Election in Ponyville

Chapters

Prelude- Time to File
Discussions with Celestia
The First Debate
Primary Day
Interview Scheduling
Amethyst's Interview
The Mayor's Interview
Fall Debate
Election Day

Prelude- Time to File

It has been three years since Mayor Mare began her fourth term as mayor of Ponyville and just like she does on the third anniversary of starting her term, she realizes that it is time to file for her candidacy to run again. Mayor Mare has been elected to four consecutive terms and has decided to run for an unprecedented fifth term. To do this she knows she has to go up to Canterlot and file the proper paperwork with Princess Celestia so she heads to the train station to go see Celestia.

In the Ponyville Express, as required by law, it is reported that if anypony is interested in running for mayor that they are to head to Canterlot and see Celestia. Most ponies just overlook this as they realize that Mayor Mare is extremely popular and that any ideas they would have to improve things would not matter, that the popular incumbent would defeat them. This was not the case with some ponies though, particularly a light purple unicorn with three gems as a cutie mark and a hatred for inefficiency, arrogance and government waste, Amethyst Star.

Amethyst picked up the newspaper and began to read the article. When she read this she thought to herself, "You know what? I think the time for change in this town has arrived." She began to snicker, "I know things about the mayor and her wasteful spending that other ponies do not." She got a grim determination on her face and continued, "While I was too scared to run against her last time, I will not sit by idly this time and allow her to continue to dig Ponyville deeper into debt. I'm heading to Canterlot and filing my papers to run for mayor."

In Sugarcube Corner, Twilight and her friends were in having a snack while Applejack was reading the paper. She came across the announcement and said, "Well, it looks like another election cycle is beginning. Princess Celestia has announced that the time for ponies interested in running for mayor need to file their papers."

Everypony that had lived in Ponyville for a long time knew about how the mayor had not had a serious opponent since the first time she ran. Applejack continued, "Ah wonder who will run against her this time?"

Rarity added, "Probably another pony who will only sling mud at her and make false accusations."

Twilight had not moved to Ponyville yet when the last election had happened. She asked, "What? Ponies spread lies about the mayor here? I thought she was loved by all."

Rarity replied, "Well it is usually just one disgruntled pony who isn't happy unless everything goes perfect and tries to tarnish the mayor's reputation with half-truths and weird conspiracies."

Twilight asked, "So how long has Mayor Mare been in office."

Applejack replied, "Well it was fifteen years ago today that she was sworn into office for the first time. If Ah know her as well as Ah think Ah do, she is likely going to run for a fifth term."

Twilight said, "Wow, if she gets elected to a fifth term that will have to be some sort of record."

Everypony nodded but two of Twilight's friends believed that things could be better. They felt that things in Ponyville had become mundane and boring. One believed that the town could use more excitement while the other simply believed that things could be cooler so after they finished their snacks they headed to the train station to go to Canterlot.

Shortly before the train was set to leave the four ponies arrived at the train station. Mayor Mare had a confident look on her face as Rainbow asked, "Hi, what's up with the confident look."

The mayor replied, "Oh I'm just headed up to file my candidacy for mayor again." She got a huge smile on her face and continued, "Can you believe it, this is the fifth time I'll be running and when I win, I'll become the first mayor to be elected to five terms."

Pinkie said, "Oh that's funny! I'm going to run for mayor too! Wouldn't it be funny if I won?"

Both mares gasped, "What, you're running for mayor?"

Pinkie giggled, "Yeah and when I win, there will be a lot more parties!"

Amethyst, who had been simply listening earlier chimed in, "Seriously, more parties? Don't you think there are enough already?"

Rainbow added, "Yeah, and where is the money going to come from for all these?"

Pinkie replied, "We'll find a way. I just know that Ponyville needs more parties!"

The mayor simply smiled thinking that this year's opponent would be even easier to defeat than her previous opponents had been. Pinkie asked, "So Rainbow, what are you going up to Canterlot for?"

Rainbow replied, "Well I think Ponyville could be cooler so I'm running for mayor too."

This caused Mayor Mare to break down laughing. She laughed, "You too? What are you going to do, make sure there are Wonderbolts races every weekend?"

Rainbow replied, "Well maybe. I don't know if I could get them to do that but I know I could get Spitfire to have them come down once a month."

The mayor just shook her head. She found it unbelievable that her opponents are the ones who take life the least serious, ones who simply don't understand anything about governing. That smile turned into a slightly nervous look when she saw Amethyst waiting for the train as well. She asked, "Amethyst, what are you headed up to Canterlot for?"

Unlike Pinkie and Rainbow though, she was not about to just tell her that she was going to run. She didn't even plan on going to the castle at the same time as the other three, she wanted this to shock them as much as it will the rest of the town when it is discovered she is running. She lied, "Oh I'm just going to go up and do some shopping, nothing serious."

The mayor breathed a sigh of relief while Pinkie and Rainbow began to yell at one another over the other running for mayor. "Pinkie, you're supposed to be my friend but you're running for mayor when I am?"

Pinkie countered, "Well yeah and you're going to ruin things if you run! Ponyville won't be nearly as fun because you'll steal votes away from me!"

The four ponies got on board and the train pulled away. For a good part of the trip up to Canterlot Pinkie and Rainbow continued to argue while the mayor just sat there with a smile on her face. Finally somepony had had enough with Pinkie and Rainbow's arguing. Amethyst walked up to them and snapped, "Would you two shut up!"

This quickly caused the two to be quiet but they continued to scowl at one another. For the first time since they became friends, a sense of pure anger towards one another radiated from the two. Amethyst quietly snickered, "Not only are they going to lose the election, they're going to lose their friendship too!"

Discussions with Celestia

After what seemed to be forever the train pulled into Canterlot. Pinkie, Rainbow and Mayor Mare all headed towards the castle while Amethyst decided to go to the cafe for a meal. While it isn't right by the castle, Amethyst would be able to monitor the entrance and see when her future opponents would leave.

As the three arrived at the castle they were greeted by the guards. They first saw the mayor. One of them asked, "Halt, who goes there?"

Mayor Mare replied, "I need to speak to Princess Celestia about filing for my candidacy for mayor of Ponyville."

The guard replied, "Alright but there will be a line to speak to her as filing day has arrived for most of the communities of Equestria." They let her pass and they next saw Pinkie and Rainbow. They knew the two were friends of the princess so they simply let them pass without any questions.

The three saw a huge line and Pinkie gasped, "Wow, that's a lot of ponies! No way they're all running for Ponyville!"

Mayor Mare replied, "Actually it is filing day for most of the communities in Equestria so we could have a long wait."

Rainbow added, "No kidding."

Despite them going to soon be running against one another, the three did keep things civil and just discussed average, everyday things. Finally after an hour and a half Mayor Mare finally was able to talk to Celestia. Celestia saw her and asked, "I take it you're running for re-election?"

The mayor replied, "Yes. I have decided to run again."

Celestia asked, "So what party are you planning on running under or will you be an independent again?"

Mayor Mare replied, "As always, I will run as an independent."

Celestia handed the mayor the proper papers and she filled them out. The forms are quite simple so the mayor was able to quickly fill them out and give them to Celestia. Celestia looked over the papers and replied, "Alright, you're on the ballot. As always if there were to be more than three ponies running down there a debate in late March and a primary in April will be necessary."

Mayor Mare replied, "I know your Majesty but like always, I don't think I'll have to worry about that."

Celestia said, "I have the same feeling, you have a good day."

The mayor bowed and left the castle as Pinkie approached Celestia. Celestia asked, "Pinkie, what are you doing here?" She gave her a slight look of disapproval and continued, "Can't you see it is filing day. If you're wanting to schedule some sort of party for your friends, can't it wait until tomorrow?"

Pinkie replied, "Well actually I'm here to file my papers to run for mayor! I think Ponyville needs more parties so I'm going to change that!"

It was all Celestia could do to not start laughing. She asked, "Seriously? You're running for mayor down there?"

Pinkie replied, "Yeah, you act surprised."

Celestia knew that she couldn't just come out and say that she was surprised so like she did with Mayor Mare she asked, "And what party do you plan on running under?"

Pinkie replied, "I am going to run under the FUN party!"

Celestia could only sigh. She handed Pinkie the proper papers and pointed her hoof to the party affiliation section. She said, "Pinkie, you will have to check other and enter "fun party" into what you are running under."

Pinkie replied, "Okey-dokey!"

Pinkie began to fill out the papers and despite her never having dealt with paperwork such as this before, she was able to fill out the form easily. She handed the papers to Celestia. Celestia said, "Alright Pinkie, you're on the ballot. I'll keep you informed on important dates such as when the debate will be and I'm sure the Ponyville Express along with ENC will want to interview you."

Pinkie asked, "What is ENC?"

Celestia replied, "The Equestria News Channel. They like to have interviews with mayoral candidates across the country."

Pinkie said, "Okey-dokey" as she headed out of the castle.

Next Rainbow Dash approached the princess. Celestia asked, "Are you here to run for mayor too?"

