The Mistakes of an Enterprising Mare

by sejox

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, Bat Pony, Sex, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Narcotics, Mayor Mare, Sad
Length: 15079

Succesful ponies are known for the things they had created and the hardships they had endured. Mayor Mare's impecable legacy is known to be an exception to that rule... or so most ponies believe, except for Princess Luna.

It has been countless moons since Princess Luna have tried to understand the fogged war happening inside the head of Mayor Mare. And even with all her magic and knowledge about the realm of dreams. there is so much she can do without the hostage's consent. Because of this, Luna had decided to make a change in her modus operandi and let the hostage guide her this time.

A journey through the young life of the mayor: the things she endured, the ponies that she met through her rise to the top, and the ones that gave her their love.

Luna has her doubts about how she will handle a mind that had secluded itself from its own memories, and yet keeps suffering because of them. But she knows she must prevail and do her best to help the mayor and bring peace to the heart of one of her dear subjects...

An entry in theTwo-Faced Charade Contest.
Thanks to my dear friends for helping me out with this.
Proofreader:Lorhelei
Pre-reader and artist of the cover art:Rival - He is doing his best to become a Pixel artist, go and give his work some love.

Published 2018-02-21 17:20:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-02-21 17:20:07 UTC

Another successful day

It was late night on Ponyville's, and Mayor Mare had just arrived home from another day of arduous ordeal. She closed the door quietly behind her before wiping her forehead.

Another successful day

The mare took a slow stride through her home, staring at the glistening titles and awards featuring the walls of her living room. Her throat tasted a sip of melancholy as she detailed the years of her life resumed in a crowded wall.
But there was nopony to celebrate those awards with her…

She kept forward towards the kitchen.

What should I make this time? She thought before a simple idea crossed her mind, making her head tilt upwards and her trot rise in speed.

Once in the kitchen, she took a knife, vegetables, cheese, and some bread. Her eyes got lost in the beautiful moonlight being displayed on the other side of her window as her mouth used the knife to cut everything up into little pieces.

I have grown to love this kind of views… but… why it always has to feel so sad? She pondered for a second before getting enrooted again in the magnificence of the shining moon.

She deposited the vegetables in a bowl, poured some olive oil and salt, and then mixed the contents of the recipient. Once done, she added the pieces of cheese and bread on top.

The doctor said that I needed to eat healthier… Maybe the cheese and bread are not necessary, but I really want to eat something salty.

She turned around with bowl at hoof and sat to eat at the kitchen's table.

Argh, she growled, stood up and took a spoon from the cupboard.

Now properly prepared, the mare started munching her food, taking mouthful spoons while her mind pondered on the things needed to be done: new salubrity projects, an alarm system for the town, rebuilding the fifth building of the week…

Twilight and her friends should start hosting their fights against the forces of evil as far away from Ponyville as possible…

A white petal fell from the lilium in front of her, interrupting her line of thoughts. She observed the petal, and while doing so, her eyes noticed the presence of another object in front of her: a chair, unused and a little dusty, the wood reflecting the shine of the moon who zipped through the rear window.

Mayor got up from her seat with the bowl at hoof. She left it in the fridge and turned to her room, her head hanging lower than when she arrived home.

Her hooves touched the living room once again while she made her way to her room. Her eyes no longer fixated on the walls but rather in the furniture, which shined by their pulchritude, colors, beauty...

No child had ever touched those comfy chairs... she darted her eyes left and right as she detailed the little colorful pillows adorning the furniture, neither has someone ever used those pillows as toys...

She shook her head and sighed, her hooves unrelenting in their job. Before a minute could pass, a door was in front of her. She pressed her hoof against the cold wood and stepped inside.

A well-kept king sized bed with two nightstands at its sides, a wardrobe which wood was older than the memories held between those walls, A long window that let the soothing starlight slitter inside the room... And the door leading to the bathroom. A peaceful sight for someone weary and unrested.

Yet, Mayor mare did not smile nor she moaned in contempt…She just walked head first to the bathroom.

Such a beautiful mare... She complimented herself, her mildly wet muzzle curling into a smile. She took her tie and glasses and placed them both on the sink’s sides. Times go by, stress swell in. And yet, here I stand: A mature lady that can still lure the eyes of young stallions...

The mare pressed her hoof softly against the mirror at the same time a white thread fell down from her mane, her face scrunched at the subtle hint sent by her own body.

It will take more than just a few straws to make me rethink about my jubilation, she smiled slightly.

She moved to the shower and turned the valve. A soft hum escaped her lips as the water soaked her mane and coat

How could’ve been everything if I weren’t so beautiful? She thought as her eyes drifted to the past… maybe I wouldn’t catch the attention of him… maybe, just maybe…
Major sighed while shaking her head from side to side.

Two clicking sounds pierced the calm serenity of the room as Mayor mare turned the nightstand's lamp on. She glanced away, her eyes lost deep inside the purple color painting the walls of the room.

A mildly soaked towel surrounded her neck and captured most of the water trailing from her wet gray mane. Her hooves took the towel and pampered her hair while she drifted off to her inner thoughts.

Twilight's new laws will make wonders to this land and the apple family… she thought, her expression less melancholic than before. She rested her side on the mattress and closed her eyes. Ready to start her travel to cloud nine as her forehooves rested on the other side of the bed.

"I was weak…"

The mare shuddered.

"I-I was foolish…"

She stammered, her breath turning shallower.

"I'm sorry…"

Mayor mare woke slowly from her dream, the place where her forehooves rested still warm. The portrait lying on the nightstand in front of her flashed a white light that didn't look like the reflection of the dim light inside the room.

She sat in her haunches, her exhausted eyes struggling at first before she could properly see new guest inside her room.

"Greetings, your highness," She bowed, the alicorn in front of her bowed just before the room where they stood transformed into an endless space painted with a dark blue aurora, reminiscent of the color displayed on Luna's mane.

"I pray for the day that my visits to your dreams will not be because of my duty," Luna commented with a regal tone, her magic pulling the bed, and the mare on it, closer to her. "Fortunately, maybe this day will grant that wish," She smiled to the mare.

"What do you mean?" Mayor shifted forward, pulling the mattress’ blanket up to her chest.

Luna took a huge breath and closed her eyes, "there is a certain pony that needs to see you… a member of my staff that you know far too well."

Mayor Mare's eyes snapped widely, she took the blanket and covered her whole body at the same time her body fell to the bed, "you are making a mistake. My most sincere apologies, your highness,” she cleared her throat, her tone becoming more irritated, “but I don't know who you may be talking about!"

Please just let me sleep.

"Is that so? Then how it is that this pony appears on your nightmares?" Luna asked with a stern tone.

I just want to forget.

The mare shifted in place, "I have seen a lot of stallion through the course of my enterprising life. This-"

"And how do you know I was talking about a stallion?" Luna interrupted, her mane and the stars surrounding them moving to the right at a speed that made them blurry and unrecognizable for a few seconds.

the mayor stood in place for a second, her deep blue eyes barely visible from within the blankets of the mattress. “I don’t want to talk about this, princess..." she said, her tone losing its volume.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Luna opened her eyes again, "But I can not rest knowing that one of my subjects is suffering."

The mare rose up, blanket falling down in the process. "Knowing that really pleases me, your highness. But don't bother yourself with the pity nightmares of an old and overstressed mare. I can assure you that tomorrow morning I will be as fine as the flowers after a winter's wrap up."

"Are you sure?" She asked before resting her rump on the invisible surface of the dreamworld.

"Without any doubt," She said, her lungs filling to the brim before expelling their content in the form of a yawn.

"Then you don't want to know anything about this stallion?"

"I'm pretty sure that that's the best option," she huffed, the blankets once again enveloping her pale brown coat.

Luna closed her eyes, and the dreamworld moved again.

Mayor starred at the white mattress, her breathing was mildly erratic, her hooves constantly shifted, and to make it worse she was sweating for some reason unknown to her. Yet, she tried her best to sleep again and scrunched her eyes shut.

"He wanted to see you..." Luna opened her eyes again.

Mayor rose up once again, and this time, she stepped out of the bed, taking some precious seconds before glancing at the princess. "I know… He always sends a letter… every two weeks."

"Mayor… I understand that something happened between you two. But there is only so much I can know from reading the scraps inside your dreams," She approached the mare, and while handling the mare her glasses, stretched a hoof forward to the old mayor before being halted.

"I…" the mare breathed, her hoof hanging low after interrupting the princess's one. “You don't need to, princess. It's just the way it is. He can send all the letter he wants, it won't change anything."

"He deserves a chance, Mayor" Luna said, her eyes searching for the ones of the mare, but the mayor kept gazing away.

"That's true… he-he," Mayor said between greeted teeth, "'he deserves a chance… b-but I… I," She paused and took her glasses from within the magic hold, the sound of wind gushing through her nostril echoing through the boundless realm. She sighed and tilted her head down before finally speak again.

"I do not deserve a chance."

