Election in Ponyville 3: Destiny at Stake

Chapters

Morning Thoughts
Train Ride Discussions
Meeting With Celestia
Primary Debate
Primary Election Day
Primary Rout
An Unlikely Filing
Interview Scheduling
Amethyst's Interview
Twilight's Interview
A Summons from Celestia
Debate Day Preparations
The General Debate
Royal Endorsements
General Election Day
Amethyst's Victory Party
Prelude: The Past Seven Years

Morning Thoughts

Morning for Amethyst

The new year had begun and a couple days after the new year began, it was that day again. It was the day that ponies would head to Canterlot to file their candidacy for public offices and like she had on that day four and eight years ago, she was up early. Things were different this time though, not only did Amethyst live in a brick house in the new end of town, things had become much more than a mere friendship between her and Sea Swirl, the two were now married and unlike it had been in prior election cycles, Sea Swirl was just as enthusiastic about the political cycle as Amethyst was.

When they got up, Amethyst asked, "So sweetie, are you coming up with me to file?"

Unlike it was in the past, Sea Swirl replied, "Of course, I can't wait for you to begin your journey to win a third term!"

Amethyst chuckled, "Now, now Sea Swirl, what did you tell me last time and the time before that? Her chuckle became more of a full blown laugh, "I can't go acting like victory is guaranteed!"

Sea Swirl gave her a sheepish smile and giggled, "Never once did I expect you to be the one to say that!"

Amethyst replied, "Well times change." She then headed towards the exit and continued, "How about we get going, get me filed and then I'll take us out for breakfast."

"That sounds wonderful!" exclaimed Sea Swirl.

As the two headed towards the train station, the two looked at their surroundings and Ponyville had grown a lot just in the past two years. Things had grown so much that the town had grown into what would be classified as a small city. Ponyville now had three schools with an actual business district and like the big cities back east, Ponyville had streets. Seeing the result of all that progress made Amethyst happy and because of that, Sea Swirl too was happy. What made Sea Swirl happier is that she brought in more money than she did in the past as she owned their old house and used it as a rental.

When they arrived at the train station, a delay was announced but it did not upset the two as the princess was not even seeing anypony yet so there was no risk of them missing the 5 P.M. deadline.

The Traditionalist's Secret Weapon

That morning Twilight and her friends had an earlier meeting than normal at Twilight's castle upon Applejack's request. Twilight couldn't help but wonder why it was so important but was up early to be ready for her guests. Applejack was the first to arrive and was greeted immediately, "Applejack, why is it so important that we all meet so early? What could be going on?"

Applejack replied, "You'll find out when everypony gets here."

Twilight pointed her wing and motioned for her to get in. Over the next thirty minutes, their other friends arrived and once all had arrived, they headed into the throne room and took their respective seats. Once they were all seated, Applejack began, "Alright y'all, as you know today is the day for ponies to file to run for mayor and I think this is important."

They all remembered how things did not go well for some of them in past elections. They remembered how Pinkie and Rainbow proved that they were in no way fit to run the town and how four years ago that Applejack too proved the same. Twilight asked, "Alright, what is important about it?"

Applejack replied, "Well Ah think we need to get somepony to run for us traditionalists. We have to save our town before it is too late! If we give Amethyst four more years, we WILL become just like Las Pegasus, if not even bigger."

Rainbow was clearly annoyed by her statement, "Not this again! Look, I'm doing much better off and besides, Ponyville is way cooler than it used to be!"

Starlight too was present and said, "I don't know. Ponyville is really prosperous now and I don't see ponies voting against prosperity."

Applejack looked towards Twilight and asked, "What do you think Twilight?"

Twilight had a feeling as to what she was going to ask and immediately objected, "Applejack, I'm not going to run for mayor and besides, I am a princess and it would be a conflict of interest."

She then turned to Starlight and got a similar response, "I'm sorry Applejack but I'm not going to run. Ponyville is doing very well off and I for one enjoy the year-round nice weather."

Applejack then turned to the other unicorn, "Rarity, Ah don't know what you think about things but would you consider running?"

Rarity asked, "Why me?"

Applejack replied, "With the way the town is now, around two-thirds of the population are unicorns and Ah know that a non-unicorn probably won't stand a chance. If you ran and put forth a more traditionalist platform, maybe you could win and restore the Ponyville we all loved."

While Rarity would never admit it to other unicorns, she did kind of miss the old traditions and did regret voting for Amethyst in the past elections but was unsure, "Applejack darling, Ponyville is more prosperous and my profits are much higher. I do know that if I was to run, Amethyst would do to me what she did to Iron Will, claim that I'm biting the hooves that are causing me to have more profits."

Applejack asked, "But Rarity, don't you miss the Ponyville of old? Don't you miss the times when festivals drew in the whole town, don't you miss traditional Winter Wrap Ups and don't you miss not being a city?"

Rarity replied, "Well I'll admit that I do but...." Applejack began to give her puppy dog eyes and she continued, "oh alright, I'll run."

Applejack replied, "Good and I can be your campaign adviser."

Some of her other friends also agreed to help but three would not. Rainbow grunted in frustration, "You go for it but I want no part of it. Ponyville is cool now and I want it to stay that way."

Starlight too agreed, "I'm sorry Applejack but I'm not going against prosperity and ponies do seem really happy these days."

Twilight finished, "And like I've said, it would be a conflict of interest for me and besides, Ponyville is prosperous and I don't want to be responsible for maybe ruining that."

The three left, leaving Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Applejack said, "Alright y'all, Ah better get going and once Ah get back, we can start to make plans to win the town over."

Her advisers nodded and Rarity headed out the door. Rarity did miss the Ponyville of old and did regret voting for Amethyst but still couldn't help but wonder how well she would be received. She knew that all the unicorns in town supported Amethyst but then realized that the main reason they did was because she was a unicorn. She thought to herself, "Alright Rarity, if we all want our traditions back, you have to do this."

When she got to the train station, she saw that Amethyst and Sea Swirl were both there. She knew why they were there but then something began to cross her mind, Amethyst being involved in a same sex marriage. She knew that Ponyville was doing well economically but then began to think this might be a referendum on how progressive the creatures of the city truly were. She began to think that maybe, just maybe Amethyst's unorthodox marriage could turn the community against her.

A Great and Powerful Decision

It was not long after Amethyst began her second term and after she met Starlight that Trixie had decided to declare Ponyville as her permanent residence. While Trixie had never really cared about the news, something seemed to be calling her to the local news stand, something seemed to tell her that it was important.

When Trixie arrived, she saw that the main headline on the front of the paper was that it was filing day for municipal offices. She decided to buy a paper and began to read through the article. When she read that all she would have to do is go up to Canterlot and file. She exclaimed, "Well it is time for change in Ponyville, a Great and Powerful Change!"

She then decided to go and tell her closest friend about her decision and perhaps see if she would accompany her. She rushed towards Twilight's castle and bumped into the one pony she wanted to see most. She hugged her and exclaimed, "Guess what Starlight, the Great and Powerful Trixie is going to run for mayor!"

Starlight gasped, "What, you're going to run for mayor?"

"Yes!" Trixie continued, "You want to come up to Canterlot with me? Do you want to see your best friend file?"

Starlight had nothing on her schedule that day so despite her thinking that her friend was wasting her time even trying, she agreed, "Alright, let's get going. Just remember though, you're going to be going up against Amethyst Star and she is incredibly popular."

Trixie grunted, "Pfft. After everypony sees what the Great and Powerful Trixie wants to do, they'll pick her over that power hungry Amethyst. Besides, who wouldn't want free magic shows!"

Starlight gave her friend a slight laugh as the two headed towards the train station. While Starlight did care deeply about Trixie and supported her in everything she did, she couldn't help but wonder if Trixie even knew what she wanted to do. Deep down she thought that maybe Trixie just wanted to be mayor so she could claim she was running a community that was quickly growing into an economic powerhouse.

The Dental Candidate

There was another pony, Colgate, who was aware of what day it was and decided that she should run. While she was doing better than ever, she knew about how Amethyst ran things and given how big of surpluses Ponyville had been running, she felt that maybe the city could start taking risks, risks that could give Ponyville huge amounts of leverage over others.

She gave herself a smile, "You know something Colgate, you are a lot like Amethyst. You love economic growth, you want to keep old traditions from returning, you want to continue to increase the unicorn population and you love the year round nice weather. Your only difference is that you want to become a creditor city, you want to buy debts and then hold them over fiscally irresponsible towns!"