Rainbow replied, "Yeah, I think Ponyville could be cooler so I'm going to run."

Celestia gave Rainbow a slight look of disapproval and asked, "Ok Rainbow, what party do you plan on running under?"

Rainbow replied, "I'm running under the Coolness party because I think Ponyville could be cooler. It is so boring with how things are now."

Celestia handed Rainbow the papers and gave her the same instructions she gave Pinkie. She asked, "Rainbow, you do know that Ponyville has never had a non-earth pony mayor don't you? This could be tough for you."

Rainbow filled out the papers and replied, "I know your Majesty but don't worry. Once everypony sees that I want to make things cooler, they'll vote for me."

Celestia took the papers and sighed, "Alright Rainbow, like I told Pinkie, I'll keep you informed about everything important such as the debate and like with Pinkie, I'll let you know that news agencies will want to speak with you." She paused for a couple of seconds and continued, "Oh and if one more pony were to file down there, there would be a primary election in April which would involve a first debate in late March."

Rainbow replied, "Alright your Majesty. I'll keep my eyes peeled for any information you'll send me."

Rainbow bowed and left the castle. Celestia just sighed in frustration because she still had a long line of ponies waiting to file in other communities and realized that the election in Ponyville would basically be a non-event. While she would never admit it, she was secretly hoping that a good candidate would run against Mayor Mare.

Amethyst continued to watch the castle and after she saw her soon to be opponents board the train for Ponyville, she rushed towards the castle where she had to answer to the guards. After stating her reason for needing to visit Celestia they let her in. The line was gone when Amethyst arrived in the throne room. Celestia yawned as the deadline would pass in ten minutes. She saw a light purple unicorn approach her. She asked, "Are you here to file your candidacy for mayor of where you live?"

Amethyst replied, "Yes, I'm here to file the papers to run for mayor of Ponyville."

Celestia's ears perked up. The pony in front of her seemed to have a more serious attitude which caused her to realize maybe the election down there would be worthwhile after all. She asked, "What is your name?"

Amethyst replied, "My name is Amethyst Star your Majesty."

Celestia asked, "What party are you planning on running under?"

Amethyst replied, "I am running under The Reform Party. I see a whole lot of waste down in Ponyville, wasteful spending, improper use of town resources and I simply think things could be handled in a more efficient and proper manner."

Celestia smiled and gave Amethyst the papers. As Amethyst was filling out the paperwork Celestia couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. When Amethyst handed her the papers Celestia said, "Alright, you're on the ballot." She gave Amethyst a concerned look and continued, "Good luck to you but you do know that there has never been a non-earth pony mayor in Ponyville, don't you?"

Amethyst replied, "I do know that but I am hoping that the citizens down there will look at a candidate based on substance and their stance on the issues rather than what type of pony they are. Besides, Ponyville has a good mix of different types of ponies and I already have plans on what I would do that once announced, I should get a fair amount of support."

Celestia smiled and replied, "Alright. Now that there are four ponies running for mayor down there, there will be a first debate and a primary election to weed out the two weakest candidates. Then there will be a debate in the fall prior to the election in November."

Amethyst asked, "So when will all of this take place?"

Celestia replied, "Well the first debate will be on March 22nd while the primary will be on April 5th. If you get past the primary, the fall debate will be in late October and the general election will be on November 8th." Celestia paused and continued, "Oh, and you will have news agencies wanting to interview you such as The Ponyville Express and ENC. The national news network likes to interview mayoral candidates across the land."

Amethyst excitedly asked, "I wonder if Sunny Flames will want to interview me? I'm such a huge fan!"

Celestia replied, "Well once the folks at ENC hear about you and your plans for eliminating waste, I'm sure she'll want to interview you. She shares similar views on such things."

Amethyst said, "That is good because maybe if my message gets spread across the country, candidates in other communities will want to eliminate waste as well."

Celestia replied, "That would be nice." She wanted to get to work on all the letters she had to send out to the candidates so she continued, "Well Amethyst, you have a good day and good luck."

Amethyst bowed and replied, "Thank you your Majesty. You have a wonderful day."

Amethyst headed towards the door and once she left the castle entirely Celestia smiled. She said to herself, "Finally, a pony running down there that isn't just about either everything being just fine or a pony just running because they don't like one little thing."

The clock tower struck five and the filing deadline passed. Celestia began filling out letters to send out to all the candidates running for mayor in each town letting them know when the debates and elections would be. She couldn't help but snicker a little, "Mayor Mare will be really surprised when she has to take part in a primary and sees that she will have a real candidate to go up against!"

The First Debate

Interviewing the Crowd

After the four mares filed to run for mayor the time seemed to fly. Before they knew it March 22nd had arrived and it was time for the first debate. In her house Amethyst was making sure that she had a good meal and had her mane and tail combed properly, she did want to appear professional after all. Her roommate Sea Swirl who was unsure about her running asked, "Amethyst, are you sure you're going to do well today? You do know that Ponyville may not react all that well to a unicorn running for mayor."

While this question irritated Amethyst she knew that she could not just blow up as she wanted to remain calm for the debate. She replied, "Sea Swirl, look who I am running against. Yeah I'm sure the mayor will bring about great arguments and points during this debate but Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash? Those two will fold like lawn chairs. Pinkie will come across as extremely incompetent and Rainbow Dash's arrogance and boasting about her flying abilities will turn the town against them. Don't worry, I'll do well this evening and when the primary comes along, the mayor and I will win and move on to the general election."

Sea Swirl replied, "Alright, I just don't want you having a bad night and turning the town against you." She patted Amethyst on the back and continued, "And I know how you think your ways are the best but please don't try to appear arrogant tonight. Doing that would definitely turn the town against you."

Amethyst replied, "Point taken, thanks for reminding me of that."

In the town park everything was being set up for the debate as reporters for the Ponyville Express and the crew from ENC had shown up. Sunny Flames, a white unicorn with a red and yellow mane and tail, the head reporter for ENC, saw ponies showing up for this and decided to do some interviews with the audience. The first pony she approached was Applejack. She asked, "Ma'am, I'm wondering if you would be willing to share your thoughts about the upcoming debate?"

Applejack replied, "Sure, what do y'all want to know?"

Sunny asked, "From what I understand this is the first time in decades that Ponyville will need to have a primary. What are your thoughts on the candidates taking part in the debate tonight?"

Applejack replied, "Well, Ah will be honest. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are both good friends of mine but Ah don't think they are exactly fit to be mayor. Pinkie Pie is all about parties and Rainbow is simply too impatient to handle the serious responsibilities that come with holding office."

Sunny asked, "What about Amethyst Star and the mayor?"

Applejack replied, "Well, Ah think Mayor Mare has done a great job over her tenure but Amethyst, Ah'm not so sure about. She doesn't seem that friendly and Ah know about how she works. Ah could see her wanting to scrap old traditions just to save money. She is a cheapskate when it comes to how she lives her personal life and Ah could see her handling the town's finances the same way."

Sunny finished, "Thank you for your time ma'am."

She continued to go through the crowd until she found a unicorn to interview, Colgate. She approached her and asked, "Ma'am can I ask you a question?"

Colgate sighed, "Yeah, you can but make it quick. I want to get a front row spot to watch this."

Sunny figured that she had best make this a shorter interview. She asked, "What are your opinions of the candidates?"

Colgate replied, "Well, I think Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are both jokes. Neither one of them are serious candidates and I wouldn't vote for them to be the local dogcatcher, much less mayor."

Sunny asked, "What about Amethyst and the mayor?"

Colgate replied, "Well if what I have heard is right, the mayor needs to go. From what I understand she misuses town funds and this town has ran a deficit ever since she has been in office. Regarding Amethyst, I think she is the one who can fix things. I am good friends with her and if she handles the town's finances like she does her own, we'll have a surplus down here the first year she's in office." She looked over towards the building audience and continued, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going."

Sunny sighed, "Ugh, what a grump!"

The Debate

Sunny headed towards the moderators table where she would be joined by Breaking News, the reporter for the Ponyville Express. While he was a veteran reporter, he couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by the nation's most famous news personality. He asked, "So, how do you think this is going to go?"

Sunny replied, "I don't know but I do know one thing, at least one earth pony seems to think that Amethyst would scrap all the old traditions in favor of less expensive ways of handling things."

The brown earth pony reporter said, "Well if that is the case, the earth ponies will not take to her ideas very well. Most of them here are very old fashioned and if she were to suggest using magic for things such as Winter Wrap Up, she won't win."

Sunny could only sigh over his comment as the candidates began to go up to the stage and ready themselves for this. Once they all arrived the cameras came on and despite it not affecting them, ponies across all of Equestria began to watch. Sunny gave the camera a smile and began, "Good evening Equestria, this is Sunny Flames and joining me tonight is Breaking News, the local reporter for The Ponyville Express. Welcome to the primary debate here in Ponyville."

Breaking News said, "While the candidates will not go into a huge amount of detail tonight, what they will share with us could greatly affect how they do in next month's primary."