Luna's horn glowed with blue magic at the same time the aurora and the stars on the realm stopped moving. Luna disappeared soon after; leaving the mare alone in the landscape that slowly started to turn black until just darkness could be seen.

“I more than anyone else know that everyone should deserve a chance," Luna's regal voice reverberated through the void, making Mayor mare conscious again of her own surroundings.

"Huh? Princess Luna?" she asked, shrieking a second later at the absence of light. She crossed her forehooves tightly and sat instinctively.

"'Worry not, my dear subject. This is only another facet of my magic.'" she reassured. "'Now, I know this is hard, but if we want to find a cure for your nightmares we will need you to step forward and tell me what happened.'"

A light surrounded the mare, and nothing but her. She whined softly at the sudden change, her hoof rubbing her eyes as she tried to adapt to the obnoxious feeling of being trapped inside a black abyss.

"Hmm..." Mayor scratched her shoulder. Her lips puckering in thought. ”And what is this spell for?”

“It will help us both, but that is your choice to make ,” Luna proposed.

Major didn’t respond at the proposal. She embraced herself while pondering. It was at that moment that Luna noticed the uncertainties inside the mare’s though just by looking at her doubtful expression, and come to an idea.

"You said that he deserved a chance, right?" Luna asked. Mayor stood still for a second, her eyes locked in something between the distance, like the answer she was looking for was beyond the void itself. "He deserves a chance to help you..."

Major bowed her head in deep thought, a hoof scratching the bridge of her nose. She hummed, reconsidered, breathed in, and after a long and quiet sigh, she accepted.

"It happened thirty years ago..."

“I was a junior, a noobish mare who had barely made her way out of Canterlot to meet a new village with a lot of potential.”

The dark landscape transformed before her. Dirt roads, bases of building scattered around, a clear path that led straight to an apple orchard, and ponies with security uniform swarming through the constructions being worked on.

Mayor tilted her head after witnessing her new surroundings. The confusion didn’t last, as it was replaced with a content smile.

“That village, Ponyville. Had the perfect location as a distributing point. The original founders didn’t think of this at first though.”

A young mare of pink mane and brown coated appeared in front of the mayor. She needed no introductions nor descriptions, this mare was her past self, the young Mayor Mare.

“I presented my ideas to the Congress, enough to say that the hard work wasn’t convincing them… but rather convince the townsfolk.”

“The Rich and the Apple family…” Luna’s voice boomed.

The mare nodded, “Yes, your highness. Those two families had centuries of history before my arrival… bringing them to work together… even to speak with each other, was an action worthy of merit. The Congress made a promise to give me a chance to lead Ponyville if I solved the disputes between the two families.”

The illusion changed once again, this time progressively, as it showed how the buildings rose from their foundation and how train rails were being carried from all the corners of Equestria to the little town.

“I knew that my words will be futile against those obstinate old ponies, so I changed my plan. I rose the stake and convinced each Mayor to help me out with the train stations.”

“But how did you manage to do that? You weren’t the actual mayo-“

“Tenacity, your highness.” Mayor interrupted, her eyes locked in the illusion before her.

The illusion transformed, this time shifting constantly as it showed the young Mayor giving speeches in tribunals, celebrations, and public stands of all size and form.

“I yelled loud enough to be heard by the political figures.”

The illusion showed the young mare traveling from each corner of Equestria, “I studied each city. How they worked, what they wanted, and what they really needed,” Mayor Mare was then surrounded by ponies. A smile curled up her lips as she detailed every familiar face smiling back at her, “I kept learning... until the only thing left for me to understand, was the hearts of the ponies I was fighting for.”

The illusion turned into mist at the same time the mare smiled zipped down. She found herself in a dark room, the dim light of a candle on a stand was the only thing illuminating the place. Her younger self was resting in a workbench.

Mayor mare moved to her past version side, melancholy taking the best of her as she saw the bloodshot color taking possession of the young mare’s’ eyes. She glanced off, turning her sight to the piles of papers scrambled on the workbench.

“I kept writing… like there was nothing more for me to live for…”

Three knocks resonated through the room.

“I haven’t slept in a week… I was weak… and yet I was awake. You probably have seen few mare so desperately in need of a break,” Mayor moved closer to the door, unable to touch it yet determined to try, “That’s when Lucid Quill stepped into my life…”

The door opened slightly, “Miss Mayor… may I come in?”

The young mare tilted her head up for a second, just to fall down on her desk a second later, “And you are?”

“Your new assistant, Celestia herself wanted me to help you… there were rumors about…” The door shrieked as it opened some more, “My good Luna!” yelped the stallion at the mundane appearance of the mare.

“Luna? What do you mean by…” The mare froze in place, pointy brown ears and sharp green eyes reflecting in her eyes, "Now I really loosed it… ha-ha, I’m having hallucinations!" She cried with a wicked smile, her forehooves pressing hard against her head.

“My goodness, I’m so sorry if I scare you, most ponies don’t know about my kind,” he said while stretching a hoof forward, “I’m a bat pony, breed to live below the moon’s eyes.” He bowed, “my name is Lucid Quill, One of the many assistants of our highness, Princess Celestia.”

“A bat pony… unbelievable for me at the time… just like the mare on the moon” Mayor smiled upwards, her sight beyond the one provided by the illusion. “Lucid was well versed in the art of accustom others to him, in less than an hour, the threat that represented her fangs were a distant memory…”

“My sister’s doing, that is for sure,” Luna said cheerfully, “some ponies say she could raise a dragon among ponies if needed. So making my bat ponies friendly would be a piece of cake for her.”

The illusion showed the young Mayor and Lucid working in the same desk, the moon orbiting around them at a speed that turned seconds into whole nights.

“Lucid Quill was my first editor, assistant, confident friend… and…”

The Illusion slowed down its pace. Showing now the duo sharing a moment to rest, a table and a kettle separate them both.

“Can you even imagine it? A sea dragon befriending a mule?” The young mare asked, “It took us the whole day to present the big guy to everyone!”

Lucid took his cup of tea and sipped, “Good grief, I don’t want to imagine what could have happened if that dragon was received in Canterlot. Soldiers would have charged at him at plain sight.”

“Luckily for us, this is not Canterlot. The police department and our laws are all that we need,” her chest swelled with pride. She took another sip of her cup, her ears expecting an answer that never came, “Lucid?” she finally asked before opening her eyes.

The stallion had his eyes locked in the reflection of his cup, “ahm…”

The mare turned perplexed, her head tilting to the side at the sudden change in the stallion features, “Is everything alright?”

Lucid tightened her hold on the cup, “Are you sure you don’t want some extra protection for this lands?” his eyes glanced to the right, “This town has the gate of Tartarus at one side and the Everfree forest at the other…” He then turned his eyes to the mare, “I can speak with-” his words were cut out by the sight in front of him, Mayor Mare’s fur shone with the moonlight, her sparkling smile brought a red tint to his cheek.

“Thanks for the offer, Lucid, but I need this place to be a symbol of peace and tolerance,” She said with a serenity that resembled the silence of that same night, “A place when we can forget the rough times of ponykind and move beyond, to a brighter future.”

Quill’s mouth stood slightly agape for a second before curling up, “I think I just found something more impressive than the friendship between a sea drake and a mule,” he said while gesturing a hoof to the mare.

Mayor responded with a knowing smile, “Well, there is something even more impressive than that,” Lucid arched a brow, “thinking of a bat pony as part of your family.”

The clock in the room marked the midnight, and with it, the illusion fastened once again.

“My bat ponies were once known for their heart of stone and his fiery eyes… yet, I don’t see any trace of both features in the Lucid you remember,” Luna said before making herself present in what the mayor thought as the backstage of the illusion.

“Not at all… he was a humble pony,” her features softened, showing a warm smile that enhanced the nostalgic feeling being poured into her words, “a little rough at the edges, may I add…”

The illusion blinked, showing another night from the past to the mare and the alicorn.

“These Apples are the bats of a fang~” Lucid groaned, the young mare tilted her head at the analogy, “The birds of a feather… That is how bat ponies call it.”

“We need a plan…” said the young mare, her eyes scanning through the papers on her desk.

“Well, we had a plan, the problem is that they hate it!” Lucid jumped off from his seat, his tone remarking exasperation.

“Then we just need to convince them otherwise…” she muttered, hooves thrashing around with the piles of papers.

“We even tried to reduce their taxes and everything. Why are they so stubborn about this? Is like they don’t even care about their future income.”

“Why would they? The only competition they have are a small portion of the Pear family, only when this town grows will they notice how much money they really need to keep the farm standing.” Mayor mare explained before grunting, her head plopping down in defeat.

Lucid frowned with concern at the mare. His eyes turned briefly to the clock hanging on the wall and groaned in thought afterward, she had enough work in the day to be suffering about this now…

“You should be resting Mayor…”

“Wait, I know I can…”

“You will get nothing if, you keep up like this,” Lucid Quill rested his hooves on the mare’s shoulders, bringing her eyes to his in the process, “Go get some rest… I’ll figure something out in the meantime.”

