election.” A set of numbers magically appeared next to the unicorn’s head. They showed Twilight with 40%, Rainbow Dash with 54% and Pinkie Pie with 5%.

An earth pony with a gray mane and glasses shook his head. “You’re jumping to conclusions Colterson. We won’t know you’ll win this election till the voting occurs tomorrow.”

The first pony sighed. “You’re no fun Blitzen.”

A pegasus with a brown mane cut in. “Let’s just remember guys if we actually counted all the votes Pinkie would win hands down.” The group of ponies started to laugh at this coment as Twilight angrily turned off the television.

“Just great,” she said. “Rainbow Dash is actually beating me!” Her staff tried to console her, but neither pony knew what to say. “Do we still have that last 800 bits?

Applejack and Rarity exchanged guilty looks. “We have 600 bits,” they whimpered in unison. Twilight glared at them.
“We kinda got hungry after the debate,” Applejack said.

“Yes so we tried a truly exquisite restaurant,” Rarity said. “It was just a little…. You know costly.”

“And you didn’t invite me?” Twilight groaned.

“Well uh,” Applejack said trying to look away.
“You were quite tired last night darling,” Rarity jumped in. “We thought it best to let you get some sleep.”
“Ugh,” Twilight growled. “We have one day left to save Ponyville and there’s no way I’m letting Dash beat me!” Twilight threw the front door open with magic. “Come on guys. We’re going to clinch this election once and for all!”

SOMEWHERE IN THE CLOUDS 4:35 P.M.

Rainbow Dash paced in the air. She flew around in circles aimlessly hoping for the day to end. “This totally bites,” Dash whined. “Can’t it be tomorrow already?”

Fluttershy was sitting on a cloud nearby. She got up and flew over to Rainbow Dash. “Why are you so tense Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean you’re winning in the polls.”

Rainbow turned away from Fluttershy and stared down in the direction of Twilight’s library. “I know that’s why I’m so stressed. Twilight’s the type of pony who’ll do something crazy if she’s cornered. I don’t want whatever weird thing she does to hurt my chances of getting elected.”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, Twilight wouldn’t do anything to hurt you,” Fluttershy answered.

Suddenly the two pegasi heard a loud marching from below. Rainbow Dash flew down to see Twilight standing at top a parade float being dragged by Rarity and Applejack. Atop the float was a huge poster that read:

DISCORD WOULD VOTE FOR RAINBOW DASH? BUT WILL YOU?

Paid for by the Vote for Twilight Sparkle Campaign.

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy. “Yeah she’d never do anything to hurt me.” The blue pegasi flew next to Twilight and glared at her. “Real mature Twilight.”

The purple mare glared back. “Oh and it was soooo mature for you and Fluttershy to call me an egghead?”

“You are an egghead!” Rainbow Dash answered. “Besides why can’t you just admit that I’m right? Ponyville would a heck of a lot better without any boring rules!”

“No!” Twilight shot back. “You need to admit that I’m right and that rules are the staple of an organized society!”

“Society-Shimiety!” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re just too boring to think outside the box!”

“Um guys?” Applejack said. Both of the bickering ponies turned to face AJ. The orange mare wiped her brow before letting out a sigh. “Can Rarity an I stop pullin this float? It’s really heavy.” Rarity who was not one for manual labor whimpered in agreement.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine.” The unicorn returned her gaze to Rainbow Dash. “Just wait Rainbow. Tomorrow you’ll see that everypony chose safety and rules over your childish nonsense!”

Dash flew up close to Twilight’s face. “Oh yeah! Well tomorrow everypony will show you just how WRONG you are! I’m gonna be Mayor Twilight! There’s no way you’ll win!”

“I’m going to win!” Twilight yelled.

“No I’m gonna win!” Dash shot back.

“I’ll win!”

“I’m gonna win!”

A pink tail appeared in between the two screaming mares. “But guys I’m totally gonna win!” Pinkie cheered as she jumped down from her hot air balloon. “I mean I’ve been telling ponies to vote for me and giving out sweets all day!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever Pinkie.”

“You’re not even a real candidate,” Twilight groaned.

“Oh yeah,” Pinkie cried. “Well just wait till tomorrow when I win!”

The three ponies then re-entered their shouting match. Bored by this display, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy decided to spend Twilight’s last 200 bits on an early dinner. The trio of campaign organizers took off, leaving their candidates to argue.

AN EXPENSIVE RESTAURANT 6:34 PM

“Thanks for coming with us Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “Applejack and I have really missed you.”

The trio was seated in one of Ponyville’s most expensive restaurants. Each rested on a rare imported pillow. The table and walls were adorned with diamonds. The visuals were only matched by the food. They say you can only truly enjoy the taste of grass after it’s been cooked with 13 different sauces. Now after eating the ponies were having some much needed small talk.

“Why Dash must be workin you like a mule,” Applejack exclaimed.