The camera focused back on Sunny and she continued, "Tonight we have four candidates contending for the two spots in this fall's general election. This is the first time in 28 years that a primary has been necessary here." The camera's focus switched to the stage as she continued, "And now to introduce the candidates. We have Pinkie Pie who is running as The Fun Party's candidate, we have Rainbow Dash who is running as The Coolness Party's candidate, we have Reform Party Candidate Amethyst Star and we have the incumbent Mayor Mare who like always, will be running as an independent."

The first candidate to be addressed was Pinkie Pie. Breaking News asked, "Pinkie Pie, from what I understand some ponies here in town think you lack the seriousness and maturity needed to be mayor. What can you tell the ponies here to reassure them that you would be a good choice."

Pinkie replied, "Well I think Ponyville doesn't have enough parties! I think everypony would be much happier if the town had more parties."

Sunny asked, "Pinkie, where would the money for all these extra parties come from. I'm not sure if you know this but from what I understand Ponyville has ran a deficit ever since before Mayor Mare took office."

Pinkie replied, "Well we could always raise taxes a little bit. I don't think anypony would mind as long as they are happier."

Rainbow put her hoof over her face while Amethyst and the mayor couldn't help but snicker a little bit. They figured that with Pinkie saying she wanted to raise taxes, that she already lost any chances of winning. Next up was Rainbow. She would be addressed by Sunny, "Rainbow Dash, from what I understand ponies around here have also questioned your ability to handle being mayor. What would you say to them?"

Rainbow replied, "Well I think things here in town simply aren't cool enough."

Sunny asked, "What is your definition of cool?"

Rainbow replied, "Come on, I mean things here are so boring! With the exception of the running of the leaves, we never have any kind of athletic competitions here. What is the worst is that The Wonderbolts are never asked if they will come here and do a show. Ponyville would be much more exciting if we could have them come and perform every month."

Breaking News asked, "From what I understand, getting The Wonderbolts to do shows outside of Cloudsdale is not cheap. Where would the town come up with the revenue to pay them for these shows?"

Rainbow laughed, "Come on! The town has money to pay them to perform! We could just scrap something else. Maybe we could cut the pensions the town gives to it's employees, after all, wouldn't having The Wonderbolts come here be worth it?"

A few ponies in the crowd, the town's employees in particular, began to boo loudly. Rainbow blushed and said, "Oops, maybe that was the wrong thing to say."

Next up was Amethyst Star. While it normally would have been Breaking News' turn, Sunny knew a bit about Amethyst's views on things and decided she would ask her a question. She asked, "Amethyst, I was interviewing some of the ponies in the crowd before the debate and I learned that you may want to cut some things from the budget. What would you want to cut?"

Amethyst replied, "Well for starters, unlike my opponent, I would definitely not cut any pensions of the town employees who work so hard. They work very hard to keep things going here and hard work is something I place a lot of value in. What I would do though is try to make a majority of the festivals this town holds be privately funded or ask for grants from Princess Celestia, which I'm sure she would have no issues with when it comes to the Summer Sun Celebration and if she decided not to give us a grant for that celebration, there are wealthy ponies here who would likely donate to help their reputations."

Breaking News asked, "What other things would you want to cut?"

Amethyst replied, "Well if we can get these festivals to be privately funded, I would want to cut municipal property taxes significantly and once we would be able to do so without harming our local economy, I would want to eradicate the property tax entirely. After all, I find it flat out wrong that ponies should have to pay taxes on something they own!"

A large segment of the crowd, especially the unicorns began to cheer loudly, "Amethyst! Amethyst!"

Once the crowd quieted down Breaking News said, "Now on to the incumbent, Mayor Mare. Madame Mayor, this is the fifth time you will be running for mayor and if you are elected it will be a record."

Sunny added, "Why do you think the ponies here should elect you to an unprecedented fifth term?"

The mayor replied, "Well I do understand that we are running a deficit and I do agree with my opponent that we should try to raise funds for these festivals, I do not agree that we should simply cut all funding for them. Ponyville is a community of tradition and I do not believe that traditions should be thrown in the trash in the name of simply trying to be cheap."

A majority of the earth ponies began stomping their hooves in approval of her answer. They had done things the same way for generations and her beliefs that tradition should not be deviated from really resonated with them. Breaking News asked, "Madame Mayor, what would you do as far as speeding up Winter Wrap Up? With the exception of last year, Spring is always late and the town always goes over budget on cleaning up winter."

The mayor replied, "I understand that but if we have Twilight organizing things, we will not have to pay all the ponies involved in this the extra money we have had to in the past for their labor. If we have her start organizing things in the morning, we can get things done before sundown and the only thing that will carry over into the following morning will be the pegasi bringing the birds back from the south."

Sunny said, "Thank you Madame Mayor."

Breaking news added, "And I would like to thank all the candidates for sharing their opinions and plans with not only us and the local audience, but the nation as well."

Post Debate Discussion

The camera focused back on the two moderators where they began to do the post debate discussion. Sunny asked, "Breaking News, you have been covering elections here for years. Who do you think won this debate?"

Breaking News replied, "Well I'm going to be honest. I'll tell you who didn't win, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Their answers were very poor and they gave no serious solutions to any of the problems. As far as who won, I would say it was a tie between Amethyst and Mayor Mare. It is obvious that the unicorn population here overwhelmingly supports Amethyst while the earth ponies are behind the mayor."

Sunny added, "That is quite obvious but what is going to be the wildcard here is who will the pegasi throw their support behind. Coming into this debate I believed that they would probably support Rainbow Dash but after the answers she gave, I wouldn't count on it."

Breaking News asked, "Who would you say won the debate?"

Sunny replied, "I think Amethyst Star won this debate easily. She seemed to offer the most solutions and she seems very determined to take on the budget problems Ponyville has and correct them. While the earth ponies are basically all behind the mayor right now, I could easily see some of them defect and vote for Amethyst once she goes into further detail over her economic plans in the next debate assuming she finishes in the top two here."

A light blinked on the camera letting them know that the broadcast was set to end. Sunny finished, "Both Breaking News and I would like to thank everypony in Equestria who took time out of their schedules to watch this debate. Good night."

The camera went off and viewers went back to their regularly scheduled programming. During the end of the broadcast Breaking News was not thrilled with what Sunny said involving the defection of earth ponies. He glared at her and said, "Sunny, I honestly don't think you understand the culture here. Earth ponies will stay behind the candidate that wants to stick with tradition rather than support some unicorn who wants to throw tradition under the bus in favor of lower taxes."

Sunny replied, "We'll see. I am pretty sure that it will be Mayor Mare and Amethyst in the general though. Pinkie and Rainbow were never serious candidates."

Breaking News wanted to end this discussion and get away from the famous news personality. He grunted, "I agree." He walked off in disgust while Sunny headed off in the other direction so she and the news crew could catch the train back to Manehattan. One thing that both reporters and basically everypony who watched the debate knew though was that Pinkie and Rainbow didn't stand a chance in the primary.

Primary Day

Primary Day

Two weeks had passed since the debate and election day had arrived. Just like with the debate, given that this was the first primary election in Ponyville in years, Sunny Flames and the ENC news crew showed up to provide coverage. As the television crew was setting things up ponies began to show up. Despite it being a rainy and cold morning, many ponies showed up early to vote.

Once the ENC crew got everything sat up and turned the equipment on and began their broadcast. Sunny began, "Good Morning Equestria. I would like to welcome you to our coverage of the primary elections across the country. While much larger communities are holding their primaries today, we are in Ponyville to provide coverage because this is the first primary they have had to hold in nearly three decades."

The main anchor back in Manehattan, Hard News asked, "Sunny, with the way the weather there is, how do you think voter turn out will be?"

Sunny replied, "From what I have seen, there are long lines here and I have a strong feeling that all the ballots may be cast well before the polls close."

Sunny saw Amethyst Star coming out of the polling station and ordered the camera crew to follow her over to interview the candidate. Sunny approached her and asked, "Amethyst, given how well you did in the debate, how do you think you will do today?"

Amethyst replied, "Well I'm not going to go making any predictions on live TV. I don't want to jinx anything."

Sunny asked, "What I noticed at the debate two weeks ago is that most of the unicorns here have thrown their support behind you. Do you think most if not all of them are going to vote for you?"

Amethyst replied, "I know this is probably going to kill your ratings but like I just said, I'm not going to make any predictions. We'll just see how things turn out."

Sunny said, "Well I was going to ask you about how you think your opponents will do but I have a feeling you won't mention anything about that either."

Amethyst replied, "Nope."

The shot shifted back to the anchor in Manehattan and he asked, "So have any of the other candidates came out to cast their vote yet or just Amethyst Star?"

Sunny looked behind her and saw the mayor leaving the polling place. She headed over to the mayor and asked, "Good morning Madame Mayor. How do you think things are going to turn out?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Well, I'm going to be honest. I think that Amethyst and I will win today and when the time comes for the general election, anything goes."