Mayor’s eyes tilted down, her hum turning slightly into yawns, “No… I know I can think something out…”

“Mayor…” The stallion took the mare from her chin and lifted her head with care, “You haven’t slept well for weeks. Your mind is not going to bring up anything in this state… and neither would I if I keep seeing you like this…”

The colt embraced her in a warm hug. “Lucid…” Mayor faintly gasped, her cheeks shading pink at the sudden show of affection.

“Celestia really likes to teach others to hug…” Luna interrupted the illusion, her tone slightly irritated.

“I should thank her for her lessons then… for I really needed that kind of treatment in that moment.”

Luna’s horn glowed, and so, the illusion resumed its course.

The mare confronted the hug with one of her own. “Alright, I will rest… thanks, Lucid… for all your help and hard work.”

The ears of the stallion shook at the mention of the last word, his eyes fixated on the wall, or better say, something beyond it, “Anything for you, Mayor.”

The illusion faded abruptly, making the landscape dark once again. A glimmering hue was the only light surrounding the two mares present. Luna looked at the mare with concern, the previous smile on the mayor was long gone and now only a quivering sad expression remained.

Even still, a nostalgic laugh managed to come out of the mare, “Anything for you Mayor… Good grief, I loved when he said those words… it always felt so natural and… warm, and fuzzy.”

Luna wanted to close the gap between them, to embrace her subject and show the same kind of love her sister could offer. But she couldn’t move… she didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, or if it could even solve something, or how to-

The illusion re-appeared before the princess could act.

“I did it! I convinced them! Our plan worked!” The young mare shouted euphorically on her way inside, “Quill I…”

Quill was resting on a reclinable chair, a foal covered with white silk resting in his embrace. His eyes shined with a blue hue as he sung a lullaby to the baby.

The young Mayor stepped backward, her smile turning down in the blink of an eye. Any hint of her previous joy was now replaced by doubt and fear.

“I still remember the feeling of that night…” the mayor said while detailing the terror reflected on those pristine eyes of her past self. “I wanted to run at the time… but found no logical reasons for doing it… we were just friends after all, so why would it matter for me if he had a foal… and a special somepony that wasn’t me...” her hoof moved forward and tried to stroke the hair of the illusion, but the hoof crossed over.

“Miss, you arrived!” he cheered, his face snapping at the mare with such a joy that it could make anyone hard to distinguish the sorrow hidden behind his bloodshot eyes.

“No I.. Yes I just arrived!” She said out loud, hoof pressing against her muzzle soon after. “Sorry… Ahm, it seems you brought your kid today… I didn’t know you were…”

“What?” he paused briefly looked at the foal and then at Mayor, “oh, no, no, this one right here is Cloud Night…” he smiled at the little foal, a white hoof stretched out of the comfort of the silk, “she is the daughter of a close friend of mine… he,” he whimpered, “he… there, there, hush…” he sobbed while soothing the little baby to sleep.

The young Mayor narrowed her distance, mouth slightly agape. “Lucid?” she kept moving forward, the sobs of her friend growing louder and clear, “What happened?”

“I think I should go now…” Lucid muttered, he looked at the foal, a little foal that craved for attention and care. A pony of his kind who only lived through the night. the mayor couldn’t have something like that. It would disturb her work, he was going to be a nuisa-

Lucid moved his forehooves, freedom and fresh air being prominent feelings around his fur. The baby was no longer on his hold, but rather…

“Oh my… look at you!” Mayor mare pouted in delight, a gibberish sound answering her soon after, “You must be what? Tree years old? You look so pretty and fiery~!” she detailed while looking at the amber eyes and narrowed pupils of the foal.

“Mayor, you don’t have to worry. I just wanted to tell you about my new responsibility and then leave,” Lucid said while trying to rub off the tears that were messing with his right eye.

“And why would you leave?” She asked. Lucid was about to respond but she stopped him with a hoof, “Didn’t you heard me earlier? Our plan worked, I convinced the apples to work with the rich family and their associative. After they heard that the Pears would not hesitate to grab that kind of opportunity, they jumped at me like rabid dogs. Ha-ha!”

The mare looked at the little filly while giving her exposition. A foal for her and Lucid to take care, she thought. She couldn’t help but smile widely at the idea.

“Mayor, you don’t understand, you have still so much to do. This is my responsibility, and I don’t want to drag you down on your way to succeed because of this.”

The mare turned her eyes up, her smile still present and vibrant. Her expression the absolute opposite to Lucid’s. He was devastated, broken both mentally and physically. His usual sharp eyes hinted nothing but melancholy and uncertainness; his brown fur was damped with tears and sweat. She tightened the hug around the foal to ease the dreadful feeling in her chest. To see her dear friend in such state, almost like he will rather choose to die instead of bearing that pain…

She shifted forwards, her breathing turning shallower as the feeling on her chest was turning into a piercing needle sinking inside her heart. She needed to help him somehow, “You had been through a lot tonight… Do you want to-” she asked with caution.

The stallion nodded. His breathing calmed for a second after hearing her soft voice but returned to its rachitic behavior everytime he tried to articulate anything. “I-I want to… actually, it’s not that-that- ow.”

Mayor moved closer and embraced him, her body’s warm proving itself too much for the stallion’s feeling to bear.

“He was brave…”tears flowed down his muzzle, ”that wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous mission… just five against two… It turned out wrong!” He took a breath and tried to compose himself. ”Give me a momen’ I know I can do this... ok, this is what it ha-“ he breathed “what it-“ he gasped again, ”today… Ugh…,”

He tried once again to pull himself together, but coughed mild process, “Why~? … they didn’t deser- They w- we-” He nibbled his lips and cursed himself for being so weak… he wanted to cry, why was he so coward to show his own feelings? To speak his heart out, to-

“We can’t talk about it later,” Mayor assured him with a soothing tone. A long pause followed. One that was accompanied with tears and foal’s babble, “As for now, let’s celebrate our little victory,” she paused and brought the foal towards Lucid, “And pray for the ones that gave their lives for us…“

Lucid opened his mouth by instinct, feeling like there was something needed to be said, but his mouth turned a quivering mess at the sight of the filly and Mayor. He hummed in gratitude for that was all he could muster.

“Don’t thank me, I’m just doing what friends do,” she nuzzled Lucid’s neck before tightening the hug.

And so they stood there. Relishing themselves within the embrace of one another. Their first victory, their first commitment, and their first loss.

As a family.

“His friend died while fighting with rogue demons in Tartarus… only one member of the group, his friend’s wife, made it out alive… but the psychological pain was too much for her…” The illusion faded into oblivion once again. “C-can we… can we stop this?” Mayor asked.

Luna approached the trembling mare, it was really necessary to do it this way? Couldn’t she cast a mind spell on her and stop her suffering? … No, that was the easy route… the kind of route that only led to bad endings.

“Mayor, I beg you listen, I just want to help you,” Luna put a hoof on her shoulders, ”Your situation keeps aggravating after each week. Think about the ones you love… they wouldn’t want to see you in an asylum, do they?” her hoof shook for a second as a reaction to the sudden show of affection. Was it right for her to be this straightforward?

Maybe… it was.

“You… you are right… I cannot let that happen, there are a lot of ponies who appreciate what I did. Friends that consider me as a part of their lives.”

Colors and shapes formed around the duo, till the scene from before returned to its full splendor.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes… but this time I’m wiser enough to acknowledge them…”

The mare furrowed her brows with conviction, and in the glimpse of an eye, the illusion transformed, and showed now a humongous city full of life… anxiety and stress. Ponies of all forms and shapes trotted through the rock carpeted streets, skyscraper surrounded the little canopy from where one stallion of formal attire and the mayor stood.

“And who might be this stallion?” Asked Luna while gesturing forward.

“My first mistake…” Mayor said sheepishly, a faint laugh coming soon after accompanied by a low hum. “I don’t even remember his name… yet, I still remember all the things we did.”

Luna arched a brow, still unsure of what the mare tried to say, “I thought Quill was-”

“He…” Mayor mare paused, grunted, sighed, and then spoke again, “Lucid showed me a lot of things… but what this stallion did was… more important for me at the time.”

The young Mayor and the stallion laughed in unison, the scenery giving a feeling of a young love novel.

“While Lucid showed me the results of my work, he showed me how to enjoy the towns I was helping with said work…” Mayor scratched the bridge of her nose, a little whimper escaping her mouth.

“It’s okay Mayor… Take some time to push all out,” Luna soothed; her wing unfurling and stretching for a hug.

“So… how will we celebrate, Miss Mayor?” asked the stallion.

“Pfft, don’t let us get over our hooves. Is not like the Congress is going to handle me the job on a plate,” Mayor said while her hooves playfully fiddled with the plastic straw of her drink.

“The Congress may not, but those ponies? They are crazy for you, actually, I’m feeling jealous!” He laughed before inching closer, his smile confident, but most importantly for the mare, sexy. ”They just need to live in the city to get all your love, while little rich me needs to borrow you from the grasp of those politicians just to get blessed with your smile.”

