It was often said of the students of Canterlot High that, whenever some big event took place, that they always put their best into it. That they would try as hard as they could and all come together with enthusiasm over whatever activity they were a part of. And today was no exception to this rule. For today was the day when the students came together to choose their next student body President. Now, in most schools, such a title would usually be met with some cynicism, being seen as a role with little to no power. But, even though this might have indeed been the case even at CHS, this did little to dull the excitement in the air, as the contestants all lined up on the stage of the large school auditorium. A public debate was taking place, and each of the students up there was speaking passionately, letting loose stirring rhetoric that would lead to cheers or nods of contemplation among the wider audience. And within that audience, of course, was none other than Sunset and her friends, who all sat close to one another and watched their potential future Presidents all go about their business.
"They're certainly eager," Sunset remarked.
"Oh, indeed, darling! It's like this every year! Although, given that the winner this year gets to intern with the Mayor herself, I suppose it’s understandable if they, shall we say, want to be a touch more vigorous than normal," Rarity added.
"Hey, this is CHS, remember? When we do stuff, we do stuff right!" Rainbow declared.
"Well, as long as it's a clean campaign, ah'm pretty happy," Applejack commented.
"I agree. All that name-calling and mudslinging on real-life politics is just so mean all the time!" Fluttershy replied.
"Ugh, I know, right?! All those grumpy faces, and everyone being miserable? Blegh! No thanks!" Pinkie blurted out.
"Unpleasant or not, it's still important, and I'm glad that politics is taken a little more seriously here at least," Twilight concluded.
Looking to her, Sunset raised an eyebrow.
"Don't they have student elections over at your old school, Twi?"
The bespectacled girl shook her head.
"Sometimes. But barely anyone is all that interested in it. It's mostly just a job for repeating whatever big announcement Principal Cinch had to make that day. Maybe it'll change now that Cadence is in charge, but I couldn't say."
Nodding, Sunset looked back to the participants, hearing them speak to one another directly and appreciating the fact that, for the time being at least, everything was being kept civil among them. And it was here that Sunset truly studied each of the students up there. First, and causing a particular smile for her, was her boyfriend, Flash, standing in front of a blue banner. Beside him was Sandalwood, whose flag was green. Micro Chips was next, bearing yellow as his colour, and finally, there was Trixie, standing next to a banner of dark purple. Then, after a while, a look of curiosity came to Sunset, and she turned to the rest of her friends.
"So...who will you be voting for?"
The girls all looked to each other, wondering who would speak up first. Then, at the end of it, Rainbow, naturally, answered ahead of the rest.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but team blue is the one for me!"
Pinkie let out a gasp at that, looking to her colleague with shock.
"Blue?! But, they’re always so...so...serious!"
Rainbow, placing her hands upon her hips, raised an eyebrow to her party-loving friend.
"Yeah, there may be a few stiffs in there, but hey, that’s my brother up there, remember? So yeah, he can count on my vote. You?"
Gaining a look of pride, Pinkie gave her answer.
"Team yellow! They're always the funny ones!"
Applejack looked to her with some concern.
"Er...ya do know Micro ain’t tryin’ to be funny, right?"
Pinkie rolled her eyes.
"Well duh! I know he’s not supposed to be, silly! But they always try stuff to make themselves more popular, and it always ends up with a laugh! Like that party they tried throwing and everyone got mixed messages, so half of the people thought it was fancy-dress? That was hilarious!"
Applejack shook her head to that, and shortly afterwards, it was Rarity's turn to chime in.
"Well, I, for one, always lean towards team purple. Say what you will about Trixie, but at least she presents herself with a touch more sophistication than their rivals."
Applejack snorted to this.
"Y'all can be as pretty as ya like, but if ya ain't got the back-up ta yer words, it ain't much good. Ah’m with Rainbow this time, friends. Team blue fer me! Every time they win, they always get stuff done!"
Shortly afterwards, Twilight turned to Fluttershy.
"What about you, Fluttershy?"
The animal-lover smiled to this.
"Oh, team green, every time."
Twilight considered that.
"They're the ones always telling people to support the animal shelter and the local park and stuff, right?"
Fluttershy nodded in agreement to that, but said nothing as Rainbow called out to them both.
"That's nice, Flutters, but they never win, you know that. Heck, it’s not even worth calling that team a they, since they've only got one guy in their group."
The young athlete gestured to the stage, straight to the boy in question, who stood at his respective podium and let out his personal political promises. Fluttershy, for her part, looked to her friend with some disapproval.
"He may not have much of a chance, but it's still a cause worth supporting."
Rainbow nodded to that, letting her friend know that she wasn't, in any way, disagreeing with her. But, as time passed, and the debate continued, Rarity then turned her gaze over to Sunset, looking to her with some curiosity.
"You know, Sunset...it occurs to me that you never ran for President."
Suddenly, all eyes were upon the ex-unicorn, as though Rarity had suddenly made everyone very aware of this fact.
"Hey...that's right! You could've easily won will all your skills and brains and stuff!" Rainbow declared.
Letting out a chuckle, Sunset shook her head.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, girls. But I was quite happy not getting involved. Besides, if I had been President back during my...you know...bad days, it probably wouldn't have been all that great for anyone."
Although reluctant, there was a general murmur of agreement among the other girls as they considered that, and in their shared silence afterwards, they turned back to the stage. As they did this, watching Sandalwood, Micro Chips and all the other potential Presidents answer whatever questions were asked of them, a smile came to Sunset's lips.
"You know...Twilight's pretty lucky, not having to deal with this."
The other girls looked to her with some confusion, especially Twilight, and after seeing this, Sunset began to explain herself.
"Princess Twilight, I mean."
Understanding dawned for them, and they let her continue.
"Princesses typically don't go through all this debate and question stuff back home."
A chuckled escaped her.
"I could never imagine Celestia or the like ever being in a position like this."
She nodded to herself.
"It'd be pretty funny though."
Letting out a small laugh of her own, Rainbow answered that.
So...who do you think will win this one?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Sunset gave the only answer she could.
"Well, given how most stuff tends to go around here, it'll probably come down to some big revelation at the last second that will sway everyone from one side to the other."
Thinking on that, Rainbow nodded.
"Yeah...sounds about right."