Sunny asked, "I take it you are writing Pinkie and Rainbow off already?"

The mayor replied, "Of course. Neither one of them are serious candidates and I don't think they could handle the responsibilities involved in being mayor."

Sunny asked, "What about Amethyst Star?"

The mayor replied, "Well I think she will advance to face off against me in the general but given her responses in the debate, I don't see her beating me. The unicorn vote alone won't win it for her."

Sunny said, "Thanks for your input miss mayor."

Again the broadcast shifted back to Manehattan where Hard News asked, "Have the other candidates shown up to vote yet?"

Sunny replied, "No they haven't. We'll be sure to let you know when they do so we can interview them."

The cameras were shut off in Ponyville while they were waiting for Pinkie and Rainbow to show up and vote. While this was going on Sunny decided to do some off camera exit polling. She saw a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, Fluttershy, coming out of the polling station. She stopped her and asked, "Ma'am so who did you vote for today?"

Fluttershy asked in return, "Uhm, you promise you won't tell anypony?"

Sunny replied, "Nope. Your answer will be used for general data purposes only."

Fluttershy said, "Well, I voted for Pinkie Pie because she is one of my friends."

Sunny asked, "That's it? Is that the only reason?"

Fluttershy replied, "Uhm, no. Rainbow Dash is a good friend of mine too but I just think Pinkie would do a better job."

Sunny said, "Alright, you have a good day."

She continued to wait around until she saw a wealthy earth pony, Filthy Rich, leaving the polling station and approached him. She asked, "Sir, may I have a moment of your time?"

Filthy replied, "Yeah but make it quick. The commodities market closes in an hour and I have some trades I need to execute."

Sunny asked, "So who did you vote for and why?"

Filthy replied, "I voted for Amethyst Star because she's the only one who actually gave us an idea on what she would do and I will admit, lower taxes and the ultimate end of the municipal property tax is what has really drawn me to her."

Sunny asked, "So I take it you are one of those ponies who vote based on substance rather than what type of pony the candidate is?"

Filthy replied, "Yes. I wouldn't trust Pinkie or Rainbow to run a lemonade stand and Mayor Mare continues to drive this town deeper and deeper into debt. We need change and Amethyst is the only one who can right this ship."

Sunny said, "Thank you for your input sir. You have a good day."

She continued to wait around the polling station until late in the day when two ponies who were arguing showed up. Sunny nodded to the camera crew to inform the network that the other two candidates had arrived. The broadcast in Ponyville resumed. "We resume our coverage here in Ponyville as the other two candidates are currently casting their ballots."

Pinkie came bouncing out of the polling station right up to Sunny. Sunny asked, "Pinkie, so how do you think you'll do in today's election?"

Pinkie replied, "Well duh! I'm gonna win and when I do, I'm gonna throw a party with ice cream, cake, cider and lots of fun music. Would you want to come?"

Sunny knew that this would never come to pass but she said yes to placate her. Quickly Rainbow came flying out of the polling station and knocked Pinkie over. Rainbow got in the camera and said, "Hey Equestria, you're looking at Ponyville's next mayor!"

Pinkie got up, shoved her to the side and screamed, "No Rainbow, I'm gonna be Ponyville's next mayor!"

The two continued to shout at one another and all Sunny could do was roll her eyes while back in Manehattan Hard News and the other anchors could only laugh. Sunny finally had enough. She said, "Ladies, stop it! All of Equestria is watching this and I'm sure Ponyville doesn't want the country to see you two acting like this."

The two quickly apologized to the camera. Sunny asked, "Since you two are together, how do you think you did today?"

Pinkie replied, "I think Rainbow and I won! No way the boring old mayor or than meany-mean hooves Amethyst won!"

Rainbow added, "Yeah, why would somepony pick two boring candidates when you have candidates who want to make Ponyville more exciting."

Sunny replied, "Alright ladies. Good luck to you."

The cameras in Ponyville went black and the crews were moving their equipment to the town square where the results would be revealed in a couple of hours. Two of the candidates would move on and ready themselves for the general election while the other two would return to their normal lives.

The Results

Three hours had passed and the ballots had been counted and the results were ready to be revealed. In Manehattan Hard News began the broadcast, "Good evening Equestria. Many primary elections have been held across Equestria to determine who will run for mayor but one in particular that we have been focusing on today is the election in the small community of Ponyville. Ponies may wonder why we focused on such a small town but this is the first time in nearly 30 years they have held a primary and one of the candidates holds more conservative views, which is rather unorthodox here in Equestria." The camera in Ponyville came on and Hard News continued, "And now we take you to Ponyville where Sunny Flames is reporting."

Sunny began, "As Hard News said and like we have reported earlier, this has been a historical day in Ponyville. For the first time in 28 years Ponyville has held a primary and a candidate with rather unorthodox views is running." She looked back towards the stage and saw Princess Twilight heading up to the podium. She motioned for the crew to head to the makeshift stage that had been set up. She continued, "And any moment, the results of this election will be revealed."

The cameras began to focus in on Twilight as she stood at the podium. She began, "Thank you for coming out tonight everypony! I'm sure you are all as excited as I am to find out what the results were."

She opened a sealed envelope and levitated the results onto the podium. She continued, "Alright everypony, we have the results. Rainbow Dash received one vote, Pinkie Pie received 2 votes, Amethyst Star received 42 votes and Mayor Mare received 58 votes so in the general election it will be Amethyst Star going up against Mayor Mare.

Almost all of the unicorns began to cheer loudly and most of the earth ponies began to cheer loudly while most of the pegasi had a rather indifferent reaction. When Amethyst and Mayor Mare saw the reaction of the pegasi, they knew that they were the ones they would need to sway in their direction.

Two ponies however were very upset, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow yelled, "One vote? I only got one vote? I demand a recount!"

Pinkie added, "Yeah, we want a recount! There's no way that only me and one other pony would want more parties."

Twilight sighed, "Trust me girls, Amethyst and Mayor Mare won."

Rainbow and Pinkie just sighed in disgust while Amethyst headed to her cheering supporters and Mayor Mare headed to her adoring supporters. The camera switched back to Sunny. She said, "It looks like it will be Amethyst and Mayor Mare in the Ponyville primary election come November."

In Manehattan Hard News asked, "So just from what we know right now, who do you think has the advantage, Amethyst or the incumbent mayor?"

Sunny replied, "I'm not sure. While the incumbent mayor did receive quite a few more votes I couldn't help but notice the reaction of the pegasi. I know both candidates will be trying to convince them that they are the one to support. The unicorns are firmly behind Amethyst Star and a majority of the earth ponies support Mayor Mare. This should be an exciting campaign."

The cameras went black in Ponyville as the broadcast ended. Before the network moved on to other news Hard News finished, "While the campaign for mayor there will be interesting, I can't help but wonder who Pinkie and Rainbow Dash will support come November." He broke into a laugh, "Knowing those two, they will likely write themselves in!" He then concluded, "And that is it for tonight, coming on next is Overnight News. Goodnight everypony."

Interview Scheduling

July had arrived and for the most part political news was put on the back burner across Equestria. However, there is one reporter who wanted to get interviews from the candidates she has focused the most on, Amethyst Star and Mayor Mare. She figured that this would be a good time to sit down with them one on one so Equestria could get to know more about them.

Interview Scheduling

It was morning when Amethyst received a phone call. She did not recognize the number that came up but something kept telling her to answer the phone. She asked, "Hello, who is this?"

The pony on the other end replied, "It's Sunny Flames of ENC, how are you doing today?"

Amethyst replied, "Oh, I'm fine....wait a minute, how did you get my number?"

Sunny replied, "The phone numbers and addresses of candidates running for public office are made available to news outlets in the event we want to interview you and I am wondering if you would be interested in having a one on one televised interview."

While the idea of phone numbers and addresses of candidates being shared with news outlets made Amethyst very uncomfortable and a bit paranoid, since it was Sunny Flames she agreed to the interview. She asked, "So when would this interview take place?"

Sunny replied, "Well since you are interested I'll head out to Ponyville tomorrow and I should get there the day after tomorrow. It would likely be in the early afternoon."

Amethyst asked, "Alright. Since you said my address was made available to you will you just show up at my house or what?"

Sunny replied, "Yeah. I think it would make you look more approachable and down to earth if we held the interview in your home."

Amethyst said, "Alright, I'll see you in a couple of days."

Sunny replied, "Thanks, see you then."

After she hung the phone up Amethyst began jumping up and down like a schoolfilly squealing, "I can't believe it, Sunny Flames is coming here! She's going to interview me here!"

Her loudness woke Sea Swirl up. She headed downstairs and asked, "Amethyst, what has you so happy? Why are you being so loud?"

Amethyst grabbed her and replied, "Sunny Flames is going to interview me here, in our home! Can you believe it?"

Sea Swirl wasn't exactly the biggest fan of news personalities and had her doubts about this. She asked, "Amethyst, are you sure you want to do this interview? What if you slip up and say something that will turn voters off to you? Even worse, what if you go all fanfilly over Sunny while the cameras are rolling and it makes you look completely foolish?"