She got up, headed to the door and said, "Alright, now to get to the train station and do what it takes to win."

As Colgate headed towards the train station, she knew that she would likely run into who would soon be her opponent. One thing she did not know was that Amethyst would not be her lone opponent.

Train Ride Discussions

By the time it was nine in the morning, there were plenty of ponies waiting to catch the train to Canterlot. Among them were the mayoral candidates. The first one that Amethyst saw was Colgate and greeted her in her normal, friendly manner, "Colgate, it is so good to see you. So what are you up to today?"

Colgate knew that Amethyst likely wasn't going to like hearing it but she told her the truth, "Well I'm going up to meet with Celestia so I can file my papers to run for mayor."

This changed Amethyst's mood immediately. She got up in her face and yelled, "You're going to run for mayor?" She pointed her hoof in her face and continued, "You know something Colgate, you and I are almost exactly the same on just about everything! The only differences we have are coat color and our cutie marks!"

Colgate countered, "Not exactly. I don't think you take nearly big enough risks. With our surpluses, we could become a creditor city! We could buy other municipalites' debt and then hold it over them, especially those dirt pony towns down south. Just imagine, other communities would FEAR us, now wouldn't that be sweet?"

Amethyst caught herself before she would yell any further, especially given that they were around her constituents. In a much more calm voice she responded, "Colgate, I don't think you see the risks in that. If a community was to default on a debt we bought of theirs, we'd be out all that money. Let's leave the loaning thing to the Royal Bank of Equestria."

Colgate sighed, "Whatever, I just think we should take more risks." She then turned to Rarity and asked, "So Rarity, are you going up to file too?"

Rarity replied, "Why yes, I am. I want to save Ponyville from" she then pointed towards Amethyst and continued, "her taking it past the point of no return. I want to bring back our traditions and restore the Ponyville I knew as a filly."

Both Colgate and Amethyst broke down laughing. "Seriously," Colgate laughed "you're wanting to completely destroy years of economic progress?"

Amethyst added, "You know Rarity, if you would bother looking at what the city has become, you'd know its already too late for that! You can't run all our new residents out, you're not going to shut down the hotel and the casinos down and it will be a sunny day in Tartarus before you touch the Sky Needle, the Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development will see to that!"

Rarity sighed, "When ponies find out what I want to do, they'll vote for me."

Again the two broke down laughing. While suddenly the two were just about to be political adversaries with similar mindsets, they found Rarity's very candidacy laughable. They then saw Trixie and began to snicker. Amethyst snickered, "Don't tell me you're running too!" She then became more serious and asked, "Or is it you Starlight? Are you the one running?"

Trixie immediately boasted, "It is The Great and Powerful Trixie that is running and when Trixie wins, she'll make Ponyville greater and more powerfuler than ever!"

Again the two began to laugh. When the train finally arrived, Amethyst and Sea Swirl joined hooves and got on the train, followed by the other candidates and everypony else. Once they got sat down, Sea Swirl gave her wife some advice, "Amethyst sweetie, you can't blow up like that in front of your constituents. I know Colgate is pretty much stabbing you in the back but still, you need to be the more composed pony!"

Amethyst sighed, "You're right, just like you have been in all the years I've known you. Thanks for reminding me to keep my cool."

During the rest of the trip, Amethyst and Sea Swirl sat there quietly listening in on the other candidates and their conversations, both of them began to think about how to use their discussions against them. While Trixie and Starlight were merely talking about Trixie's plans and Starlight questioning her over if she understood the first thing about governance, Colgate and Rarity's discussion would be less than civil.

Both of them couldn't help but snicker quietly as Colgate went on and on about how Rarity was a traitor unicorn siding with the "backwards dirt pony traditionalists." Rarity was not responding very well to the accusations and this immediately led Amethyst to realize something. She nudged Sea Swirl and said, "Rarity can't handle pressure very well. I could very easily knock her out in the first debate if Colgate doesn't first."

Sea Swirl then looked back and asked, "What about Trixie?"

Amethyst laughed, "Oh Trixie will probably knock herself out! Her arrogance and ineptness will be obvious within the first five minutes of the debate." Her laugh became a bit louder as she continued, "And if Sunny Flames is a moderator, both her and Rarity are toast!"

Sea Swirl then became more serious as she asked, "And what about Colgate?"

Amethyst got a lump in her throat as she began, "Colgate is going to be a tough one. Outside of her wanting to do risky things like having the city buy the debts of other municipalities and basically play the role of a bank, we are very similar. I'm not taking her lightly in the slightest. To beat her, I'm going to have to do what I do best, be transparent and hopefully find flaws in her ideas."

Sea Swirl gave her a smile, "I knew that would be your plan and that one idea of Colgate's, the very riskiness of it will be easy to destroy."

Amethyst replied, "You know, with you by my side, my chances of winning will be much higher."

Sea Swirl looked back and heard the other candidates talking about her and suggested, "Amethyst, I think we should be quiet. They're listening in and that may work against us."

"Agreed." replied Amethyst, "We can't give them any ammunition to work with."

For the rest of the train ride, the two remained quiet but continued to listen in on the other candidate's discussions. Soon though Trixie's discussion with Starlight shifted primarily to their friends along with Starlight's concerns over Rarity's ideas.

Meeting With Celestia

When the train finally arrived in Canterlot, the line to see Celestia was not nearly as long as it was in the past given that trains all across Equestria had been facing delays that morning. Only a few ponies were in front of them in line and they were all filing for big cities back east.

When Amethyst and Sea Swirl reached the front, Celestia greeted them warmly, "Amethyst Star! How is the best mayor in the history of Equestria today?"

"I am doing quite well your Majesty." replied Amethyst.

Celestia then turned to Sea Swirl and asked, "So are you keeping her overconfidence in check? Are you making sure she doesn't go thinking she's already won?"

Sea Swirl gave her a sheepish grin, "Well I've gotten into politics and maybe I've been encouraging it."

"Tsk, tsk." replied Celestia. She then handed Amethyst the proper paperwork and said, "You know the drill."

Amethyst began what was a very familiar process for her, filling out the proper paperwork but this time with Sea Swirl by her side. Once she finished it she handed it to the princess and would be surprised when she leaned down and whispered, "Good luck Amethyst. I really hope you win again. It is so good to see one community that doesn't have to beg me for money."

Amethyst whispered back, "Well wait until who is next, you'll likely realize I have my toughest opponent yet."

Celestia gave Amethyst a smile and was indeed shocked when she saw who was next. Standing before her was a former student of hers, Colgate. Celestia gave her a smile and gasped, "Colgate, I didn't know you'd be running!"

"Yep, I've decided to run for Mayor of Ponyville." replied Colgate.

"But why?" Celestia asked, "Aren't you and Amethyst basically the same pony when it comes to how the Ponyville is ran? I thought you were one of her strongest supporters!"

Colgate replied, "I do like everything she has done but I do think that she could take more risks. I think with the surpluses Ponyville is running, we could start buying other communities' debt, particularly those of the dirt pony towns that are always in debt! If they had to put up with me, they'd pay their debts more quickly."

Celestia gave Colgate a frown over the idea, particularly over her referring to earth pony communities as dirt pony communities. She sighed, "Well I don't know about creditor cities but I can't stop you from running." Her frown deepened as she continued, "And you really should lose that racist attitude. That won't get you on very many ponies' sides and it certainly won't get you on my side."

Colgate grunted, "Well they are always in debt and it is a well known fact that unicorns are better at governing, better at succeeding in general."

Celestia sighed in frustration as she handed Colgate the proper paperwork and as she was filling it out, she was trying to determine what party to run under. She knew she couldn't just put down unicorn supremacist party or anything else showing her favoritism of unicorns so she simply decided to run as an independent. She handed the papers back and said, "Here you go your Majesty."

Celestia looked over her paperwork and said, "Alright, you're on the ballot. With as close as you are to Amethyst, I'm sure you know the routine."

Colgate replied, "Yep, Sunny Flames will want to interview me, if there are four or more ponies running there will be a primary and I need to be ready to kick ass!"

Celestia sighed, "Yeah, pretty much. You have a good day."

Colgate replied, "You as well."

As Colgate was walking away, Celestia couldn't help but think that she would not make for a good mayor. While she would be a lot like Amethyst, she realized that not only would she take risks that Amethyst would never dream of but that she was openly racist against earth ponies. She thought to herself, "Oh Mother Faust I hope she doesn't win. The last thing we need is an openly racist mayor who wants to force other communities to be in debt to her."