Fluttershy looked down. “She does work me hard…but I think I know why.”

Rarity leaned closer. “What’s on your mind darling? You can tell us.”

“Well,” Fluttershy began. “Rainbow Dash really wants to be Mayor so she doesn’t lose to Twilight.

“Heh!” Applejack chuckled. “Twilight’s the same! Ever since you two gave out those fliers, she’s been on the war path!”

“Oh I hope she isn’t mad at me,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I told Rainbow Dash that it was mean, but she didn’t listen. She wants to win that badly.”

“Oh don’t worry Fluttershy,” Rarity mused. “Twilight’s fury is directed at Rainbow Dash, not you.”

“You know ah think all this drama has made everypony forget what’s really important about elections,” Applejack said.

“Oh you’re so right Applejack,” Rarity said. “In all this huss and fuss everypony has lost their mind.”

“At least it’ll end tomorrow,” Fluttershy said. “But after that we’ll have two friends who feel awful!” The pegasus began to tear up. “What should we do?”

“It’s all right Shy,” Applejack said. “No matter who wins the election tomorrow everything will be alright.”

“Yes,” Rarity jumped in. “Regardless of who wins we’ll be there to help. It’s what friends are for after all.”

“You guys are right,” Fluttershy answered smiling. “I just hope Twilight isn’t too sad when Rainbow Dash wins.”

“Now hold on darling,” Rarity cut in. “I think you mean Rainbow Dash isn’t sad when Twilight wins.”

Fluttershy and Rarity entered the most casual of stare-downs before both bursting into laughter.

“Y’all had me going for a second there,” Applejack chuckled.

“Oh don’t worry about us AJ,” Rarity laughed. “I don’t even mind who wins anymore.”

“Me neither, but I am worried about the two ponies who lose being sad,” Fluttershy said. “And not just our friends! Everypony who votes for a pony and then learns that they lost will feel sad! Oh this whole election thing is just a bad idea! All it’s done is turn friends and neighbors against each other! Why do have this mean old practice in the first place?”

“Because darling,” Rarity answered. “Sometimes you need to choose between who you want to give power to.”

“Princess Celestia has power and we didn’t vote for her,” Fluttershy countered.

Rarity and Applejack exchanged glances. “You got me there sugarcube,” Applejack said.

“Either way in every contest some ponies must lose,” Rarity said. “It’s just the way the world works.”

Fluttershy sighed in annoyance. “I guess you’re right.”

“Hay guys,” Applejack said. Her fellow mares to turned to her. “I say we go see what’s on that old magic screen television!”

“Brilliant idea Applejack,” Rarity said. “Fluttershy could you please join us?”

“Hmm give me a minute,” Fluttershy said before flying off. The yellow pegasus flew through the darkening sky back to spot where they had left the bickering trio. Not surprisingly the three ponies were still in the middle of the road arguing. Fluttershy sighed and turned to fly back to the restaurant.

Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were struggling to stand, or in Dash’s case fly. They’d been arguing over who would win the election for over 3 hours and Twilight was finally growing tired of it.

“Look Rainbow Dash let’s just wait and see!” Twilight shouted.

The blue pegasus chuckled. “Fine then. But remember Twilight, by this time tomorrow I’ll be Mayor and you’ll both be big losers!”

“No way,” Pinkie cut in. “Tomorrow I’m gonna win and beat both of you!”

All three entered one final stare-down before turning to leave. In a few hours they would know once and for all, who would be the next mayor of Ponyville.

TOWN HALL ELECTION DAY FRIDAY 10:00 AM

Town hall was filled with ponies. The hyper tense campaigning had made everypony come out to vote. The lines to cast a ballot were long and the ponies in charge of counting said ballots were despondent. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Twilight each cast their vote as the booths opened. Now each had taken their position to await the results.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat atop clouds over town hall. Occasionally Dash would swoop down to sign autographs and pretend to kiss babies. Either way the campaign season had restored her fame in Ponyville. But that wasn’t enough for Dash, as she wanted only one thing to beat Twilight.

Twilight and her campaign staff sat in the library watching the news coverage of the event. Why somepony decided to air Ponyville elections on Canterlot television was beyond each of them. Regardless they sat eyes glued to the TV screen awaiting the election results. Twilight was on edge. She wanted to win more than anything else.

Pinkie and her now revived campaign staff were busy handing out sweets to the voters. The pink pony was jovial. Sure all the polls had her in dead last, but that didn’t matter. Campaigning was fun! And Pinkie loved every minute of it.

As the polls closed Princess Celestia stepped onto the podium. “Attention citizens of Ponyville!” All eyes focused on Celestia. Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Pinkie were all watching the ceremony vigorously. The battle would be decided right then.

“We’ve finished counting the votes,” Princess Celestia said. “I’m proud to announce that the next Mayor of Ponyville is….”