Amethyst replied, "Don't worry Sea Swirl, I'll keep my emotions in check and I know how to say things in a way that I can persuade ponies to support me, not turn them against me."

Sea Swirl sighed, "Well alright. I'll be sure to leave the house while this is going on so that I'm not causing any distractions."

Amethyst replied, "Thanks Sea Swirl, I appreciate that."

While they continued their discussion the phone rang in the mayor's office. Mayor Mare picked up the phone and answered, "Mayor Mare speaking, how may I help you?"

The voice on the other end asked in return, "Hi, this is Sunny Flames of ENC, how are you doing today?"

The mayor asked, "Wait a minute, how did you get the direct line to my office?"

Sunny replied, "When an incumbent is running for re-election the direct line to their office is made available to news agencies in the event we want to contact you to see if you want to do an interview."

The mayor asked, "I take it that is why you contacted me. Do you want to do an interview with me?"

Sunny replied, "Yes. I have already scheduled an interview with your opponent and I figured that it would be best if I interview both of you to be fair."

The mayor asked, "So when would you want to do this?"

Sunny replied, "I will be heading out tomorrow so I should get to Ponyville the day after tomorrow. I will be interviewing your opponent in the afternoon so I was thinking I could interview you in the evening."

The mayor asked, "Where would you want to interview me?"

Sunny replied, "Well I was thinking that we could do this in your home. It would make you look more approachable if you invite us into your home."

The mayor asked, "So will these interviews be shown on TV?"

Sunny replied, "Yes, they will be. That way not just the ponies in Ponyville can see it, but everypony in Equestria can."

The mayor said, "Alright, we can do that. I'll see you then."

Sunny replied, "See you then."

Mayor Mare hung up the phone and sighed in disgust. While she really did not want to do this and was not thrilled that all of Equestria would see the interview, she knew that if she didn't want to lose support that she had better take part in this.

Amethyst's Interview

Two days had passed and the day of the interview had arrived. Amethyst was brushing her mane and trying to make sure she looked perfect. After all, she did not want to look messy in front of Sunny or Equestria. Sea Swirl saw her doing this and said, "Amethyst, you look fine. You don't need to spend thirty minutes brushing your mane and tail."

Amethyst replied, "Sea Swirl, I want to look perfect. This is going to be seen across all of Equestria and I want to look good for Sunny."

Sea Swirl sighed, "Ugh, you act like you two are going out on a first date or something."

Amethyst replied, "Look, I just want to look......"

There was a knock on the door and Amethyst rushed to answer it. When she saw it was Sunny without thinking she rushed to her and hugged her. "Oh my gosh Sunny Flames, I never imagined that you would be visiting me in my home!"

Sunny hugged her back and replied, "Well this is a first. I never imagined that a candidate I was interviewing would go all fanfilly over me."

Sea Swirl was in the living room and said, "Don't worry about her Ms. Flames. She is probably your biggest fan and watches you religiously."

Sunny pulled back and said, "Amethyst, I know you're a fan of mine but I really don't feel comfortable being hugged by somepony I barely know."

Amethyst replied, "I'm sorry, I'm just a huge fan of yours."

Sunny sighed, "It's alright." She then asked, "Well shall we get this interview going?"

Amethyst replied, "Of course."

Sea Swirl headed towards the door and said, "Well Amethyst, I'll see you later."

Amethyst nodded while Sunny ordered the camera crew to begin recording. Once the cameras were rolling Sunny began, "Hello Equestria, this is Sunny Flames reporting for ENC. As many of you know I like to do interviews with various political candidates during the summer and today I am interviewing Reform Party candidate Amethyst Star who is running for mayor of Ponyville."

The camera view shifted to where it was showing both of them sitting across from one another. Sunny continued, "Amethyst, while you qualified for the general election back in April, the incumbent mayor garnered 16 more votes than you did. What do you think needs to be done to get some of the ponies who voted for her to switch their support to you?"

Amethyst replied, "Well in the first debate we really didn't get a chance to go in depth over what our plans are. It was pretty much just simple questions. I'm sure once ponies know more about my plans on lowering taxes and cutting wasteful spending they will throw their support behind me."

Sunny asked, "You mentioned cutting wasteful spending. Could you elaborate on that?"

Amethyst replied, "Yes, I can. For starters, there are quite a few festivals that are funded by the town. For instance, what hurt the town the most last year was The Helping Hooves Music Festival. I did my research and the town had a 3,500 bit budget for this but because of the desire to bring in Countess Coloratura, the town went over budget. Bringing her in alone cost 7,000 bits. My view is that if high price acts are to be brought in, there should be donations to fund it or perhaps wealthy ponies could contribute to make it happen. In the end the festival cost over 10,000 bits. That is roughly 20% of the town budget."

Sunny asked, "What else would you want to cut?"

Amethyst replied, "One thing many ponies may not know is that when we create winter, the town purchases icicles to put on the eaves of houses. While they are not horribly expensive the town still spends roughly 1,000 bits for as many that are ordered. If we were to simply allow those things to form on their own, there would be an extra thousand bits that could be allocated elsewhere, such as maintaining city services or giving our hard working city workers a small pay raise."

Sunny asked, "Amethyst, in the first debate you mentioned the waste involved in Winter Wrap Up. What would you want to do to fix that?"

Amethyst replied, "For starters, Winter Wrap Up always takes longer than it is scheduled. Given that ponies are paid by the hour to help with this, the extra time requires that the city pay them overtime. Like with creating winter, the extra costs involving that could be allocated elsewhere. Like I also said with bringing winter, that extra money could be used in maintaining city infrastructure or giving city workers a slight raise or contributing more in our contribution match into their 401(k)s."

Sunny asked, "Amethyst, some ponies, earth ponies in particular seem to think that you place more importance on cutting costs than you do on tradition. What would you say to put them at ease or to convince them that your economic and tax plans should take top priority over the status quo?"

Amethyst replied, "Here is the thing. While having the town fund these festivals and events such as changing the seasons is traditional, the town has ran a deficit since before Mayor Mare took office. The town has had to take out many loans from various sources just to cover operating costs. A time may come when banks will no longer be willing to give us loans just so we can cover all the costs. The results of that could be disastrous. We may not be able to properly maintain the city's water mains, we may not be able to keep the dam maintained and we may not be able to match the contributions to the city workers' 401(k) accounts, which is something we put in their contracts when we hire them."

Sunny asked, "Another thing everypony learned from that first debate is that you want to cut taxes. What sorts of benefits do you think that would provide for the citizens of Ponyville?"

Amethyst replied, "Well anytime you cut taxes that allows ponies to keep more bits in their saddlebags. This allows ponies to provide more for their families and it aids businesses greatly. That extra money will likely be spent on expenditures that ponies would not be able to make if it is going to the government. It could be the difference between a business owner being able to turn a profit or losing money. It could also be the difference between them being able to create more jobs or having to eliminate jobs and of course if we have more ponies working, more ponies will make money and be able to contribute to the local economy themselves. In a situation like that, everypony wins."

The time had come to finish this interview as the network had only scheduled so much time to air it. Sunny said, "Well thank you Amethyst. This should give the voters more insight as to who they should support."

Amethyst replied, "I hope so."

Sunny finished, "I would like to thank Amethyst Star for inviting me into her home so that not just Ponyville, but all of Equestria can get to know more about her and her views on how things should be run."

Sunny ordered the cameras to stop rolling and Amethyst asked, "I have a question, when will this interview be aired?"

Sunny replied, "It will be aired on my show a couple nights from now, once I get back to Manehattan."

Amethyst said, "Alright, sounds good."

Sunny replied, "Well I need to get going, I want to get a bite to eat at the cafe and relax before I have to interview the mayor."

Amethyst said, "Alright. I want to thank you for interviewing me."

Sunny headed towards the door and replied, "You're welcome Amethyst. You have a good day."

Once Sunny and her camera crew left Amethyst had a huge smile on her face. She had a feeling that her emphasis on cutting wasteful spending would resonate quite well with the citizens of Ponyville. She also believed that the idea of more job creation would go over well so that she could win over many voters that supported the mayor in the primary.

The Mayor's Interview

After interviewing Amethyst, Sunny and her news crew headed to the cafe for a bite to eat while they waited for the mayor to finish up for the day and head home. One of the camera ponies saw she had a frustrated look, "Sunny, what is wrong? You look frustrated."

Sunny replied, "I'm not frustrated, I'm simply shocked. I never imagined that I would have a candidate running for any office go all fanfilly over me. The way she hugged me it almost felt like she viewed me as more than a news personality....."

He interrupted, "You mean as in she wants you as a marefriend?"

Sunny replied, "Yeah. I'm no psychiatrist but I can read a pony's eyes quite well and while she kept her composure quite well, I saw a look of desire in her eyes."

The camera pony replied, "Well I don't think she's anything to worry about. She may have found you attractive but her type will put ambition first."