She then saw who was next in line, Rarity. When Rarity approached her she said, "Rarity, what is wrong. It is filing day and unless it involves some villain escaping, could you wait until later?"

Rarity replied, "Actually princess, I'm here to file my paperwork to run for mayor."

Celestia handed her the paperwork and said, "Alright, it is rather simple. Simply fill out all the personal information and then select which party you are running under. If it is not listed, check 'other' and then write it in."

Rarity did as requested and when she got to the party section, she was conflicted. She wanted to fill in other and put down traditionalist but she knew that doing so would sink her immediately. She then remembered that for years that Miss Mare would run as an independent so she decided to run under that.

When she handed the paperwork back to Celestia, Celestia looked over it and couldn't help but wonder why she would run under that party. She thought for sure she would run as a progressive given her nature. She replied, "Alright, you're on the ballot. Now if one more pony files, there will be a first primary in March, a primary election in April and then once it is down to two candidates, you will have ENC wanting to interview you and after that, the fall primary and then the election."

Like Applejack, Rarity wasn't overly fond of the cable news outfit from back east and knew full well that their political analysts absolutely adored Amethyst but kept her cool, "Alright, thanks for letting me know in the event I advance to the general."

"Alright Rarity," Celestia finished, "You have a good day."

"You as well your Majesty."

As Rarity left, Celestia couldn't help but wonder if her friends, well one friend in particular, didn't put her up to this thinking that maybe having a unicorn running to support old traditions would help their cause. When the next two ponies showed up, she was shocked. She looked at the two and asked, "So which one of you two are filing or is it both of you?"

Trixie replied, "It is just The Great and Powerful Trixie who is here to run for mayor of Ponyville!"

Celestia broke down laughing when she heard this. "Seriously," she asked, "you're going to run for mayor."

Trixie replied, "Yes, Trixie plans on running for mayor and when she wins, Ponyville will be greater and powerfuler than ever!"

Celestia continued to laugh as she handed Trixie the paperwork. The paperwork was quite simple so Trixie had no problems filling it out. When she got to the party affiliation part she quickly checked other and wrote in "Great and Powerful."

When she handed the paperwork back to Celestia, she again broke down laughing. She knew that she couldn't continue to laugh at Trixie but it was so difficult for her. She then asked Trixie, "Did you hear everything I told Rarity about the election cycle?"

Trixie replied, "Yes, the Great and Powerful Trixie will have to take part in a first debate, a primary election and then Sunny Flames will make Trixie a star before the general election!"

Celestia corrected, "Only if you finish in the top two in the primary, which I don....."

Trixie interrupted, "Well, who wouldn't vote for The Great and Powerful Trixie? Trixie knows that everypony will wind up wanting the town to fund magic shows!"

Trixie then took off and Celestia couldn't help but continue laughing even though another pony was approaching her. She began to wonder if maybe she shouldn't attend the debate in Ponyville not so much for what the candidates were going to say but for the comedy act that Trixie would likely provide.

The rest of the day went by as normally as other filing days would. There were plenty of candidates from various cities filing for their candidacy, many who Celestia pretty much knew nothing about fiscal responsibility. As candidate after candidate filed, she thought to herself, "Too bad I couldn't duplicate Amethyst multiple times and put each one in charge of every town and city, that way no community would ever be in debt!"

Primary Debate

Two months had passed and the day had arrived for the first debate. As Amethyst was preparing for it, Sea Swirl saw that she had her projection screen packed up and had put some papers in her saddle bags. She snickered, "You're going to show off all the city's progress aren't you? You're going to show everypony why you're the only one deserving of their votes, aren't you?"

Amethyst laughed, "Sea Swirl, I am going to show them how much bigger our surpluses are and the increases in overall revenue but I wouldn't say I'm going to show them why I'm the only one deserving!" She then snickered, "My my, you have changed so much since we got married! You went from not being into politics to being my number one supporter!"

"Well I know how much all this means to you," stated Sea Swirl "and it means a lot to me too."

"Well that means a lot to me sweetie." She looked up at the clock and continued, "Well we had better get going, I really don't want to arrive late."

Earlier that day the crew from ENC had arrived in town and Sunny Flames was walking around town in awe of all the progress. One thing that truly shocked her was the office building that had went up. She said to herself, "Wow, if Amethyst keeps this up, Ponyville will be just like home....maybe even a place I'd want to relocate to!"

Another thing she noticed was that there was more and more housing going up on the new end of town along with multiple casinos and plenty of tourists out and about. She had a beaming smile on her face and felt so proud that one pony could take what was what Sunny thought of as a run down debt factory and turned it into an economic success story.

She then headed into the old end of town and noticed that some of the houses were now made out of brick and had shingled roofs. Her smile grew wider as she continued to think, "Give it another decade and those run down traditional homes will be gone! I can't wait to congratulate Amethyst over all this!"

She then headed over to the site of the debate where her crew had everything set up. One thing she couldn't help but wonder was how Breaking News was handling all of this. She knew that he hated the progress Amethyst brought upon the town and given that roughly two-thirds of the local population were unicorns, she figured he was likely even angrier.

When it was just ten minutes before the debate was set to begin, Sunny saw a very familiar pony headed her way, one that she wasn't overly fond of. She sighed, "Just like always, you're nearly late!"

Breaking News snapped, "Well I'm here aren't I?"

Sunny could tell that Breaking News was not thrilled over her comment but she couldn't help but try and agitate him. She began, "Wow, I must say, Amethyst is doing a spectacular job! So many more businesses, so many more residents, so many more casinos and I think it is spectacular......"

Breaking News yelled, "Don't even start with me this time. She is likely one step away from destroying any chance of the Ponyville I grew up in from ever returning."

Sunny looked around and snickered, "You know something, I'd say its already too late, I'd say Ponyville is already past the point of no return!"

Breaking News just grunted in frustration and waited for the debate to begin. He had a bad feeling that this would happen, he figured Sunny would come in and praise Amethyst over everything she did. At that moment, he was seriously considering just storming off and letting Sunny moderate it alone but knew that if he did, he would likely get fired.

After what was too long in being in the other's presence for both moderators, Sunny got the notification that the network was ready to go live. When she was given the notification that the cameras were rolling Sunny began, "Good evening Equestria, my name is Sunny Flames and moderating along side me is Breaking News, the head reporter for The Ponyville Express." She then turned towards him and continued, "And once again the election here is going to be unique because every single candidate is a unicorn. How is the community reacting to it?"

Breaking News replied, "Well given the change in the town's demographics, there hasn't been much talk about it. Most everypony has likely figured that this will be the norm now."

Sunny faced the cameras and resumed, "And let's meet the candidates. We have incumbent and Reform Party candidate Amethyst Star who is running for a third term, we have Colgate who is running as an independent, we also have former Element bearer Rarity running as an independent and we have Trixie Lulamoon running under the" *snickers a bit* "The Great and Powerful Party."

Breaking news added, "Like it is during all primary debates, the candidates will not go into too much detail about what their plans are but they will give us a general idea as to what their plans are."

The Questioning of Trixie

The time to focus on the candidates had begun and the network wanted them to focus on the candidates that seemed least likely to win and then move on to the incumbent. Breaking News wanted to take control early on and ask the first question.

"Trixie, many ponies around here know that you don't exactly take things all that serious. What would you want to do if you was to be elected?"

Trixie had not thought about that at all given that she just figured that ponies would vote for her so she had to come up with something, "Well The Great and Powerful Trixie would most likely keep most of Amethyst's plans in place but since there are plenty of surpluses, Trixie would bring back publicly funded festivals, including publicly funded magic shows! After all, Trixie knows that everypony would want to see The Great and Powerful Trixie along with her assistant, Starlight Glimmer, showcase the most powerful feats of magic known to ponykind!"

Trixie then threw down some smoke balls and stood there with a smile on her face. The whole crowd burst into laughter and both moderators couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Sunny then decided to question her, "Trixie, it seems as though you don't really even have a plan. It sounds like all you want to do is borrow Amethyst's policies and then use public funding to showcase your narcissism, is that correct?"

Trixie gasped, "Heavens no! The Great and Powerful Trixie just wants to do what she knows that the voters would want the most. Trixie knows that publicly funded festivals used to be popular and who wouldn't want to see Trixie's magic shows?"

Breaking News knew that Trixie wasn't a serious candidate and may hurt the candidate he wanted to see advance. He questioned, "Trixie, judging by your responses here, it sounds like many ponies are right about your lack of seriousness. Do you have any other ideas of your own other than just adding magic shows to Amethyst's policies?"