The young mare blushed, the words of the stallion making her heart race like a Wonderbolt on a rescue mission.

“If I only could buy the feeling I get every time I look at that smile of yours… No, scratch that! I would die from an overdose in less than a week,” He laughed.

“Oh, y-you flatterer. Stop~” she cooed, her beating heart making her words crack.

“A young mare who never had a romantic adventure… and a rich Casanova thirst for mares with big ambitions…” the mayor took off her glasses, her eyes fixated on the tears who had landed previously on the crystals.

The landscape around shattered into different memories, each one displaying a scene between the young Mayor and the stallion.

“When I was with him, I felt like being pulled out from the world of politics, out from the eyes of my citizens, it was just me and him…” she touched one of the memories. A red room, candled with passion, furnished with the music of tango and perfumed with the smell of joy. Two ponies made it look like the stage's floor was rolling alongside their dancing, like two stars coursing through the galaxy.

Then she touched another, a water park. Laughs and screams of joy drowned the realm. The young Mayor and the stallion were just about to enter in a roller-coaster before the stallion brought two pills from his mane.

Luna arched a brow at the sudden elements displayed, “What are those?”

“Compressed joy,” responded Mayor, “a complement that helped the production and distribution of dopamine… It wasn’t addictive, but turning into the embodiment of Pinkie Pie for a couple of hours was something you couldn’t simply forget.”

“So… it was a sort of drug?” Luna prompted intrigued.

“Hmm… You could call it like that. But then again, his life alone could be considered a drug. He was always looking for another way to surpass the boundaries of the common life. New places to go, new things to do, to buy, to give or…To take...”

The major tilted her head up, her half-lidded eyes shimmering with sorrow.

“It made me feel like in a dream where nothing could harm me, where nothing could bother me… yet… that life would only get me trapped into a never-ending search for pleasure… until I couldn’t find joy in life itself.”

She sighed.

“Then again, I was too young to understand that.”

The young Mayor opened the door of her house, a cold breeze accompanying her on the way in as she turned the lights on. The dark room was no more, and now a figure was visible for the mare, it was Lucid, reading a book with no cover.

“Lucid?” She asked with unacknowledged serenity, Almost like she was expecting him to be there...

“Miss Mayor, I’m glad to see you, sorry for coming up while you were away, the city was still crowded and I didn’t want to be seen by other ponies,” He explained, his eyes closed to avoid the light from the wall, “What take you so long?”

“Uhm…” The mare tilted her head to the side, “Actually, I had quite a day today and… well…” she trailed off, her hoof scratching the back of her neck.

“It’s okay Mayor, you have earned the right to have some fun,” he smiled, “besides, this month will be pretty easy to handle. The real problem will be next month’s winter...”

Mayor moved to the table, humming in thought. “That’s true, there are not enough professional teams to hire for the next winter wrap up. Meaning that this time we will need someone to lead the town’s folk.”

“It will be a perfect opportunity to show the congress your abilities,” Lucid added, “I have read several books about the issue and thought that we could start the preparation tonight. Let me make some coffee for you first, with all the fun you had you will need something to charge up your energies.”

As the stallion made her way to the small kitchen, the young mare stood confused at an unknown matter. A feeling, reminiscent of lost… or rather losing something. That’s it, there was something she was forgetting, maybe a little detail about the operation, or the usual paperwork that comes prior to the winter event, or…

“Mayor!” a chirpy voice called the mare out of her trance. the mayor tilted her head way down to the direction of the voice, it was Night Cloud, the young filly who now was three years old. The young filly who was missing.

the mayor squealed with joy, her eyes shimmering like nightlights, ”My little one, there you are! I was just wondering myself why I felt like something was missing, it was you!”

“I’m not something, I’m a pony!” the filly sang at the same time her wings unfurled. “A bat pony! Rawr!”

The little one jumped at the mare, making her land on the ground while the both of them laughed.

The illusion stopped, making the frame look like a picture to be considered as art.

“Look at that… I…” Mayor gagged. Her lungs were having a bad time trying to work right now, “I could’ve had that!” tears dripped her cheeks, “Cloud night… You… argh, how I wish I could have been with you…” she whispered with the little air she could manage to borrow, “all those years… all those memories… and I-I”

The mare set a hoof on the ground for balance as she coughed and sob. Luna could only watch and ask herself what to do? while the whimpers and faint shouts echoed through the vast landscape.

“I wasn’t part of them…” She managed to say before munching her lips

“I didn’t deserve to be part of them, however,” she confessed with hate slithering through her gritted teeth.

The illusion resumed its course. Lucid got into the scene, jumping straight into the action as he hugged the two ponies on the ground. That choice of action rewarded him with a bite, courtesy of her daughter.

“Auwh! Why it’s always me?!” Quill cried.

“Mommy is too pretty for that!” yelled the filly with a toothy grin. Both grown ponies staring at each other afterward.

“Uhm… Cloud… sweetheart… ha-ha” Lucid stammered, his eyes darting between her daughter and her best friend.

“You know we are just friends…r-right?” Mayor added, her heart beating resonating inside her mind.

The little filly grunted in exasperation before pulling herself from the group hug, “No! Kiss, kiss!”

The adults laughed at the childish antics of the filly, too lost in the adorableness to acknowledge their current situation.

“I never thought kids could be this adorable… haha.”

“Neither did I,” Mayor laughed some more as she inched her nose closer to the chest of her friend. Her snout rubbing itself against the fur of the stallion as the memory of the event made her laugh once again.

The laughs and joy lasted some more. But time wasn’t relentless to make those feelings cease. Both ponies stood there, in the afterglow of the moment… a really warm and comfortable one.

“Huh?” was the only thing Mayor could muster before jolting out in embarrassment from the hug. Lucid, however, needed more time to assimilate what had happened before jolting upwards like the mare did, “My goodness, I think we got a little out of ourselves there,” squeaked Mayor, a quivering smile decorating the fire within her cheeks.

“he-he” a snarky snicker interrupted the silence of the room. Cloud Night was smiling from ear to ear at the sight of her caretakers’ shameful expressions.

The illusion shattered once again into fragments of memories. At the left, the realm featured the misadventures and parties with the enterprising stallion. The mayor sat on her haunches while literally furrowing her brows at the memories.

“Luna… you are younger than your sister, and because of it, I dare to believe that you are more related to the feelings a mortal can experience…” the mayor pointed one of the shards, prompting it to expand to the point it covered their view. The memory featured the young mare and her friend in a karaoke club, stains of alcohol drenching their muzzles and sweat messing up their manes.

“If only I could be as wise as her sometimes…” Luna sighed before her eyes captured by mere coincidence a rather compromising event featuring in one of the shards. She snapped her eyes out of the shard and composed herself before adding, “I wish I could always have the right answer for my subject’s problem…to guide them like a mother would, instead of… searching for a solution with them…”

“Sometimes… a trusty friend is all we need… and to be honest, your highness, The fact that I can’t see you as an almighty being, but rather as a friend who has his faults and weakness too. Makes this whole journey easier for me.”

Mayor glanced at the princess, her brows furrowing at the sight of her highness’ flustered expression.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to show you those parts… it was an accident…” she inhaled deeply as if trying to recharge her energies.

“Discord had shown me in the past that there is not such a thing called accident…” Luna opened her eyes once again and didn’t hesitate in moving them to the direction of the previous memory. “Even when he rules chaos, he knows that everything is predefined by time itself.”

“Discord was well known for his trickery and lies in the past… hopefully, that statement of him was a lie too… for I wish that there could be a way for me to change all that had happened.”

Luna stared at the couple while she tried to build a proper answer. It wasn’t an easy task. Her thoughts got clouded by the sight of the lovers’ lips colliding against one another more than once, and the sound of moaning cursed her previously peaceful mind.

“So… ahem…” Luna stammered. “You were a couple then?” she asked with a quivering tone while containing the necessity of hitting herself in the face.

The mayor glanced briefly at Luna, she smiled upon seeing the princess gritting her teeth… Luna was trying her best to find a way to help her.

“Not exactly… we were… friends with benefits,” she explained with a stoic expression, her brows furrowed just enough to detail a hint of anger in the mare, “I didn’t want to be seen as the mayor who got to the top because of her lover… and… I think he didn’t want a peasant for a marefriend… or at least that is what I thought in my younger days, we really never had the chance to talk about it.”

Mayor mare tuned to the right. The shards on the walls were lesser, but that only served to make them look, bigger, and more important…

“I’ll try to avoid another accident,” Mayor said before taking a moment to clear her throat.

Luna stepped forward, her eyes drifting into the scenery of one of the shards. The image showed Lucid, Cloud, and Mayor sleeping in the same bed.

“Lucid was a stallion who made me feel safe, victorious. He pulled me back to reality, but… it was a warm reality, one where all the work and stress of my job had a meaning and a reward… yet, I was too young to understand what I really wanted… Funny isn’t it? I didn’t know, but little Cloud did.”