Sunny sighed, "Oh you're right." She looked to her left and saw the mayor heading home and realized that they should get going, "Guys, there's the mayor. Let's get going."

The news crew followed the mayor home and before she could even get her door closed, Sunny got her attention, "Miss Mayor, we're here to do your interview."

The mayor replied, "Sunny, I thought you said that it wouldn't be until the evening when you wanted to do this."

Sunny said, "Well we saw you headed home and we thought that perhaps we could do this early. I interviewed your opponent earlier today and I thought that if I could get this done early that I could get back home early and get these ready to air tomorrow or the next day at the latest."

Mayor Mare was not thrilled with the reporter's attitude in wanting to hurry up and get home but agreed to do it at that time, "Alright, come on in and let's do this."

Once they got sat down Sunny ordered that the camera crew begin recording. Once the cameras were recording Sunny began, "Hello Equestria, this is Sunny Flames reporting for ENC. As many of you know I like to do interviews with various political candidates during the summer and today I am interviewing Ponyville's incumbent mayor, Mayor Mare who is running for an unprecedented fifth term."

The camera shifted to where it was showing them sitting across from one another. Sunny continued, "Madame Mayor, back in April you finished first in the primary but the unicorns are firmly supporting your opponent. What sort of plan do you have to get them to switch their support to you?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Well with the unicorns, they are going to be a tough crowd to sway. I have noticed that as time passes more and more of them complain about traditions such as Winter Wrap Up and how time consuming it is. I am thinking that perhaps increasing the compensation that everypony gets out of it may sway them."

Sunny asked, "Are you talking about monetary compensation?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Perhaps but the problem with that is that if we give them extra compensation then we would have to do that for everypony else and I'm not sure if the town can afford that."

Sunny asked, "Mentioning the town being able to afford things. As you are obviously aware of Ponyville has ran a deficit since before you first took office. How would you be able to afford these extra compensations given all the other expenditures the town currently has?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Well, I hate to say this but my opponent may be right. We may have to see if wealthy ponies would donate to help fund some of the festivals the town holds and we may have to scale back some of the festivals. The last Helping Hooves Music Festival really hurt us."

Sunny asked, "So you probably won't be bringing in any more big name acts?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Probably not unless they would willing to actually be charitable. I hate to say it but if we are to bring in big name acts, we will have to ask for donations. If we can't get ponies to donate, we will have to stick to smaller name acts and probably local musicians."

Sunny asked, "When I interviewed your opponent, she mentioned cuts regarding creating winter. She put particular emphasis on the icicles that are ordered from Cloudsdale to put on the eaves and suggested that it would be much easier to simply allow them to form on their own. What are your thoughts on that?"

Mayor Mare replied, "While I can see where she is coming from, I do not think tradition should be deviated from. Ponyville has changed the seasons the same way for ages and as long as I am in office, none of that will change." She began to get a bit agitated and continued, "I honestly don't think this town will take kindly to some unicorn who would scrap every tradition in the name of fiscal responsibility if she could get away with it."

Sunny continued "Also mentioning changing seasons, your opponent said that if the costly aspects of changing seasons were to be lessened, that extra money could be allocated to keeping the dam maintained, maintaining city streets or as what she seems to put a large amount of emphasis on, paying city workers more. What is your response to that?"

Mayor Mare replied, "While I can see where she is coming from, I think the town has done quite a good job on keeping the dam maintained and I don't see any problems with the streets nor do I ever hear city workers complaining about their pay so I don't see any reason to change things."

Sunny asked, "Your opponent mentioned how cutting taxes would allow ponies to keep more money in their saddlebags and contribute more into the local economy. What is your response to that?"

Mayor Mare replied, "I personally think that having more money to spend would cause them to travel to Canterlot or the bigger cities back east. I honestly don't see them contributing into the local economy any more than they do right now."

Sunny asked, "On a final note, your opponent brought up how Ponyville has to borrow money from banks and other sources to keep the town running. She placed a lot of emphasis on when Ponyville may be denied further loans because of the deficit. Is there anything you would plan on doing to prevent a situation like that from happening?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Well so far we have been able to pay on the interest and I do hope that if we can get some private funding for our festivals that maybe we can pay on the principal balance, lessening the amount of interest we have to pay."

The time had come to finish this interview as the network had only scheduled so much time to air it. Sunny said, "Well thank you Mayor Mare. This should give the voters more insight as to who they should support."

Mayor Mare replied, "I certainly hope so."

Sunny ordered for the cameras to stop rolling and Mayor Mare asked, "So when will this be aired?"

Sunny replied, "Well your interview along with that of your opponent will be aired on a prime-time special a couple of nights from now. That way it can receive maximum exposure."

Mayor Mare said, "Well that's good. You have a good day."

Sunny headed towards the door and replied, "You have a good one as well."

Once the news crew left all the mayor could do was sigh in disgust. She felt as though she was asked questions that would likely give her opponent an advantage over her and was not thrilled with basically being ambushed the moment she got home from work. All she could do was wait until the fall debate arrived where she could go head to head against her opponent in depth and show why Amethyst's plans simply would not work.

Fall Debate

The second Tuesday in October had arrived and while politics had been put on the back burner in Equestria for the past few months things were beginning to get heated as debate season had arrived. Like she did in the spring, Sunny Flames and her news crew would be headed to Ponyville. While she was excited to do this and had a much more favorable opinion of Amethyst than the mayor, she vowed to herself that she wouldn't get too close to the light purple unicorn as she didn't feel like having some fanfilly hugging her again.

In her home, Amethyst was brushing her mane and tail frantically like she had in the past and like always, Sea Swirl was there to get her to calm down, "Amethyst, I think you've combed your mane and tail enough. What you really need to worry about tonight is appearing professional." She noticed that Amethyst was wearing her saddlebags and continued, "And why in Equestria are you wearing your saddlebags? This is a debate you are taking part in, not some sort of business meeting."

Amethyst replied, "I have some information in there that I can use to my advantage tonight." She began to snicker, "And given that I have hard copies of these town expenditures for the past fifteen years, I can and will sink the mayor tonight."

Sea Swirl sighed, "Oh and what could you possibly have on her that will help you sink her campaign tonight?"

Amethyst replied, "Just come to the debate tonight Sea Swirl. When you learn of what I have, you'll know why the town will turn against her."

Sea swirl sighed in disgust. While she supported her roommate, she believed that her tactics were going a bit far. One thing she did not know though was that her roommate had spent plenty of time researching town spending over the years.

When the evening arrived, Sunny Flames and the ENC news crew were setting up. Also there was the head reporter for The Ponyville Express. While he had worked with Sunny in the spring debate, he still felt intimidated that he would be moderating alongside the most popular news personality in Equestria.

Finally 1900 had arrived and everypony was ready for the debate. Amethyst and Mayor Mare were up at their podiums and the moderators were at their table. Sunny gave the signal for the cameras to start rolling. Once they started Sunny began, "Welcome to the Ponyville debate everypony. I am Sunny Flames and along side me is the head reporter for The Ponyville Express, Breaking News. As many of you know we have been following this election for months because it required a primary in the spring and includes a candidate who holds more conservative views than most candidates across the country."

Breaking News added, "And this candidate has brought about very passionate emotions here in Ponyville as old traditions die hard in earth pony communities and using things such as magic does not sit well with many ponies."

Sunny cleared her throat and continued, "Let me introduce the two candidates. We have Reform Party candidate Amethyst Star running against the incumbent, Mayor Mare, who is seeking an unprecedented fifth consecutive term."

Breaking News added, "Now this debate will be done in a different way. Each candidate will be asked a question and after that candidate gives her answer, her opponent will be given a chance to counter with her own response."

The two had decided that Sunny would ask Amethyst her questions while Breaking News would ask Mayor Mare questions. Sunny decided she would go first, "Amethyst, you have let it be well known that you believe that funding for festivals that have traditionally been paid for by the town for decades should be privately funded. Why is that?"

Amethyst replied, "Like I have been saying throughout this whole election cycle, this town has been running a deficit since before the mayor took office. Ponyville has had to take out loans from The Royal Bank of Equestria and other sources just to cover operating costs and necessary expenditures such as paying the town's employees and maintaining the dam. If a time was to come when we can't get any more loans because of our ever increasing debt, the dam may eventually fail and the town's employees aren't going to work for free. If we can get these festivals privatized, perhaps we can begin to pay back these debts and eventually not rely on borrowing money to keep everything up and running."

Sunny asked, "Mayor, any response to that?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Well I can understand where my opponent is coming from and I will admit, I have concerns about whether or not we will always be able to borrow money to keep both tradition alive and fulfill our obligation to the town employees along with keeping the dam up to date. What my opponent does not mention though is that we are able to pay on the interest every year and The Royal Bank of Equestria has promised that as long as we continue to make payments on the interest, that we won't have to worry."