Trixie stood there for nearly a full minute before answering, "Well Trixie knows plenty about Ponyville's surpluses and The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks we could use public funding to operate our own casino! Why should these private companies get in on all the fun when Trixie could make them even funner!"

The Questioning of Rarity

The crowd began to grumble some over Trixie's answer and given her lack of seriousness, both Sunny and Breaking News nodded and decided it was time to move on to the next candidate. Sunny said, "And now we move on to Rarity, who is running as an independent.

Breaking News knew a whole lot more about Rarity than Sunny did so he decided he would ask her the first question, "Rarity, as everypony knows, you are the Element of Generosity and have aided in saving our country multiple times. Before I ask you a question, I would like to say thank you from all of us."

"Why you're welcome darling." replied Rarity.

This was what Sunny was hoping for. She figured that would give her the perfect opportunity to throw in the first question, "Rarity, it is well known that you are friends with a traditionalist who advocated wiping out years of economic growth four years ago. If you are elected, what would you want to do?"

Rarity froze when she heard the question. She knew that Sunny was going to do whatever it took to cause her chances of winning to crash to zero. After nearly a minute she replied, "Well I do think that Amethyst has done a lot of good for the town but I do think that we could at least bring back things like winter and publicly funded festivals. I think the ponies would be much happier."

Sunny would again be quick to question her, "So basically what you are advocating is causing a three month layoff for all the creatures that work in the hospitality sector, the casino sector and other workers that rely on the year round tourism that warmer winters help."

Rarity replied, "Well I think that ponies may come here for Hearth's Warming for the pageant and for the lower prices so that might lessen the hit."

Breaking News could tell that Sunny was going to try and break Rarity and he simply couldn't allow that to happen. He asked, "Rarity, as everypony knows, Amethyst lowered the business taxes significantly when she took office and that is what has caused Ponyville to pretty much become a city. If you are elected, would you leave those alone or would you raise them a bit."

This was a question that Rarity was unsure as to how to answer. She knew that even mentioning raising taxes was a bad idea but then remembered how Amethyst's sales tax increases were met with positive results. She replied, "Well I do think we could afford to raise them a little bit. We could keep them to where they are still lower than they are in other communities but not keep them so low that Ponyville is losing money because of them."

While Sunny wanted to call her out on that statement, she figured she would wait until the time would come to question the pony with the facts. While she was contemplating that, Breaking News threw in another question, "Rarity, like me, you grew up here so you know more about what makes Ponyville special than the newcomers. What do you think you could do to make Ponyville even happier than it is right now?"

Rarity replied, "Well like I said earlier, I think we could bring back winter because so many ponies liked it. So many ponies loved building snow ponies, playing horse hockey and the pageant just isn't as special with warm weather. I know ponies also miss creating winter and while the cost of the snow and icicles from Cloudsdale aren't cheap, we have the revenue we can afford it and not hurt the town. I also know so many ponies miss Winter Wrap Up. I certainly miss making birds' nests and my friend Fluttershy really misses waking up the animals."

Sunny saw this as her opportunity to move in for the kill, "Rarity, judging by your answer, it sounds like you are thinking more about yourself and your friend than you are what is in the best interests of the city. Is that correct, are you more concerned about that?"

Rarity replied, "Well no darling, I know a lot of ponies miss Winter Wrap Up."

The Questioning of Colgate

Sunny figured that she had got as much out of Rarity as she could and was not about to allow Breaking News to give her a chance to maybe save herself. She moved on to the next candidate, "And next we have Dr. M. Colgate, the local dentist, who is also running as an independent.

Breaking News knew a bit more about Colgate and how she seemed to favor unicorns. He asked, "Dr. Colgate, many ponies around here know you are the local dentist. How do you think you would be able to juggle being a dentist and being mayor since that is pretty much a full time job now."

Colgate replied, "Well this is where I would likely need to spend more time away from my home. I would run my practice but spend evenings and weekends in the town hall handling city affairs."

Breaking News again questioned, "Alright, so you would be willing to sacrifice a great amount of time between your two jobs but what if something was to come up that required your complete and full attention, would you shut down your practice during that time or would you simply have the town clerk handle the important problems?"

Colgate knew that Breaking News was trying to throw her off and replied, "Well I would let my patients know that I will reschedule them after the crisis passed. Don't worry Ponyville, I won't abandon my responsibilities as mayor and to my patients, I'm not going to just leave you hanging either. I believe that I am fully capable of handling both jobs."

Sunny was not thrilled over Breaking News trying to take control of the debate so she was quick to throw in the next question, "Colgate, from what I understand, during the last two election cycles you were one of Amethyst's staunchest supporters so why is it that you are running against her now?"

Colgate knew that the time arrived to prove to the voters that she was more serious than Amethyst in bringing about economic growth, "I am running against her because I think she could do more. Yes Ponyville has become the most economically prosperous city in all of Equestria but I do think that the city could get in the business of giving loans to other communities that are having economic problems."

The entire crowd gasped over the suggestion and both moderator's jaws dropped open. Breaking News asked, "Why would you want to do that? Why is it that you would want to use city funds to do that?"

Colgate replied, "My view is that other communities, communities with a lot of debt, those dirt pony communities, could borrow money from us at a slightly lower interest rate than they would from The Royal Bank of Equestria. With the money we would get from the interest, we would win big!"

The whole crowd gasped when Colgate made what seemed to be a racist comment. All of the earth ponies began to boo her loudly and she added, "Oops, maybe that was the wrong thing to say."

Sunny had a feeling that maybe her and Breaking News were on the same page for once but wanted to know more. She wasn't concerned at all about the racist comment but wanted to know more about her creditor city idea. "Alright, so you are wanting to do this but what if these communities defaulted on their loans? If that happened, the city would be out all that money and what do you think the citizens here would think of that? Do you think that they would really approve of these funds simply being lost?"

Colgate replied, "Well I do think that once the ponies here learn more about my plans, they'd see that it is a good idea. Even if one or two communities wind up defaulting, we'd still collect more than enough off of the interest that we'd make a profit off of it."

Questioning Amethyst

Breaking News wanted to question Colgate further over the dirt ponies comment but Sunny would not give him the chance. Sunny said, "And now we move on to Reform Party Candidate and incumbent Amethyst Star."

Breaking News wanted to be the first to question her and see if things truly were going as well as she makes them out to be. "Amethyst" he questioned, "many ponies think that things are going very well here in Ponyville but I'm sure that there are a few who question that. What is your response to that?"

Amethyst began, "Well I can assure everycreature that things are indeed going as well as they seem and yes, I do have the data to prove it."

Sunny said, "Go ahead."

Amethyst then began to set up her screen and then projected the data. "As you can see, in 2021 after the small stakes gambling took effect, the amount of revenue coming into the town coffers did go through a significant spike as this chart here shows. Along with that, more businesses moved in and more ponies moved in. Of course with that came in even more sales tax revenue."

She then went on to the next page and continued, "And as you can see that in 2022, the size of Ponyville had grown so much that we had to go from having one large school to three schools. At the time we did have proper funding to build them and the funds to hire two additional teachers but I then decided to hold a special election in that July, one that would allow for full scale casino gambling."

She got a smile on her face and continued, "As everycreature knows, that passed easily and almost immediately, we had more construction crews coming in to build those casinos which led to another spike in sales tax revenue." She then flipped on to the 2023 revenue and continued, "And as you can see in July when the first of the additional casinos opened, the spike was even bigger and by the end of 2023, we were bringing in well over five bits for every one bit we spent, that is over 500% and that is sending our surpluses higher and higher."

She then flipped to the first two months of 2024 and finished, "And as you can see, tax revenue has continued to increase as more creatures are moving into the city so I would say that we are doing very well."

There was one thing that Breaking News wanted to know and hoped that by exposing it, it may turn some ponies against her. He asked, "So do you have a list of business permits you have granted and who these companies are owned by?"

Amethyst replied, "Certainly."

Amethyst then projected the list of businesses that had relocated to Ponyville since 2020 and who they were owned by. While two were owned by other creatures and one was owned by a pegasus, the rest of them were owned by unicorns and not a single business owned by an earth pony was granted a permit and Breaking News was going to expose it.

"Amethyst," he asked "was this done on purpose? Did you give permits to the companies you did based on who owned them? Is there a reason why over 80% of the businesses you let in are owned by unicorns?"