Mayor stretched a hoof as if trying to pat the soft fur of the filly, “She asked us to behave like a family for a month as a heart’s warming eve gift.”

“You weren’t behaving like one already?”

“It basically meant that we had to kiss or have dates,” she responded while rolling her eyes to the princess, “…” her eyes drifted down.

Luna glanced at the mare, concern sinking down her brows as she saw the lost look in the eyes of the mayor.

“If only Cloud would have thought of that present on her birthday instead… it would have changed everything.”

“Come on sweetheart~ is time to wake up, the sun will rise in an hour,” whispered Lucid with the utmost care as to not wake Mayor Mare.

The little filly stretched her wings and hooves, a squeaky yawn breaking the soothing silence, “hmm... Dad, we can’t go… you have to kiss mommy first… a good morning kiss.”

“Ugh… fine… but just in the cheek, okay?” Lucid grumbled, his red muzzle hinting more feelings than his words could offer. He gave a little peck to the mare, who responded by cuddling herself at the same time her lips widened up.

“I wish you have a good day, Mayor.”

“Thanks, Lucid~” she cooed. The absence of sun and the promise of another hour of sleep made her hum in delight. “I will probably come back late tonight. So get yourself comfortable as soon as you arrive.”

The memory shard moved across the realm, collapsing with the one of the left and showing a new scene, one that presented a wide podium surrounded by ponies on benches and chairs. Three ponies in formal attire and Princess Celestia herself were present a top of the structure.

Celestia stepped forward to the crowd, facing them with a content smile. “Welcome, my dear subjects,” her voice boomed, and the crowd responded with praises of equal magnitude. “You must be wondering, what is the purpose of my visit? Suffice to say that I’m the one overjoyed here, for you see, what you did a couple of days ago: taking care of the winter’s wrap up without the help of professionals ponies; is without any reasonable doubt a merit to be acknowledged.”

Celestia bowed to the crowd, gathering gasps and squeals of joy from the citizens. Her head returned to her regal position soon after, “because of this, the Congress and I have decided that Ponyville will no longer be a village under Canterlot’s jurisdiction.”

The princess stretched a hoof to the spectators, and with a scroll in her magic hold, she announced, “And by the vote of the Congress, and myself, we declare Miss Mayor Mare as the first contestant for the title of Ponyville’s Mayor!”

The mentioned mare jumped from her seat, excitement, glory, joy. All those feelings could be imprinted in the same picture as she trotted to the podium. Celestia bowed to her upon arrival and bestowed the scroll to the mare.

“Will you like to participate in the elections, Miss Mayor?”

“Of course I will, your highness,” she said cheerfully before return the gesture.

The illusion faded to black. A sigh stopping the silence for overtaking the place, “That was one of the most important days of my life… being recognized by the very princess as a suitable Mayor.”

Colors flowed through the pipe dream, showing the scene from before, but this time, with more details. An assortment of labelled bottles and liquors adorned a table in the middle of the room. Alongside the table, two groups of ponies accompanied Mayor and her friend, each one as drunk as the other.

“The celebration lasted more than what I had expected. But it didn’t matter to me at the time. All that mattered was my victory and enjoying the heat of the moment…”

“Hey Star, go and let the mare get some rest,” said one of the guests with a snarky smirk to the main couple.

“Star… so that was his name…” Luna commented. She glanced at the dreadful expression. The feeling of guilt seemed to heavy for her to bear. it wouldn’t be easy if she just erased those memories? Or maybe stopping the mare feelings for a while will do the… no, she berated herself, that will be the easy way; the one more prominent to fail in the long run…

“What do you take me for?” barked Star as he tightened his hoof around the young Mayor, “this mare right here is a work of art. I would never take advantage of her, and less in her current situation- hic!”

“Some say that the honesty of a drunk pony can be just compared to the one of an innocent foal,” Luna commented.

“I never said he was a bad stallion, a little ambitious, yes… fearful of the public’s critic? A lot. But not a bad stallion… he wasn’t the right one for me, that was all…”

The memory faded to black for a brief second before offering a new scene. Mayor and Star were just in front of the mare’s home, a hot-air balloon featuring at their back as they shared a kiss.

And not any kiss, a rather vivid one…euphoric, relentless… yet sloppy and clumsy at times, an aftereffect of their dazzled state. Star was holding the mare’s head carefully as he snogged her with passion. Moans zipped through the kiss as their tongues danced together.

“Star… ahm…”

“Hmm?” The kiss session stopped, a hoof firmly pressing against the stallion chest.

“Thanks for tonight date, mister Pursuer,” she panted, a trail of saliva lingering down her muzzle, “I’ll like if you stay a little longer… but-”

“Can’t do honey, the first rule of the book, don’t play with drugged fillies unless they wanted it prior… wait, no I think that was the sixth one…” he joked, earning a giggle from his lover, “now that’s what I wanted to see.”

They shared a moment there, wistfully staring at the hue provided by their lovers’ eyes. Mayor inched closer, beckoning him for a last kiss which he didn’t hesitate to offer.

“I’ll be on Fillydelphia for a couple of days…” He said while parting from the hug and getting back to his hot air-balloon, “There is a new invention called digital camera. With any luck, I will finally have the chance to capture that smile of yours and put it as many portraits as I want.”

“Didn’t you said that you wouldn’t want to die of an overdose?”

“Hey, I’m not the one giving away that cute drug to others,” the hot-air balloon rose from the ground, “blame the game, not the player.”

That earnest another smile from the mare, who waited for a moment to see her lover course the sky before turning back to her home.

The memory blinked. Luna noticed this and glanced at the mayor.

“I can do this…”

The mare opened the door with her key and clumsily stepped his way inside.

The memory blinked once again. “Mayor? Is everything alright?” asked Luna.

“Yes, your highness. I’m-”

“Mommy is back!”

the mayor raised a hoof towards her chest, her mouth turning agape as her breathing became shallower. She shut her eyes and let the memory play in the background.

Hooves trotting through the halls, cheerful laughs, and a soft tugging sound… each sound made the mare’s hoof sink deeper into her chest. As if trying to peace the pain inflicted by the dreadful memory.

“Dad… mommy looks bad… Is she ill!? what should we do?!” Cloud voice resonated through the realm.

Mayor, still wounded by the things playing in her head, opened an eye to see her… she needed to remind herself of that event. She needed to see her reflection from the past realizing the fact that haunted her to this very day.

She watched her reflection…

That was the moment I realized what I was risking… Mayor’s thoughts boomed in the realm.

The young Mayor stepped back from the filly, her hooves waddling in a quivering mess. Her ears freckled upwards as she heard lucid coming from the kitchen. Panic took the better of her as she jolted in fear and turned to the door in a run who ended with a confused filly and the screeching sound of a door mildly open.

I ran because I feared the worst to happen… to see his eyes shimmering at me with concern. To hear his voice asking permission to help me… to feel his warm embrace tugging me into something that I broke for the illusion of a life that wasn’t mine…

To feel his love.

The young Mayor ran through the whole city, earning confused looks of the town folks and more than one shutout from them in her way downtown.

My mind was fuzzy and my thoughts reckless at the moment. I just wanted to get out of the city, and thought that the best option was the train station. Obviously, a bad idea, the train station didn’t have enough resources to work at night.

The mare sat on a nearby bench, whining at the touch of skin against cold wood. Her body shifted time and time again, mostly because of the frequent breeze and the effect of the alcohol in her system.

“Mayor” a voice made her halt.

It was him, Lucid.

“P-please, stay away…” she stammered, the cold of the night having little to do with her whispering tone.

“Mayor… I don’t know what happened, but you need to get home. You are going to freeze out here,” he pleaded.

“’I’m fine!”

The shout created a vacuum of air. Silencing everything around them and leaving a deafening sound in the process. Tears dropped down below from the wet muzzle of the mare.

“Just go… you…” she sobbed, “you and Cloud deserve somepony better.”

“--” Lucid darted his eyes down, a puffed cloud coming out of his snout as he prepared for his next words, “do you love him?”

…

“You… you knew?” she asked with eyes wide as plates. Lucid nodded. “I… well, actually I don’t know. Everything feels like a fantasy world when I with him… but, is just that. I lost the sense of myself and what I really love… like… argh, I don’t know!”

"Then, let me ask you another question, what do you love?"

"I-I don’t know either, I just- I just know that when I look at your eyes, when I hug Cloud, when you follow me through the endless night of work and stress, when I feel your lips gracing my morning, when you two share your love with me… I feel like there shouldn’t be anything else for me to ask for… yet,” she laughed faintly, “it seems like I wasn’t satisfied, right?” a pause followed her question, “I don’t deserve the right to be part of your family…”

Lucid approached the mare. His hoof caressing her soaked muzzle soon after, “Sometime ago, an old friend once told me that in order to find love, you first have to find what you love about yourself.”