Breaking News continued, "And now on to Mayor Mare." He asked, "Madame Mayor, to many ponies keeping tradition alive is very important. Winter Wrap Up and creating winter are two of the most important ones. What can you tell the citizens of Ponyville to ease their fears that long held, beloved traditions will not be deviated from?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Like I have said earlier, we are keeping up on our interest payments to our creditors so we can continue to put as much money into these traditions as we always have. I will admit, in prior years we always went over budget but with Princess Twilight being such a good organizer, she has made things run more smoothly, we have wrapped up winter on time and that has lessened the cost, not to mention the stress involved in it.

Regarding creating winter. A majority of that is a payment to Cloudsdale for the snowflakes they create during the year along with their labor of bringing in the clouds so no matter how much my opponent may complain about it, reducing costs on the creation of winter rests solely on what the weather ponies in Cloudsdale decide."

Breaking News asked, "Amethyst, your response to that?"

Amethyst replied, "While I understand that keeping these traditions are alive are important, I think that Ponyville needs to modernize. The ponies in large cities such as Manehattan and Fillydelphia lead such hectic lives that they have a couple weather mages that take care of changing seasons for them. Because the mages only work on that job four days a year and hold other jobs, the cost of changing seasons for these cities is ONE PERCENT of what it costs us to cover Winter Wrap Up alone. Besides the cost, the town loses one day of productivity as everypony is needed to wrap up winter.

Also, for changing these seasons the town pays ponies to do the various jobs involving wrapping up winter by the hour. Now if this would become a volunteer basis event it would not harm the town so much financially but even so, I still think that if the town were to bring in a unicorn mage to handle things, we could have spring arrive on time every year with no lost time and at only a minimal cost."

Sunny asked, "Amethyst, from what I understand when you filed your papers you told Princess Celestia you would eradicate wasteful spending here in Ponyville. I take it you meant a lot involving the festivals?"

Amethyst replied, "Yes, I did mean the costs of the festivals. Like I said in the first debate, The Helping Hooves Music Festival took up roughly 20% of the town budget last year because of the demands that Countess Coloratura's manager made. Twenty percent for one event is quite a bit and because of that spending, the town was unable to give it's workers the raises which my opponent had promised them last November when their contracts were renewed for this year.

Regarding other wasteful spending, there is spending that the town has tried to keep secret despite it being publicly available in the spending records in the town hall." She pulled some papers out of her saddlebag and held them up. She asked, "Twilight, could you project these spending records for all to see?"

While Twilight was unsure as to whether this would be ethical or not she did as requested. Once they were visible Amethyst continued, "As you can see, dating back to Mayor Mare's very first year in office, the town has paid roughly 1000 bits per year to Manehattan Mane and Tail Supply." She continued to flip through pages so that the ponies could see each one, from the first year that Mayor Mare was in office until the last full calendar year. She continued, "I remember a few years back when pictures of the mayor with half dyed mane surfaced in The Foal Free Press." She glared at the mayor and continued, "Now I wonder where this dye came from and why the town would do business with a personal products company?"

Mayor Mare yelled, "She can't do this! She can't just have a PRINCESS use her magic to project this information for everypony to see in a debate. This is illegal, I'll sue!"

Twilight interrupted, "Madame Mayor, there are no rules against a candidate having anypony from doing this, whether said pony is a princess or not so this is perfectly legal." She cast her gaze at Amethyst and said, "You may continue."

Amethyst continued, "I believe I have said everything I need to regarding wasteful spending."

Sunny asked, "Mayor Mare, your reaction to this?"

The mayor was visibly shaken by the spending records that had just been projected for everypony to see but tried to remain calm, "Well I don't really think my opponent understands how important traditions are, regardless of the cost. Bringing in Countess Coloratura not only made everypony happy, it also reunited Applejack with her fillyhood friend and helped Countess Coloratura rediscover her true self. You can't put a price on something as special as that."

Breaking News asked, "Last question of the night. Madame Mayor, I have heard rumors that because of the deficit Ponyville has ran, that the local teacher has not received a pay raise in several years and that it has been quite some time since the school has been able to acquire new textbooks. What would your remedy to this problem be?"

Mayor Mare replied, "I hate to say this but to take care of this problem we may have to scale back our festivals or ask for some private donations. Am I saying we need to get them fully privately funded, no I am not. I do believe that if we can get some private donations, Miss Cheerilee can get a pay raise and more modern textbooks can be acquired."

Breaking News asked, "Your response to this Amethyst?"

Amethyst replied, "My opponent is right regarding the festivals but as you know, I think they need to be completely privately funded." She held up the spending records and continued, "I'm not sure how closely everypony was watching these when Twilight was projecting them but there has not been one, NOT EVEN ONE, transaction with any place that would have been a place where the town would get textbooks from since my opponent's first year in office. I'm not sure when the last time the town purchased new textbooks but it had to have been at least sixteen years ago, if not more. Outdated textbooks are putting our fillies and colts at a grave disadvantage against ponies that live in other communities where more modern textbooks are available. Not only is the town engaging in wasteful spending, is is FAILING our fillies and colts!"

Sunny said, "We have heard great points from both of our candidates tonight which will hopefully help the voters know where the candidates stand on things."

Breaking news added, "We will give the candidates one final chance to speak to the voters before we sign off for the night. Mayor Mare, what is your message to the voters?"

Mayor Mare replied, "While my opponent has brought forth many good points tonight I think that I am deserving of your vote because unlike my opponent, I do not want to scrap tradition in the name of being cheap and using magic. If you value our beloved, long held traditions, vote for me and they will stay in tact."

Sunny asked, "Amethyst, what is your final statement?"

Amethyst replied, "Citizens of Ponyville, you have seen both sides of the coin presented on various subjects tonight but I want to ask you all something. Are you ok with Ponyville continuing to run a deficit? Are you ok with town employees not receiving raises when said raises are promised to them in their contracts? Are you ok with festivals going over budget using money that could be used to prevent the damn from breaking, flooding the town and leaving us without power? Are you ok with your fillies and colts receiving a sub-par education because of the lack of modern textbooks and a poorly paid teacher? If that answer is yes, then go ahead and vote for my opponent. If that answer is no, then vote for me. I care about all of you, everypony from yet to be born foals to our elders."

The cameras shifted to Sunny and Breaking News at the desk. Sunny said, "That is the end of the Ponyville debate. While this has been a fantastic debate, it also turned out to be rather unorthodox. Breaking News, who do you think won this debate?"

Breaking News was not happy with how things turned out but tried to remain calm on camera, "Well I think both candidates put forth very good ideas. Personally I think they tied. Will it alter things from how the primary turned out, I don't think so. I am predicting that Mayor Mare will be elected to an unprecedented fifth term. What about you Sunny?"

Sunny replied, "I do think that both candidates started out very well but it seemed like as the debate progressed, Amethyst continued to do better and revealing the town spending records is what clinched it for her. It was absolutely brilliant what she did regarding the spending records. I also think her bringing up the fact that no spending has been put towards the school only made it better for her. I am betting that after tonight, most of the town will flock to Amethyst and it will only be the extremely old fashioned ponies that continue to support Mayor Mare." She got the notification that the time to end their telecast had arrived and continued, "Thank you for tuning in tonight Equestria. Coming up next is Overnight News."

The cameras stopped rolling and what seemed to be a civil situation between the two moderators turned nasty. Breaking News yelled, "Sunny, you don't understand, ponies here are old fashioned and just because some arrogant unicorn BREAKS THE RULES by having a PRINCESS use her magic to project the town spending records for all to see, that will not change their minds. You UNICORNS will always stick together. It has been easy to spot that since the first debate and you have obviously been on her side since day one. You make me sick."

Sunny decided that rather than firing back that she would be calm, "Breaking News, I know you have been covering news here for decades but I don't think ponies are going to stand for misuse of town funds nor are ponies who have foals going to put their young one's education at risk."

Breaking News stormed off while Sunny ordered her news crew to pack up and get ready to get home. As they were packing up their equipment the ENC crew couldn't help but notice that most of the pegasi and even some of the earth ponies had gathered with the unicorns and were talking among one another. When Sunny saw this she said to herself, "Come election day, the old fashioned ponies are going to be in for a huge surprise!"

Election Day

One month had passed since the debate and election day had arrived not just in Ponyville, but across all of Equestria. While ENC had news crews stationed across every community in Equestria, like always, Sunny Flames and her news crew had set up camp in Ponyville. It was early morning and ponies had already lined up to cast their ballots.

0700 arrived and the polls opened. Sunny ordered for the cameras to start rolling and began, "Good Morning Equestria, this is Sunny Flames reporting to you live from Ponyville. Well today is the day, today is the day that many communities across Equestria will let their voices be heard. Here in Ponyville this is going to be more than just one candidate versus another, this is looking to be a vote of tradition versus fiscal responsibility."

She had the cameras pan towards town hall where Amethyst Star was just coming out from casting her ballot. Despite being leery of the pony who hugged her that summer, she figured she would not do that on camera. She approached Amethyst and asked, "Amethyst, so what has the atmosphere been like here in Ponyville since the last debate?"