Amethyst replied, "I am going to be honest here, I did not deny a single permit that was applied for. I figured that all of them would help make Ponyville even better and it is likely just random chance no earth pony businesses applied to come here." She paused for a moment and continued, "From what I understand, all the earth pony businesses are headed to Appaloosa and Dodge Junction, both of which are having their own growth spurts."

Sunny figured that enough was enough with Breaking News's constant questioning. She asked, "Amethyst, if you are re-elected, what sorts of plans do you have? Would you institute any further sales taxes, would you put a cap on how big the city can grow or is there anything else you would plan on?"

Amethyst replied, "Actually Sunny, I think things are going very well. We have more and more businesses coming in as the population increases. Because of that, sales tax revenue continues to increase and with more businesses, comes more business tax revenue. Yes we have the lowest business taxes in Equestria but once you get enough of them coming in, you can really rock and roll! Regarding putting a cap on city growth, that is a no-go. Other communities may go for that but as long as I'm mayor, there will be no cap on growth."

Sunny wanted to hit on one more thing before the debate. She asked, "Amethyst, it seems like one of your opponents supports what you have done but wants to turn Ponyville into a creditor city. What are your thoughts on that and if re-elected, would you do something similar?"

Amethyst was thrilled that she was asked about this because she believed she could drive Colgate into the ground with it and would turn nasty if she had to. She replied, "I will tell you exactly what I think of it. I think it is the most moronic and ridiculous idea I have ever heard of in my life. Who in their right mind would actually advocate using city funding to loan other communities money? If you ask me, I think Colgate just wants to find a way to stick it to other communities and make them owe us. Regarding whether I would do it, that is a hay no! No way would I ever do anything so stupid and foolish."

She then turned to Colgate and finished, "Colgate, The Royal Bank of Equestria exists for a reason. They are the ones who provide municipal loans. It is not the job of other communities to do that. It never has been and it never will be."

The crowd began to cheer wildly after Amethyst pretty much put Colgate in her place. As Amethyst was up there smiling, knowing she may have stole away any supporters of Colgate, Sunny too couldn't help but smile. She began to think to herself, "Amethyst is going to rout them in the primary! They may as well all drop out and just give the whole election to Amethyst!"

Post-Debate Discussions

After Amethyst finished her response, Sunny got a beep in her ear notifying her that their time was up. The cameras focused on her and she said, "Well our time is almost up." She turned to Breaking News and asked, "Breaking News, I know you're a whole lot more familiar with politics here than I am so who would you say won the debate tonight?"

This was something that Breaking News did not want to have to answer and wasn't sure if he could even give an objective answer, "Well I'm not even sure who won it.....you know what, forget it! I know you're going to go boasting about how great Amethyst is and I can't answer this! They're all racist unicorns and I hate unicorns, I absolutely despise them! In the end I know all of them would side with your precious Amethyst Star out of loyalty to their own kind no matter what they say." His scream became louder as he continued, "I wouldn't be one bit surprised that if Amethyst weren't married to Sea Swirl that you'd marry her! You unicorns are evil, pure evil!"

Breaking News then stormed away leaving Sunny alone. The first thing she said was, "Well that happened."

It was at that moment that the head anchor back in Manehattan, Hard News, came on the air and said, "Well I suppose it is just us now. Who do you think won the debate Sunny?"

Sunny replied, "I think Amethyst Star won this one easily." Given that she was alone she knew that she would have more time to go in depth. "I will say this, I don't think Trixie even knows what a mayor does and she lacks any kind of cognitive ability to even hold the office of dog catcher, much less mayor. I think Rarity is stuck in the past and only ran because a traditionalist friend of hers convinced her to."

Hard News asked, "And what of Colgate and Amethyst?"

"Colgate," Sunny replied "would be far too reckless to be the mayor of any community. I think all she was trying to do was be an edgier version of Amethyst with the whole creditor community idea. I think that sank any chances of her winning and that racist comment against the earth ponies likely only hurt her further. When it comes to Amethyst, this could be the biggest rout in the history of primary elections. I could see her opponents dropping out and then she'd automatically win come November!"

Hard News knew how much Sunny Flames adored Amethyst and replied, "That could very well happen." The cameras then went black in Ponyville and Hard News finished, "And that is the Ponyville debate everypony. Stay tuned because up next is the Las Pegasus debate and then the Vanhoover debate."

Once she knew the cameras were off, she headed over to her camera crew and exclaimed, "Did you see that guys? Did you see how Amethyst completely destroyed her opponents?" She became more giddy as she continued, "Oh I can't wait until the election! I bet she gets well over 90% of the vote, who knows, maybe she'll get every single vote except from those of her opponents!"

Her head camera man laughed, "And we all remember how you were when she hugged you that first time. Now here you are thinking she basically walks on rainbows!"

Sunny chuckled, "Well to me she does walk on rainbows, all her ideas are perfect so she has this in the bag!"

While her camera crew continued to take everything down, she headed back to the hotel. She honestly thought about calling Amethyst to congratulate her and tell her how proud she was of her, she remembered Breaking News saying something about Amethyst being married to Sea Swirl. She sighed, "Well maybe I better not. I can tell her how proud I am of her during the summer interview."

Primary Election Day

A month had passed and unlike it had been in past election cycles, some of the candidates had actually ran attack ads against one another. While Trixie and Rarity had kept things quiet, Colgate had ran very nasty attack ads against Amethyst and her stance against being a creditor city while Amethyst ran ads criticizing Colgate and labeling her a loose cannon and a racist who would destroy the town.

When election day arrived, Sunny Flames and the ENC crew were out getting set up to cover the event. Sunny was in a state of shock when she how many creatures were out to vote. It appeared as though there were hundreds of creatures out waiting to vote. She couldn't help but wonder if there weren't perhaps over a thousand registered voters given how much Ponyville had grown in the past four years.

Once the crew was ready, she got a beep in her ear piece and went live, "Good morning Equestria, this is Sunny Flames and today I am covering the election in Ponyville. This is the third straight election where it is unorthodox here. This time, in what was once an earth pony community, there are four unicorns running."

Hard News, the head anchor back in Manehattan asked, "Have there been any ponies complaining about it? I ask this because just eight years ago the thoughts of one unicorn running was absurd."

Sunny replied, "Well Ponyville's demographics have changed significantly since then. From what I understand, over sixty-five percent of the population here are unicorns now." She then saw one of the candidates leaving the polling place, Amethyst. She approached her and asked, "Amethyst, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Amethyst replied, "I have a feeling I know what this is about and like always, I'm not going to go making any predictions!"

Right behind Amethyst though was Sea Swirl and she gave her two cents, "Oh don't be so modest Amethyst! You know you're going to kick their asses all the way to Saddle Arabia! You know you've got this in the bag!"

Amethyst gasped, "Sweetie, not on live TV!"

Sunny couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah Amethyst, don't be so modest." She remembered hearing about Amethyst being married to a pony named Sea Swirl and given her cutie mark, she figured that had to be her. She continued, "Just listen to your wife and bask in the spotlight!"

Amethyst replied, "No can do Ms. Flames. I have always thought it is bad karma and I always will." She looked back towards Sea Swirl and continued, "Well honey, think we should get to work?"

Sea Swirl replied, "Yeah we better."

After they headed off to work Hard News commented, "It isn't often you see a candidate and her spouse actually use terms like that on live TV."

Sunny replied, "You don't but I think it will make her look more like a pony anypony can relate with. I think this will help her significantly."

Sunny then saw another candidate leaving the polling station, a blue unicorn. She approached her and asked, "Dr. Colgate, how do you think you're going to do today?"

Colgate was in a less than pleasant mood because not only was she already late getting her practice open but she knew that the famous news personality favored Amethyst. She decided to humor her though, "Sure but make it quick. I'm late for work."

Sunny asked, "So how do you think you did today?"

Colgate replied, "I'm not going to guarantee a victory but I will guarantee that I finished in the top two and will advance to the general."

Sunny brought something up that she might hurt her, "Well you know you did anger a lot of ponies over your racist remark involving the earth ponies. Don't you think that will not only hurt you here but also hurt your practice?"

Colgate snapped, "I'll be fine and if you'll excuse me, I have to get to work."

Back in Manehattan Hard News sighed, "Wow, it sounds like she probably knows that she sank her chances of even advancing."

"Most likely." replied Sunny. She then began to look around and did not see any of the other candidates but did see one pony who was absent during the last cycle and approached her. "Princess Twilight," she asked "may I have a moment of your time please?"