“And how does that help me?” Mayor asked, her drowned eyes scanning the ground as if there could be a pit for in which she could hide herself from the world.

“Well… maybe you only need to search again, maybe the only thing you need is... another chance… I-” Lucid blushed. He avoided the gaze of the mare for a second as he tried to muster his next words, but his pride as a royal servant wouldn’t let him face the danger off guard, so he straightened his pose and looked at her with determination, “I thought that you were doing all these for Cloud… but hearing your words… Mayor.”

Lucid took the mare face by its cheeks and beckoned her to look him in the eyes.

“I want you to be a part of my family, this time for real…” his sharp eyes shined deeply.

“Lucid… you…” Her eyes sparkled at the reflection made from new tears.

“I love y-”

Mayor lunged forward, her actions commanded by something beyond herself, and interrupted the words of the stallion with a kiss.

Not a sloppy one, covered with passion and lust.

Just, a kiss, simple, slow, tender… And for the brief second who lasted, she thought that this should have been her first kiss.

Luna’s wing concealed the mayor with care, as the mare cried and wailed in pain and sadness. “Sister… give me strength…” she muttered while a feel of vacuum formed inside her chest. She knew that the worst part of this journey was yet to come, but she didn’t know how she would handle it.

The dreamscape turned into a memory turmoil. And both mares were in the eye of it all… Luna couldn’t help but feel a sense of calm filling her after seeing the reflections of the past coursing through the realm.

One beautiful day after another passed through the artificial wind, each sight easing the expression on the princess as her smile curled with the joy and love emanating from the memories.

But then something got the princess’ attention, it seemed like a routine, a pattern followed in almost all the memories displayed. Mayor worked till late afternoon, got home, played with Cloud while Lucid prepared the dinner. They took an hour or two together to read with the little filly before she finally fell to sleep. The day ended with them both working together on the paperwork for the next day before getting into bed.

Each day was the same. Each night held almost the same events. Luna stood in thought for a moment, the teachings of her sister and the late night talks with Cadance coming into play.

the routine usually meant trouble for a relationship; nothing that could harm their love and little things could improve it… Luna’s eyes moved briefly from one memory fragment to the next one, it would be a matter of time before an issue between the two could happen.

Or so she thought, for her expectations of a problem never came to happen. While it was a truth that most of their days seemed like a routine. There were anomalies within the turmoil of memories… most of them featured by the base of their family.

“Their child…“

Luna’s voice made the mayor recoil back from the hug and look upwards to the princess. Her eyes bloodshot and blurred by the tears. She tried to say something, but her intention turned into a little hum that expressed doubt at the end.

“Even as a happy family, you two remained at the edge of the routine, always doing the same time and time again… until Cloud made them both change. Every time she got sick, bored or bothered by something… Searching the way to make her happy was the way for you two to escape from the routine,” Luna glanced to the mare, doubt hiding behind her concerned lock and regal appearance, “I think I’m finally understanding what troubles your mind. Even still I need to know, were you aware of this too?”

Mayor swept her tears and goo with her hoofs while nodding; she took her time doing so, not because of the amount of liquid in her fur… but rather because it gave her time to gather strength.

“Y-Yes-“The mare coughed abruptly… she wasn’t ready to speak yet. Luna noticed this and held a caressing hoof against the mare’s back. She spoke again, “I lo-ved every moment with them… but… but just like you just said: W-” She sniffed, “ we were always at the hooves of routine…” She breathed, a hoof scratching the burning sensation on her chest, “That’s when I started to get scared of what my future with Lucid will offer me…”

Mayor took off her glasses and tried to clean it with her fur too, taking her moment to compose herself. She took a huge and slow breath before glancing up at the princess, ”And with that came another thought, or maybe a fact that I didn’t consider at first: they were bat ponies, which meant that most of our time together will be during afternoons and at night,” She explained before putting on her glasses.

Mayor made the tornado reveal several images of her in her daily routine through the mornings, “the feelings and doubts started to swell. They were a myth for society in that moment, it will take a lot of effort and time before I could happily go out with them, even at midnight to begin with, without worrying for any town folk to come by and yell out of fear.”

Mayor glanced to the princess, “Then I began to consider how our relationship as a whole could work… and thought that maybe it wasn’t meant to be or that maybe it would be impossible for ponies to socialize with bat ponies… The anxiety and fear of the unknown clouded my young vision of the world. Maybe it was because I was always expecting for a normal relationship…” she faintly laughed, “something that even the cheapest romance novel could relate to. I wasn’t expecting a relationship that would show me the hardships of commitment since the very beginning… and less with a stallion that was depicted as a monster.”

Luna bowed down her head in shame, “I was part of that problem too, Mayor… I wanted to make my guards fearsome. An army that would bring te-”

“Terror to their hearts,” Mayor Mare finished the citation, “I read the old books about them while finding a way to integrate them in our society…”

“I made it clear to my enemies that my power should be something to be afraid of… but at the same time, I implanted the same feeling inside the rest of my subjects… I have to admit that you are in your right to blame me for those doubts that tormented you in the past, Mayor…”Luna bowed her head, guilt scratching her very heart as she sighed, “I hope you can forgive me for that in the future.”

“I can’t blame you, your highness. I know you had your reasons at the time for doing what you did.” she breathed in and took her time to remember the old books she had read about the great wars in Equestria, “It was your own way to protect us from tyrants like Discord Or Sombra. imposing terror was the easiest way to scare the enemies of the kingdom,” Mayor commented before the dreadful reminder of her own history make her munch her lips, “Which reminds me that, after running out of choices and getting myself confronted with the idea that only time would offer an answer… my thoughts diverged, and another idea came into my mind… something more easy, and familiar with what was I accustomed.”

The memories circling around then started to fade one by one as the mayor continued. “That’s when I recalled those moments of Debauchery and unhealthy pleasure; when my life was simpler and my daily thoughts ran about the joy I could experience on daylight… that’s when I remembered… him”

“That was my second mistake…”

The turmoil ceased… and behind the trail of smoke… a new scene was being presented: three static memories shards took the whole realm’ wide.

“The memories aren’t moving…” Luna prompted before bringing a concerned hoof to her muzzle.

“That is because I don’t want them to… hearing my past-self doing this will be too much for me right now… I just- I just want to tell you what happened in the meantime… those three images are more than enough…”

Luna glanced at the image from the left, featuring the young Mayor and Star talking in what seemed to be the room of a three-hoof hotel… She narrowed her eyes and tried her best to detail the memory... The curtains of thin silk hanging from the ceiling, colorful puffs and furniture of all kinds laying on the ground, extravagant food who mostly consisted of grist and grain instead of hay or sugar confections… wherever they were, it was a place from the east of Equestria.

“I went to him with the intentions of promoting yet another line of distribution… he had the contacts in the east of Equestria… and I had the resources approved for another train station.”

the mayor breathed in with hooves on her throat… it pained her, the whole endeavor made a toll on her throat. She did her best to dismiss the aching pain and opened her mouth again.

“Obviously it went wrong… the first thing he did was hug me… he begged me forgiveness for all those months without contacting me and explained that he had a rough time while getting a new contract for his emporium…”

Mayor gathered some strength and tried to look up… but recoiled in disgust before she could see anything. ”I actually didn’t mind it. Truth is that I thought he found somepony else and moved on.” She paused, sighed, and then continued, “He wanted us to be together again. I refused at first and told him about Lucid and how much I loved him,”

“What does he has that I don’t?”

“Is not what he has, but rather what he offers me. He showed me love like you never did.” The young Mayor answered with a serene tone.

“If I could go back. I’ll tell him more about what he really showed me and did for me…” she laughed mockingly, “but then again, I was young, and needed more time before making a convincing monologue.”

“That is not fair, we never had the time to properly get to know each other. He had whole months to offer his love while I barely had a proper day to share mines with you!” The stallion exclaimed with a cracking tone, “Please, let me show you that I was the one… the one worthy of your smile.”

“Say no….” she requested, but she couldn’t stop her past self from looking unassertive.

“Star…”

“Please, say no… “ Mayor pleaded for the impossible to happen… it didn’t, her past self’s eyes shimmered at the sight of the stallion that had shown her long ago the luxurious pleasures in life.

“Well… It is true, we really didn’t have a…”

“WHY I DIDN’T SAY NO TO HIM?!”

The princess whined in pain and looked with bewilderment at her own dreamscape; the illusion had cracked and for once in many moons, Luna had to recompose her own realm before it could get torn apart. She sighed once her magic finished its job and looked at the mare currently tugging herself against her dark fur.

“I shouldn’t have do it,” she quivered in place. Luna started to stroke her mane while turning her sight to the next memory shard. A weird one, even for her, for it only showed an arrangement of colors and smoke… like something surreal.