Amethyst replied, "Things haven't been normal. While there hasn't been any violence, it seems like some ponies just don't get along anymore. I'm not sure if any friendships have been lost or not but you can tell when one of my staunchest supporters has to deal with one of the mayor's staunchest supporters, they deal with one another in whatever way they have to and then go about their business. They don't just stop and have friendly chit chats anymore."

Sunny asked, "I know you probably aren't going to say anything but who do you think will win today."

Amethyst couldn't help but laugh a bit, "Come on Ms. Flames, you know that after the primary I told you I wasn't going to make any predictions and I'm going to say the same this time. I think it is bad karma to go predicting things like this."

Sunny replied, "I figured you would say that." She patted Amethyst on the shoulder and continued, "Best of luck to you Amethyst."

Amethyst replied, "Thanks. You along with all of Equestria have a good day."

Hard News, the main anchor in Manehattan joined in on the telecast. He said, "Well, it looks like Amethyst is being her normal self, not making any predictions."

Sunny replied, "Nope, that is something she simply won't do." She looked behind her and saw the mayor heading out of the town hall. She ordered the camera crew to follow her to the mayor. When she reached her Sunny asked, "Madame Mayor, how would you say things have been in the town since that last debate?"

Mayor Mare replied, "Well I don't think things have been going all that well. The atmosphere of friendship seems fractured and I have noticed that some of the earth ponies have been avoiding having to deal with unicorns."

Sunny asked, "Would you say it is the most old fashioned earth ponies that are avoiding them?"

Mayor Mare replied "Yes, it is. It is sad really. It is sad to see a community go from one where almost everypony enjoys one another's company and descend into one that is clearly divided over something as simple as an election."

Sunny asked, "That is sad but I do want to ask you this. Who do you think won today?"

Mayor Mare gulped, "You know, I really don't know. After the primary I was certain that I would win but the atmosphere has changed so much since then. It seems like my opponent's message of cutting spending has really become popular with a lot of ponies, and not just unicorns so I can't make a call on that."

Sunny replied, "I can understand that. Well I better let you get going. You have a good day."

Mayor Mare said, "You have a good day too."

After the mayor departed, Sunny and Hard News began to discuss the situation in Ponyville, "Sunny, while I have never been to Ponyville, I have heard about how close knit of a community it is. I am shocked that this election has turned the citizens against one another."

Sunny replied, "After what happened in that last debate, it doesn't surprise me. The old fashioned ponies are really digging their hooves in and the ponies who want reform are doing the same thing. I certainly hope that once this is over, that Ponyville will return to being the most friendly community in Equestria."

Hard News said, "I certainly hope so." Hard News got a notification that it was time to move on to another crew's coverage, "We will continue our coverage in Ponyville tonight when the results are announced."

After the cameras stopped rolling Sunny and her crew headed to the local cafe to grab a bite to eat. While they were there they saw multiple ponies get into arguments throughout the day, which brought about discomfort to Sunny. She put her head down and sighed, "How could such a friendly community become like this? Are they really so divided that they'd even make a city mare like me uncomfortable?"

Evening had arrived in Ponyville and the polls just closed. Both candidates had organized watch parties where they would watch the results come in. Because of this, ENC had to send an extra crew and would have The Ponyville Express's reporter Breaking News reporting from Mayor Mare's watch party while Sunny would be reporting from Amethyst's watch party.

At 1920 the cameras began rolling in Ponyville with a split screen as Breaking News would be seen on one side at the mayor's watch party in the town hall and Sunny would be seen at Amethyst's, which was being held in front of her house. Hard News began, "Breaking News, Sunny, how would you say the mood is at the watch parties?"

Breaking News began, "Things are kind of quiet here at Mayor Mare's party. I'm not sure if part of it is because not nearly as many ponies showed up as were expected or they simply have a bad feeling that things may not go as they hoped."

The focus then shifted to Sunny. Hard News asked, "And how would you say the atmosphere there is."

In the background music was playing, ponies were dancing and talking. Sunny replied, "Well this seems more like a coronation party than a watch party. Amethyst has yet to take the stage but ponies have already begun to chant Amethyst's name over and over. One thing I can tell, this crowd is quite large and I'm guessing they are certain that their candidate won."

Hard News heard a beep in his ear piece letting him know that the results were in. Both watch parties went quiet as the monitors went straight to ENC. Hard News began, "The results for the Ponyville election are in. Amethyst Star received 72 votes, Mayor Mare received 30 votes and there was one write in vote. The Mayor-Elect of Ponyville is Amethyst Star."

The ponies went wild at Amethyst's watch party. They were cheering loudly and chanting, "AMETHYST! AMETHYST! AMETHYST!"

The cameras focused on the stage as Amethyst walked up to the podium as fireworks began to go off. She stood there waving at her adoring supporters for a minute before motioning for them to settle down. Once they had got quiet enough she began, "Thank you Ponyville! Thank you for supporting me!"

The crowd began to cheer again and like before, she motioned for them to quiet down. She continued, "Before we continue I would like to congratulate my opponent on not just running a great campaign but on sixteen years of public service as mayor of Ponyville."

Despite having a desire to boo, they wanted to show that they were not going to stoop to that level so they stomped their hooves in delight. After that Amethyst continued, "Citizens of Ponyville, I remember back when I filed my papers up in Canterlot. Princess Celestia warned me that there had never been a non-earth pony mayor in Ponyville. I remember telling her that I believed that ponies were not like that here anymore. I told her that I believed that the ponies here would focus more on my message than what kind of pony I was and today, Ponyville proved that it has moved forward! Ponyville has proven that the message is what's important! Thank you everypony! Thank you all!"

The crowd roared so loudly that it was heard all over town. The camera shifted to Sunny Flames where she was asked, "Sunny, I know Mayor-Elect Amethyst has made a lot of promises. Do you think she will be able to keep them?"

Sunny replied, "Actually yes, I do. I have met some ponies who are close friends with her and from what they told me, I think this town will have a balanced budget in her first year if not even run a bit of a surplus."

Hard News asked, "With what Amethyst just said, do you think the same can be said for other communities in the future regarding the message being more important than pony type?"

Sunny replied, "I'm not so sure. Some communities are entirely or almost entirely one type of pony so no matter what a different kind of pony would propose, they probably wouldn't stand a chance. Ponyville has just the right type of mix of ponies that this was able to happen."

Hard News said, "I can understand what you mean there, other towns don't have the same mix of ponies." The cameras were cut at Amethyst's party and turned on at Mayor Mare's watch party, where the mood was much different. Like what normally happens, the defeated candidate waited until her opponent had given her victory speech to give her concession speech.

When she stepped onto the stage the crowd began to cheer despite her defeat. She began, "Before we get started I would like to congratulate my opponent on her victory. Apparently times are changing and tradition just isn't as important as it used to be."

The crowd began to boo. The mayor interrupted, "Come on, let's not stoop to this level. We want to show Equestria that we are the bigger ponies."

Applejack, one of the ponies in the crowd yelled, "But Madame Mayor, Amethyst used an unethical practice in that last debate and Ah can't believe mah friend Twilight would take part in it."

Mayor Mare replied, "Applejack, there were no rules against it. Besides, when this town has been transformed into a sad, rigid place in four years I'll run again and I will restore this town to what it is now."

This caused the crowd to cheer a little. The cameras cut to Breaking News. Hard News asked, "Obviously quite the different atmosphere than there was at Amethyst's party?"

Breaking News replied, "Yes. But that is always the case when it comes to the watch party where a candidate is defeated, especially an incumbent."

Hard News asked, "You have lived in Ponyville your whole life. Did you ever think that a candidate would defeat Mayor Mare?"

Breaking News replied, "No, I didn't and I especially didn't expect her to be defeated by that kind of margin." A tear began to run down his eye as he continued, "I'm sorry Hard News, being a Ponyville native and being a traditionalist, the thoughts of a unicorn mayor who is dead set on changing things really bothers me."

Hard News knew that this was the time to cut him off. While he could understand Breaking News's sadness, ENC was known for being the most unbiased news network in the country. He replied, "I can understand that but we have to leave the Ponyville coverage to cover contests on the west coast where ponies are still voting."

The cameras went black in Ponyville and Hard News continued, "Equestria, I would like to thank you for tuning in tonight. We'll have a commercial break and when we return, we will go to Vanhoover where the polls have just closed."

In Ponyville Amethyst's party remained in full swing for a couple more hours while the crowd at the mayor's party dispersed and headed home not too long after her speech. While Mayor Mare was defeated, the traditionalists did not view this as the end of tradition. What they hoped for was that Amethyst would fail to deliver on what she promised or would make the town so rigid everypony would turn against her. Amethyst and her supporters on the other hoof, saw a new era of hope beginning. They saw a time arriving in which their fillies and colts would get a better education, a future in which Ponyville would have the most advanced hydroelectric dam in Equestria and most importantly, a future where debt would soon be a thing of the past.