Twilight, like some of her friends was not a fan of Sunny Flames or ENC in general but she decided to humor her. "Yeah sure."

Sunny asked, "Princess Twilight, who do you think won today and who do you think advanced?"

Twilight replied, "Well I'm pretty certain that Amethyst will gather the most votes but as far as who will finish second, I'm not sure. I am really hoping that it will be Rarity but given her traditionalist views and then Trixie's immaturity, I think that Colgate will finish second despite her being openly racist."

Sunny then decided to get Twilight's opinions on other things, "So Princess, what is your opinion on how things have changed over the years? What are your thoughts on how Amethyst has ran Ponyville?"

Twilight wasn't sure how to answer the question given that she was a princess. She did know that Princess Celestia adored Amethyst because of her debt eradication and fiscal responsibility. She replied, "Well she has done a lot of good things when it comes to the economy but I do kind of miss the tradition." She then turned towards the castle and continued, "I would say more but I really need to get going."

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

Back in Manehattan Hard News commented, "I know we're supposed to be fair and balanced but I have a feeling that Twilight probably doesn't like it."

"That or she feels that it would be a conflict of interest to state her true opinion." She then saw Rarity leaving the polling place and added, "Ok, another candidate has left the polling station." She approached Rarity and asked, "Rarity, can we have a moment of your time?"

Rarity replied, "Certainly darling."

Sunny asked, "I do have a question, who do you think will advance to the general election?"

Rarity wasn't even sure how to answer this. She knew that Amethyst had victory in the bag and that Trixie was a lost cause. She had a feeling that Colgate might advance but her racism would hurt her. After a good fifteen seconds of silence she replied, "Well I think I will advance because Trixie lacks the seriousness to be mayor and Colgate's openly racist nature will hurt her to the point that she may only get one vote." She looked off in the distance and continued, "I would talk more but I need to get to work."

"Alright Rarity, you have a good day." Sunny replied.

Hard News commented, "She may be right because not many creatures are going to vote for an openly racist candidate, not the earth ponies, not the pegasi, not the other creatures and I doubt even other unicorns would support an openly racist candidate."

Sunny replied, "Likely not." She then looked around and didn't see Trixie but did see a pony who had a lot of influence in the community, Filthy Rich, the president of The Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development. She asked, "Sir, may I have a moment of your time?"

Filthy was glad that she approached him because he figured that he could boast about Amethyst some and make her look good across Equestria. He replied, "Certainly."

Sunny asked, "So who do you think will advance today?"

Filthy began, "Well I along with the rest of us at The Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development believe that Amethyst will win and win big. She has done so much for this community, ponies are doing so much better, our tourism is through the roof and with festivals being privately funded, she even pumps some of her own money in for desserts. She is a true gem, I'll say that much."

Sunny was thrilled to see somepony showering Amethyst with that much praise. She asked, "Alright, but who do you think will finish and advance?"

Filthy laughed, "You know what, it doesn't even matter. Amethyst is going to win big and whoever it is, she will crush them in the general election. She is the only one worthy of votes and just about everycreature knows it. I see a rout today and an even bigger rout in November."

"Thank you for your input sir." replied Sunny.

Once Filthy headed off the other way, Hard News commented, "I have never seen a pony shower a candidate with so much praise before in my life. Her policies must have likely helped him out, a lot."

Sunny replied, "Well he is Filthy Rich, the head of The Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development and from what I've heard, she pretty much has them in her saddle bags." She then saw the last candidate leaving the polling place. She approached her and asked, "Trixie, can I have a moment of your time?"

Trixie was ecstatic that she was going to get interviewed and viewed it as her time to shine, "Of course you can! What do you want to ask The Great and Powerful Trixie?"

Sunny replied, "Trixie, who do you think won and who do you think will advance?"

Trixie enthusiastically replied, "Well naturally The Great and Powerful Trixie will advance, she'll probably get all the votes! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't care who else advances because they can't beat Trixie. Trixie will humiliate them come November."

Trixie then threw down some smoke balls and continued, "What else do you want to ask The Great and Powerful Trixie?"

Sunny couldn't help but laugh, "Oh I think that will be enough."

Trixie boasted, "Well then, be sure to interview Trixie tonight when she wins big!"

Trixie took off in the other direction and back in Manehattan, Hard News couldn't help but laugh, "I know this probably won't look good for the network but she is so full of herself that she doesn't have a chance!"

Sunny agreed, "She doesn't. I don't know why she even ran."

The time had come for the network to switch to coverage in other communities, "Well we shall return to Ponyville tonight when the results are in. Up next, the market report and then coverage in Las Pegasus."

After the cameras went black, Sunny and her crew headed to the Sky Needle for some lunch and to watch election coverage in other communities. As Sunny watched, she noticed that the elections in other cities were going to be much closer. While normally she would prefer to cover close elections she thought to herself, "I'm so glad they sent me here again! I can't wait to congratulate Amethyst!"

Primary Rout

Many hours had passed and it was nearly nine in Ponyville, almost two hours after the polls had closed. Because of the huge growth over the past four years, counting all the ballots took far longer than it used to. While it was somewhat annoying to some locals and some up in Canterlot, namely Princess Celesta, who were waiting for the results the anchors with ENC were much less irritated than they were four years ago. They knew that Ponyville's results would take a lot longer to come back than it used to and in the case of Sunny Flames, it didn't bother her one bit.

When the results were just about ready to be reported, a notification was sent to ENC and the post-results coverage in Omareha were cut away from and went straight to Hard News. "Good evening Equestria, we hope you are enjoying all the election night coverage. The votes in Ponyville have been counted so now we send you out to Sunny Flames who is reporting."

Once the cameras were rolling, Hard News addressed her, "Sunny, from what we have heard, there were huge numbers of creatures going to the polls in Ponyville today? How do you think that affected the election?"

Sunny replied, "There were many creatures out voting and from what I have learned, there are over a thousand registered voters in Ponyville, more than three times as many from four years ago and given the makeup of the community, I do think it has likely aided Amethyst Star significantly."

"Why is it that you think it would help Amethyst so much?" Hard News asked.

Sunny replied, "Because it is Amethyst's policies that enabled them to move here, it is her policies that allowed their businesses to come here and her desire to continue to push the community forward will only make things better."

It was finally 9:20 when Hard News finally got the notification that the results were ready. He then read off the results, "In the Ponyville primary election, Amethyst Star received 1,013 votes, Colgate received 9 votes, Rarity received 5 votes and Trixie Lulamoon received 2 votes. Amethyst Star has easily won the Ponyville primary election."

Outside of the Sky Needle, the massive crowd went wild. Fireworks were being shot off and the crowd was so loud that the chants of "Amethyst, Amethyst, Amethyst!" were easily heard all the way across town. After reading the results Hard News continued, "And this shatters the old record for margin of victory, Amethyst Star received well over 98% of the vote."

Sunny chimed in, "I had a feeling that Amethyst would win big but even I never anticipated a rout this big."

Hard News then read an interesting fact, "Now in the past we would have announced who Amethyst would face off against in the general but under Equestrian election laws, no candidate that finishes with less than one percent of the vote can advance to the general so as of right now, Amethyst Star is the only pony in the November election."

Sunny was ecstatic upon hearing this, the very fact that Amethyst could very well be guaranteed victory. She commented, "That means that Amethyst is likely already the winner."

Hard News replied, "That is likely....." He then got a notification that Princess Celestia was on the phone to discuss the situation on the network. He continued, "Right now we have Princess Celestia on the phone to discuss this situation in Ponyville with the country."

He then began the conversation with the princess.

"Princess Celestia, it is very nice to have you with us tonight."

"It is a pleasure to speak to you."

"I am taking it that your address involves the results in Ponyville?"

"That is correct." *pauses for a minute* "Now as everypony knows, Amethyst Star finished with well over 98% of the vote and none of the other candidates even got 1% of the vote. Current election laws in Equestria are that no candidate that finishes with less than one percent of the vote can advance to the general. Because of that, Amethyst Star is the only pony on the ballot for the November election."

"Does that mean that Amethyst automatically wins and will get her third term?"

"Not necessarily. Election laws state that I must allow at least one candidate, one that was not in the primary who meets requirements, to file to run for mayor before August 1. If nocreature files by the end of July, Amethyst Star will be declared the winner by default. So if anycreature who meets the requirements to run for mayor of Ponyville wishes to file, do so before the deadline."

"Princess Celestia, how many candidates will be allowed to file without there having to be another primary?"