“He always was the same… using his money, his contacts; those pretty places and food, those extravagant liquors and drugs,” Mayor coughed, “Lucid needed none of that to make me happy… yet I couldn’t stop myself— ahh argh!” she paused again, this time shouting in sorrow as more tears soaked her fur and lens, “I thought he would change at some point, that he could show me something more of him… that m-maybe, maybe it wasn’t a mistake-”

Mayor Mare signaled a cursing hoof to the last memory shard, pointing with precision at her past-self resting in a bed surrounded by puffs and furniture while Star took his moment to smoke from his pipe in the backyard.

Her eyes were deprived of any sight of life, her expression dreadful. She was expecting love and a chance for a better life with more fulfilling moments…

“I couldn’t even get an afterglow snuggle from the bastard,” Mayor laughed between gritted teeth. “Not that it would make any difference though. Nothing could take away that horrid and dirty feeling off from my body.”

The young Mayor sat on her haunches, hooves over her head. The drug's effects were dimming, leaving freeway to her logic consciousness to step in, and with it, a simple recall from her past.

Mommy is back from work!

“I failed them… this…” Mayor pant, confusion reigning over her features as she detailed the soreness on her body and the dreadful sweat staining her fur. The shock was strong enough to give her nausea. “They… they…” the mare stammered, her mind running on its own using the guilt as its fuel.

I prepared your bath for today honey… he-he~ I’m still not used to this…

You are rocking it Dad! It’s almost like my stories, but without dragons…

“Good Celestia, what have I done?” she asked while prompting a hoof to her mouth before gulping roughly.

“You said something sweety?” Star’s voice prompted from the outside.

The sound of hooves clopping desperately through the room echoed through the dreamscape.

“Mayor? What’s wrong?”

“This! This whole Thing! This shouldn’t have happened!”

“Wait, no Mayor I don-”

“Stop! Just Stop, ok? You had your chances and you ruined it, for you and mostly for me. Forget about helping with the new train station. I don’t even want to know about this place anymore.”

The sound of a door recklessly being open and then loudly closed thundered through the dreamscape.

And then… the Illusion faded.

Mayor stood in silence, her face hidden in the shadow of her own mane.

“There were more things to be said… but I can’t handle the whole memory... I’m sorry, princess,” She sniffed, and the realm resumed its course.

The illusion turned into a familiar scene from the princess. It was the mayor’s house, she was about to start the next memory. Luna set a hoof on the mayor’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do it?” she asked. After everything she had seen, it felt like there was so much pain inside the mare to keep going, “we can rest some time if you want to.”

“No, it’s okay… I need to do this. We are reaching the end after all. Is best to make a run for it, besides … whatever happens to me, I have earned it.”

“Cloud, my dear, I’m home!” Mayor announced on her way inside.

“I can do this.” the mayor assured herself, hoof pressing against her chest.

“Mommy got early today!” Cloud Night cheered as the sound of wind being cut resonated on her way to the entrance. In less than a five seconds, the little filly was flying towards the blossom of her adoptive mother “Hurray! Hu-”

“Here it comes…” Mayor swallowed. Her breathing was becoming more audible, slower, and anxious.

“No… ”

Cloud stopped abruptly, her hoofs slowly reaching the floor, she sniffed the air a couple of times before her expression turned awry.

“My de-ar, I’m so so-sorry,” Mayor gagged while she struggled to keep her eyes looking forward.

“Cloud? Dear, what happe-”

“Why?” she muttered as her eyes turned tearful, and her stride turned backward.

Mayor stopped dead at those words… Cloud knew it, there was no doubt in her heart about it. Her plans on letting her mistake as a secret failed at the very first moment she settled a hoof on her home.

And this wasn’t the worst part yet…

“Honey I-” Mayor moved forward but her movement ceased after witnessing the despair in the eyes of the trembling filly. “I don’t know-” She took another step, earning a squeak of fear from Cloud. That made the mare halt her very thoughts, her face was still smiling yet every time she breathed it pained her lungs.

“So… you went with him again…”

The young mare’s body jolted at the sound of her lover's voice coming from the kitchen. Her face moved once again, just to widen in surprise; she couldn’t believe it, how were they able to know it? It was this a trick of some sort? Was a god making a fool of her?

“How?” she finally asked her head glancing at the stallion. “How do you know?”

“Enhanced senses…” he stated, his face tilted down while he pointed at his own snout, “that’s how we knew about it the first time… That stallion has a really unique kind of... Smell.”

The dreamscape cracked.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered.

The mare tried to move forward, albeit her body was quivering, almost falling flat in the ground in the process, “Lucid, I know I made a mistake, but please listen to me-”

“Why you did it?” interject Lucid before his daughter propelled herself towards his embrace. Cloud hide herself behind his father’s shoulder, audible sobs coming from her little snout.

“I did it because I was weak,” The dreamscape cracked once more.

“I th-tought you loved D-Dad!” gasped the filly before breaking into tears.

“My little Cloud… I-“ Mayor stammered.

“I wan- we- we were a fam- waaah!” she screamed, her voice drowned in droll.

she paused after seeing Lucid slowly moving through the house in search of his belongings, the filly shrieking every time she got a sight on the mayor.

She scratched her chest, trying to persuade the pulsating pain inside her heart, “I beg you, please don’t leave me.” Lucid didn’t responded, he just resigned himself to grab his things and leave; and with each thing he took, the Mayor breathing slowed, each time more harsh and shallow… as if her ribcage were being torn up from the inside.

“I’m sorry, I told you it was a mistake!” she desperately shouted, “I thought that something was missing in my life… that maybe he had a chance to make it better. I was wrong!” she signaled a hoof to Lucid and Cloud “You are the only ponies I need in my life.”

“No, Mayor… you are wrong at that too,” Lucid finally turned his attention towards her, his voice quiet and furtive, “this happened because I wasn’t enough for you…” he sighed slowly and then breathed again, “I will never be able to... satisfy you…”

He walked across the room, stopping by her side for a moment. He spoke again, but this time his voice carried the pain he was holding in the inside “I opened... myself to you… not as much as I would like… bu-” a whimper escaped his lips. He strengthened himself and stood firm, his eyes avoiding the gaze of the mare below him. “My comrades were right… the only mare I can offer my heart is your highness.”

Mayor looked at the imposing pose of the stallion, as if a celestial being was judging her for her failures and sins.

“I was too young and foolish to understand… please, say something to him,”

The young mare wanted to say something, anything for him to stay longer, but nothing came to her mind, and from her mouth, only gilberrish sounds and gags were heard.

“Tell him anything!”

Lucid moved past the mare towards the exit, “I can offer the princess my love, my soul, and all my efforts. knowing that she will always appreciate it. Knowing that the safety of their subjects and myself is the only thing she needs...” He huffed, trying once again to recompose his temple, “But you, Mayor… after what you did today… I don’t know if I ever could live up to your expectations…” he said sternly before a single tear could give a glimpse of his true feelings, “I wish I could,” he whispered.

“Beg him to stay, goddammit!” Mayor cracked in tears as if she looked at her past self-incompetence.

Luna couldn’t stand it anymore… there was so much pain in the mare’s words. She embraced her tightly, trying to persuade her own feelings for overtaking her psyche.

Lucid stood at the other side of the door, his face glancing at the mare but eyes locked on the ground.

“I hope you’ll get satisfied one day…” he closed the door quietly.

The illusion broke apart at the sound of the door being closed. The tormented mare yelled in pain while her body turned into a shaking mess. She stood there, hooves around her chest as if trying to restrain it from breaking into pieces, all the while crying, sobbing, and breathing just to yell in agony afterward.

Luna scrunched her face and gritted her teeth as the shared pain turned her muzzle into a soaked muddle. Each cry for help from the mayor slamming into her heart like a hammer.

The realm was now pitch black a void from where only feelings could be feel and sadness could be heard

A considerable amount of time had happened before both mares could stand straight without pouring sorrowful tears from the bags under their eyes. Even Still, their eyes still featured a red tint; a mark of their journey through memory lane.

“Luna- I’m sorry, your…”

“Do not fret, you can call me Luna, Mayor,” The princess assured with a confident tone.

“Thanks…” She smiled before turning her view to the side. “Can you make an illusion of him… of Lucid?” She sniffed, “I… I want to feel like I'm talking to him…”

“I know of a spell that will do the trick,” Luna smiled too.

The princess charged magic at her horn before summoning not only the stallion but also his daughter. Lucid’s and Cloud’s features and overall appearance seemed just like the ones from the memories, except they were aged… more prone to how they would look like in the present.

Mayor Mare didn’t expect herself to be so happy to see them again, even as an illusion. Her face had never curled up so fast in her whole life. To the point that the gesture left a tingling feeling of pain in her muzzle.

“It has been so long…” she started, earning an unexpected smile from the stallion, yet she continued, this time happier. “After you went away, I concealed myself inside my work… searching for a solution myself as I recovered from our…”

The mare moved forward, her stride slow and clumsy at first, “With time… I came to the stupid idea that if I could show you how great of a Mayor I could be… then you will be proud enough to give me another chance…”

“That was my last mistake,” She paused and glanced at the shimmering eyes of the stallion and his pristine white hair, “Convincing myself to work harder each time, with the promise of one day being redeemed, even though I deeply knew that that wasn’t the right solution… but each time I tried to send you a letter… or even just read the ones you started sending me some years ago…”

Mayor breathed in… there have been enough tears shed for a night.