"This has never happened before and there is nothing in the current election laws that places a limit on the number of candidates so there is a chance there could be a fair amount of candidates running in the general."

"Alright Princess Celestia, thank you for clarifying not just us, but the whole country on the situation in Ponyville."

"The pleasure was all mine."

After the call with Celestia ended, coverage in Ponyville continued and a huge roar from the crowd was heard. Hard News heard this and asked, "Sunny, I am assuming that things at Amethyst's watch party are going quite well?"

Sunny replied, "Yes, things are going very well. During Celestia's address, everycreature began chanting 'three-peat, three-peat, three-peat' even though there is a chance that someone else or multiple others may travel to Canterlot and file."

Hard News commented, "I am assuming her supporters are thinking that given Amethyst's margin of victory here makes her invincible."

Sunny broke int a smile, "Yes, I am thinking that is the case."

Hard News then got a notification that results were ready to report elsewhere. "Well that is all the time we have for coverage in Ponyville as results are now in in Las Pegasus."

Once the cameras went black in Ponyville, Sunny wanted so badly to go and congratulate Amethyst over what was a historic victory and what could even be a victory. When she saw how embedded in the crowd Amethyst was, she decided against it. She said to herself, "I can congratulate her this summer when I interview her in her home. She'll be less distracted."

An Unlikely Filing

Convincing Twilight

A little over three months had passed and it was late July. There still had not been any ponies who went up to Canterlot to file for their candidacy and there were certain ponies who were contemplating doing so. In Twilight's castle, she and her friends were hanging out when it would be brought up. "Well it is only one week until Amethyst wins by default," Applejack sighed "I just wish somepony would go up and file so she doesn't automatically win."

Rainbow groaned, "Ugh, not this again! Look, Amethyst has done a great job and if you're expecting me to run again, I'm not doing it."

Everypony else seemed to be frustrated by Applejack bringing it up. She knew that Rarity couldn't run, she knew that Pinkie, Rainbow and herself had failed in the past. She then began to focus on the remaining ponies in the throne room. She first turned to Starlight and asked, "Ah know you said no before but please? Would you please try to help the traditionalist cause?"

Starlight replied, "No, I will not. Amethyst Star has turned Ponyville into an economic powerhouse that is now home to a very diverse population and if traditionalist policies are restored, you'll see an exodus from here. You'll see Ponyville's economy collapse and ponies will not be happy. I love how things have changed and I'm not going against what I support and I'm not going against prosperity."

Applejack sighed in frustration before turning to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, what about you? Would you be willing to run?"

The very thoughts of running sent Fluttershy into a panic, "No, I can't do that! What if everypony hated me? What if I panicked during the debate? No, no, no!"

Fluttershy then began to breathe heavily and Applejack knew that even running would be too much for Fluttershy to handle, much less running the town. She then turned to the one pony that might be able to actually win, Twilight. "Twilight?" Applejack asked, "What about you, I know I asked you before but I'll ask again, would you be willing to run?"

Twilight sighed, "Applejack, I don't know."

Applejack brought up Twilight's brief interview from election day, "But Twilight, everypony could tell, especially that reporter and anchor, that you miss the old ways! If you really want the old Ponyville back, you have to run!"

Twilight again sighed, "Applejack, I don't know if I even could. I'm a princess and that is likely a conflict of interest." Applejack gave Twilight a look of desperation which caused Twilight to cave in. "Alright, I'll go talk to Celestia and if it isn't a conflict of interest, I'll file, alright?"

"Thanks Twilight, I'll really owe you one." replied Applejack.

Twilight got up and headed for the exit so she could go to Canterlot. As she took flight, she couldn't help but wonder how she would be received by the electorate. She knew that Amethyst was popular beyond belief, perhaps even more than her and knew that advocating anything that would either hinder or reverse progress, that ponies would likely start to think negatively of her on a princess level. Despite all these concerns, she did miss the old Ponyville and decided she would file.

The Royal Candidate

When Twilight arrived in Canterlot, she headed immediately to the palace to talk to Celestia. When she got to the throne room she was greeted warmly, "Twilight, it is so nice to see you! What brings you by today?"

Twilight was nervous but knew that if she wanted old traditions back that it had to be done. She replied, "I know there isn't much time left to file but I'm wondering if it would be a conflict of interest for me to run for mayor in Ponyville."

Celestia was so shocked that she fired a beam of energy out of her horn before laughing, "Twilight, I could have sworn that you said you wanted to run for mayor of Ponyville!"

Twilight approached the throne more and repeated, "I did. If it is not a conflict of interest, I would like to run for mayor of Ponyville."

Celestia was not exactly thrilled that Twilight would ask and had a strong feeling as to why she wanted to do this. She asked, "Twilight, are you really wanting to run or are you doing this as a favor to Applejack?"

Twilight froze when Celestia asked this. She thought that the princess would simply have her fill out the paperwork and she would get on the ballot. Never once did she expect Celestia to question her motives. She replied, "Well Applejack did mention it and I'll admit, I do miss the old Ponyville. It seemed like such a happier, more close-knit place."

Celestia sighed, "Well there is nothing in election laws that would forbid it so I can't technically stop you from filing but you do know that if you do run, some ponies may think you'd use your powers as a princess to try and change things."

Twilight replied, "But Amethyst has used her mayoral powers to turn Ponyville into what it is. She used executive powers to make it a city, she killed all the traditions, she has turned it into a smaller Las Pegasus and she's in the process of making it like Manehattan too!"

Celestia looked deep into Twilight's eyes and continued, "Yes but you are a princess Twilight. Ponies may think you have a lot more power than you do and would blame the monarchy on anything you would do that hinders or reverses progress."

Twilight held her head low and sighed, "I take it you don't want me to run?"

Celestia replied, "No, I do not but I can not stop you. If you choose to run, do so at your own risk. I know some ponies will see it as a conflict of interest and you will have to be prepared to go up against Amethyst and her political savvy."

Hearing about Amethyst made Twilight completely sure, "Look, I know about Amethyst now could I please file? I want to bring back the Ponyville I first went to, the Ponyville I loved."

Celestia handed her the paperwork and sighed, "Ok, it is rather simple. Fill out the necessary information and if your political affiliation is not listed, check other and write it in."

Twilight could feel the anger coming from Celestia as she filled the paperwork out. When she got to the section about political affiliation, she had to think for a minute. She would be pushing a traditionalist platform but knew full well that she couldn't actually use the name because of how bad Applejack fared four years ago. When she finished she handed the paperwork back to Celestia.

Celestia was looking over the form and then replied, "Alright, you're on the ballot. Now I am certain that Sunny Flames will want to do a summer interview with you so your message can be spread across the country. Then in October you will have a head to head debate against Amethyst and then election day is in November."

When Celestia brought up Sunny Flames, Twilight cringed. She knew just as much as everypony else that Sunny absolutely adored Amethyst and felt that she always showed favoritism towards Amethyst in the last debate. She replied, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." She looked towards the exit and continued, "I can't wait to tell my friends! I know they'll be so happy!"

Once Twilight left, the very first thing Celestia did was call Amethyst to let her know about Twilight running before it showed up in the paper.

She picked up the phone and dialed Amethyst's number, hoping she would pick up quickly. After just one ring it was answered.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Amethyst, it is me Princess Celestia."

"Princess Celestia! It is so good to hear from you! So what do I owe to this call?"

"Princess Twilight decided she wanted to run for mayor so she could restore the old Ponyville. I think Applejack had a lot to do with it."

*gasps* "Wait a minute, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?"

"Unfortunately no. Only princesses that have actual political power are forbidden. Twilight doesn't have any actual power so she can run."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that some ponies may not know that and will question whether she can do this or not."

"In the report in the paper, I will state that it isn't a conflict of interest but the very fact that she is a princess may cause some ponies concern."

*snickers* "And I already have a plan! I am very well liked down here and I am quite certain that I could exploit that to my advantage. I could easily make them think she could use executive powers to force all the newcomers out, to close the casinos, to restore property taxes and to set us back to a time of high taxes and high deficits."

*giggles* "That's my girl! I know you've still got this Amethyst! Twilight may be a popular pony but ponies aren't going to go against prosperity!"

"No they won't. Thank you for warning me about this Princess Celestia."

"No problem but I better get going before somepony catches me warning you. We don't want a scandal erupting."

"No we don't. Talk to you later Princess!"

"Talk to you later Amethyst."

*CLICK*

As Amethyst was hanging up the receiver, Sea Swirl got curious about who she was talking to. "Sweetie, who was that?"