“Something… a little voice in my head kept telling me that I wasn’t worthy of your forgiveness… not yet, I needed to earn it... somehow… so I kept working, and I kept telling myself the same thing, time and time again:”

“I don’t deserve you.”

Mayor took a moment to compose herself while trying to search for more words to say. That search, however, was halted after the illusion hugged her. Taking the mare off-guard in a powerful and warm embrace… Maybe, another couple of tears won't hurt...

“You have earned my forgiveness a long time ago Mayor…” his voice was raspy, yet confident and warm. “I had to forgive you so I could move on and take care of Cloud… but then… I” she snickered, “I started looking at the news…”

Mayor would never have thought that the princess could pull out this kind of spell in such a realistic way. his words seemed so honest and the way his eyes looked at her... It felt like a sentient being. She tried to ask her about how the spell worked but Lucid took her gently by the muzzle before she could even glance back.

“I was proud- Correction, I am proud of you...” He said, his tone and features a vivid expression of the word flustered. “All the things you did, all the ponies you helped… I couldn’t stop falling in love over and over again every time I looked at your picture in the paper news. ”

Mayor was perplexed; It was Luna’s voice echoing through the fake stallion? Was she trying to pity her through a spell? … No, it didn’t feel like it. It felt too real… almost like…

“But now that I heard your words… I think I have been right with one guess that occurred me since the very first letter I sent you…” Lucid’s voice interrupted the mare line of thoughts, “Maybe you weren’t looking for my forgiveness.”

It can’t be...

“But rather your own.”

“It’s you-” her lips quivered down as her previous smile faded in appearance but not in soul, “Lucid… It’s really... you?”

Lucid nodded, his smile outshining the black landscape.

“But how? I-I thought this was a dream,” she looked at the princess holding a giggle with her hoof.

“It’s not the first time I connect more than one mind in the same dream,” Luna’s explained cheerfully, a tear of joy adorning her expression. “What reminds me…” She beckoned to the mare standing behind Lucid.

Cloud’s white fur and amber eyes had grown in beauty over the years, but, unlike her father, she had a firmer body, more reminiscent of a warrior. Mayor noticed this all with one brief look before pulling herself from Lucid’s hug.

“Cloud…” Mayor stepped forward, “my dear Cloud Night…” she narrowed closer, “You have grown into a beauty-”

the sound of bone pounding flesh coursed through the dreamscape, a powerful thud that left a deafening silence on its way through the vast realm. Mayor's head was tilted to the left, mere inches away from the hoof that had slapped her. Her wide eyes narrowed a second later as more tears started to form; yet, she was smiling.

“I d-deserved that…” she muttered.

“That,” Cloud breathe in, her hoof trembling in the air and her narrowed eyes shimmering, “was for what you did to us in the past…”

Another event got Mayor off guard in that instant, for Cloud had just lunged towards her in an embrace.

“And this…” She sniffed, “this is for taking so long… You self-hating old mare…” she mustered before breaking into tears, and while doing so, she made her mother figure cry too.

Luna approached Lucid’s side, her brows furrowed in shamefulness. “By the moon above… This girl. Always doing these reckless things… I thought she would be nicer, after all, she was the one who convinced me to join you all together this night.”

Mayor’s ears shifted at the statement of the princess. She tried to look at Cloud between the fog of tears clouding her vision, “Cloud? Yo-you were the one who called Luna? I thought it was Lucid, or even the princess own doing.”

Cloud wiped her tears in the chest of the mayor before looking at her, “No, it was me… father has been always bad in expressing his feelings.” She said before stepping up from the ground, “I told her in one of my dreams- I told her to use my father’s name just in case-” she stammered, her hoof stretched down to Mayor.

While the mayor got in her hooves, Luna Charged magic at her horn and transformed the realm into the starry cosmos from the beginning. “And it helped, young one. I had been trying to find an answer inside her dreams. But the memories were locked so deep inside her psyche that I couldn’t make her see the reasons behind her suffering…” She looked at Lucid, “your name was really helpful, Lucid. The maze inside that head was the biggest one I have set my eyes on since Discord.”

Lucid laughed cheerfully, his raspy tone denoting a feeling of pure honesty, “Seems like this old rag is still useful.” he joked, granting snickers from her daughter and the mayor.

The laughs lasted enough to make the pain on the mare chest to cease. But there was still something to talk about, and the expression of Cloud’s eyes was remarking this all too well.

“Mom…” she called, and Mayor followed, “Dad told me that he once gave you a chance to be part of our family… Now is my turn to give you the same offer.”

“Sweetie… I’m not sure… I betrayed you two so long ago.”

“But we already forgive you, mom. That is what a family do!” she exclaimed softly.

“The real question is…” Lucid’s voice called Mayor, green eyes staring at blue ones. “What will that take, Mayor? to forgive yourself.”

Mayor remained hesitant to answer, her mildly agape mouth moving but not spelling anything. That was until Luna stepped in into the conversation.

“Mayor, take my advice… I, more than anyone, know the value of forgiveness. Take this chance to prove them that you can still offer your love… accept them as your family and prove yourself to be worthy of both receiving and sharing that love.”

“Princess…” Mayor gasped softly, she looked at her daughter and didn’t hesitate to hug her again, “I’ll promise sweetheart… I promise I will love you and your father for the rest of my days.”

“Then I hope you have a lot to give…” Cloud reciprocated the hug, her face curling into a smile once again, “there are some messy fillies that you need to meet, and a grumpy husband that is too timid to show his own feelings,” she looked at his father with a smug expression, “speaking of shy stallions.”

Cloud Night beckoned his father to join the hug, and he happily accepted before lunging forward to them like in his prime days.

“Auch!” he shrieked, “These old bones don’t hug like they did before…”

Luna smiled at the joyful reunion, “you all seem like there are a lot of things to talk about,” the dreamscape transformed around them, the vast land turning into a white room of marble ceiling and carpeted floor. “My time for helping you has come to an end tonight… but don’t hesitate to ask me for advice any other night, Mayor.” She tilted her head to the side, “that goes to you two, Lucid and Cloud.”

“This is one of the castle’s room…” commented Lucid.

“You have been awake for a couple of minutes now,” Luna explained before turning to the side, “I just wanted to make it less noticea- ahmm” she yawned, “Mayor hasn’t slept properly and you two were just about to sleep. So I thought you could use a comfy king-sized bed… like in your old days.”

Mayor smiled, a tear running down her lips, “Thanks to you, your highness, I don’t know how I would ever repay you for this.”

“Don’t you worry, Mayor. It was a pleasure helping you all,” She turned to the door of the room, “Seeing you happy and knowing that you will rest properly again is all I need.”

Luna then exited the room, leaving the family alone so they can cherish their reunion… talk all the things they missed in the past... and most importantly.

Live like they used to so long ago.

Princess Celestia waddled through the hall, her fur dazzled and unkempt and her ethereal mane flowing mere inches above the ground. She yawned and puckered her lips while she tried to focus on the dark blue figure approaching her.

“Sister. Is so good to see you, I wanted to tell you something,” Luna said in a cheerful tone that could easily obscure the sag bags and her desires to sleep.

“Luna?” Celestia asked before blinking profusely until her vision turned clearer. She gasped afterward at the sight of her beautiful sister, her whole muzzle and chest were soaked in tears and her eyes had a red shade when once stood a bloodshot color. “Goodness, it seems like you had a rough night.”

“It was rough indeed. But the results were more than enough to compensate the look I must be wearing right now,” she said before inching closer. “My dear sister, while helping one of our ponies today, I learned that sometimes you need to stop thinking so much about what will be the best thing to do and just do the best thing you can offer.”

Celestia’s tired lips widened in joy, “That is a lesson that took me a lot of time to realize. And believe me, Luna, as you grow wiser and learn more about yourself, the things you would do not only will be more helpful but will carry a part of your personality too; Ponies will learn to love you as something else than a god-like figure.”

“Just like they see you as a mother, right?” Luna asked, and her sister hummed in affirmation. “Oh, and before I forgot.”

Luna spread her wing and hooves, and then captured her sister in a warm embrace. “Thanks for forgiving my past mistakes as Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia jumped in surprise at the sudden show of affection but didn’t hesitate to accept it.

“Thank you, for forgiving my blindness," Celestia said, an unroyal giggle following her words,“Well, I guess that that’s what family do.”

The last tear of the day escaped from Luna's hold as the memories of those last moments with Mayor and her family played back in her mind.

“You are right, my dear sister.”

“That is what family do.”

Author's Note

Thanks again to my proofreader and friend Lorhelei for helping me out through the making of the second draft; and thanks Rival for his help and for pre-reading the first draft.

And as always, thank you for reading this :twilightsmile:, this project really took me some time and I will really appreciate any kind of feedback from you.