Amethyst replied, "It was Princess Celestia." *sighs* "It looks like I will have an opponent after all."

Sea Swirl asked, "Who is this opponent?"

"Princess Twilight," Amethyst replied "apparently Applejack talked to her and convinced her to run but I'm not worried. Princess Celestia and I were talking and I already know how I can handle this. It may not be a conflict of interest for her to run but I can use her royal title against her."

Sea Swirl snickered, "You're planning on making the city think she has powers that she does, right?"

"Yes, I am." replied Amethyst. "My past opponents had their weak spots. Miss Mare had her deficits, Iron Will had him wanting to shoot his own business in the hoof and Twilight's royal status will be easy for me to pick apart."

Unlike what she would have done in the prior election cycles, Sea Swirl was very supportive, "Well you're good at exposing weaknesses and with Twilight, it is going to be easy, beyond easy!"

"It will be." Amethyst replied, "It certainly will be."

When Twilight returned to Ponyville the very first place she headed was to Sweet Apple Acres. She knew that Starlight and Rainbow Dash would not support her in the slightest but Applejack would be thrilled. She saw that Applejack was out applebucking so she approached her and yelled, "Hey Applejack!"

Applejack approached her and replied, "Hey Twilight, I take it you have good news?"

Twilight said, "Yes, I do. Princess Celestia wasn't thrilled but I was able to run. I told her I missed the old Ponyville and I wanted to restore it."

"Well Ah'm glad Twilight but why wouldn't Celestia be happy?" Applejack asked. "Ah thought she'd love to see the pony who was her protege run."

Twilight began to go on a rant, "Well here is why I don't think she was happy. Amethyst Star has eradicated all debt, Ponyville no longer has to beg her for money, Ponyville has become a city and for some reason, she thinks Ponyville losing its small town charm is a good thing." She became more agitated as she continued, "I don't think Celestia cares about tradition! It seems like all she cares about is communities with money! I can't help but wonder if Celestia doesn't favor Amethyst over everypony else!"

Applejack put her hoof around Twilight and replied, "Twilight, calm down. You just need to come up with a plan. If you can convince everypony that you'll run the town better, you'll win."

Twilight said, "You're right Applejack but for now, I think I'm going to go home and start making a plan." She began to leave and added, "Well I'll see you later."

"See you later Twilight."

As Twilight headed back towards the castle, she couldn't help but be nervous. She knew that Starlight would likely question her over things and given her love of everything Amethyst had done, she knew that her student probably wouldn't vote for her. She also knew that Rainbow's chance of voting for her was zero because Dash has repeatedly said that Ponyville is cooler now. She sighed, "I won't have their support but I have to win over the town and I have to find flaws in what Amethyst has done."

Interview Scheduling

It was early August and in Manehattan, Sunny Flames was in her office making appointments with mayoral candidates across the country to interview them. Even though a lot of the candidates seemed lackluster to her and she wasn't thrilled to have to go and interview them, it was something ENC had been doing since its founding in 1996.

Finally when Sunny got to getting ready to call Amethyst Star, she became a bit more enthusiastic. While Amethyst was not very friendly when she scheduled her appointment four years ago, she hoped that she would be friendlier. She picked up the phone and said, "Well, let's hope she is friendlier this time."

Scheduling Amethyst's Interview

It was early in the afternoon in Ponyville. That afternoon Amethyst had received an application for a permit for a night club to go into Ponyville. As she was looking over the application, she noticed that it was UniClub that was applying for it. She knew that it was a sister company to UniSleep Inns and Suites and was owned by unicorns. Without paying much more attention to it, she automatically approved it. She said to herself, "Sweet, another business owned by unicorns wants to come in!"

Less than a minute after approving it, she got a phone call,

"Mayor's office, this is Amethyst Star speaking."

"Hi Amethyst, this is Sunny Flames and I'm wondering when you'd want to do your interview?"

*chuckles* "I was wondering when you were going to call to do this!"

"Well I was thinking maybe we could do it not this Saturday but the following Saturday. Given that the mayoral ticket there wasn't complete until the very end of July, I wanted to give you and your opponent more time to get ready."

"Yeah, next Saturday sounds good. Sea Swirl and I have plans for this weekend but next weekend is good."

"Alright, so what time would be good?"

"How about three? That way my wife and I can get lunch ate and I will have time to get everything set up."

*chuckles* "Always the one to be prepared I see."

*chuckles back* "You know it! Now I probably better get going. I have to get a letter sent off to UniClub letting them know I'm approving their application for a permit here."

"Another unicorn owned business coming in?"

"Yep, I'll tell you more when you come to visit."

"Alright, talk to you then Amethyst."

"See you then Sunny, bye."

*CLICK*

After hanging up, Amethyst was more than ready to do her interview. One thing she couldn't wait to tell Sunny was that she had approved several more business permits, permits for businesses owned by unicorns. She snickered, "She is going to be thrilled, as will all the other unicorns! Give it time and we'll have a 70% unicorn population here!"

Scheduling Twilight's Interview

After scheduling Amethyst's interview, Sunny readied herself to call Twilight. She had a sense of nervousness as she prepared to call her. Given that Twilight was royalty, she wondered if she was going to have to be transferred multiple times just to be able to talk to her. As she dialed the number she sighed, "Well here we go."

It was in the afternoon when the phone rang in Twilight's castle. The phone rang several times before it was finally picked up,

"Hello, who is this?"

"Is this Princess Twilight?"

"Yes, but who are you?"

"I'm Sunny Flames from ENC and I'm calling to schedule an interview with you. I have already scheduled an interview with your opponent for next Saturday afternoon and I'm wondering if that day would be good for you?"

*sighs* "Not really but I guess it is going to have to be, isn't it? So what time is Amethyst's appointment?"

"It is at three in the afternoon. I am wondering if it would be ok if I came over right after I'm done with her."

*sighs in frustration* "Yes, I'll have to clear out my schedule because I did have plans with my friends."

"Alright, that sounds like a plan. I'll come over to do your interview after I'm done with Amethyst."

*Fine.*

*CLICK*

Twilight sighed in frustration after she hung up the phone. She was not thrilled that Sunny didn't even seem to care that she had plans with her friends. She couldn't help but wonder why she couldn't just do it on the Sunday after but then it crossed her mind, "She is letting Amethyst dictate all of this! It is all about Amethyst all the time with just about everypony, especially that Sunny Flames!" She then let out a yell, "Ugh, why can't they just do a phone interview with me or something? Why can't they realize I'm not available all the time!"

Amethyst's Interview

Author's Note

Given that this is an interview, it will mostly be in back and forth dialogue format.

Amethyst's Interview

Interview Preparations

The following Saturday arrived and Amethyst and Sea Swirl were both getting their house ready for Sunny's arrival. Amethyst noticed her working hard on getting things clean and said, "You know, you don't have to help me get all this cleaned."

Sea Swirl replied, "Well I just want things to be perfect." She looked into the living room and continued, "How about you get your screen set up and go through all the papers you think you'll need for when she interviews us."

Amethyst didn't think much about how her wife had said "us." She figured that unlike it was in the past, that Sea Swirl was likely going to remain home. She had a feeling that Sea Swirl thought that maybe Sunny had a crush on her and was going to make sure that Sunny did not try anything.

After they ate lunch, the two prepared for Sunny's arrival. While Amethyst was calm and collected, Sea Swirl wasn't so much. She asked, "Amethyst, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can sweetie," replied Amethyst "you can ask me anything."

"I don't mean to sound paranoid or anything but just from the way she acted when she talked to you after we voted on primary day, do you think Sunny Flames has a crush on you?" asked Sea Swirl.

"A crush?" questioned Amethyst.

"Yes, a crush." Sea Swirl replied, "She just seemed different. It seems like she absolutely adores you."

"Well I'm not going to worry about it and besides, we're married now and I'd love it if you'd stay here during the interview."

"I was hoping you'd say that!" exclaimed Sea Swirl, "Besides, I think with us being married now it would send a much better message to the voters if we were seen together, at least at the very beginning."

"That is very true." Amethyst agreed, "Other mayors who are married across the country are often with their spouse for a small while in their interviews so why not us?"

Sea Swirl said, "Don't worry though, when you're getting down to business, I'll let you be the one the cameras focus on."

"Thanks, that would be much appreciated."

Unlike it had been in 2016 and 2020, Amethyst felt much more supported as unlike then, Sea Swirl wanted to actively be a big part of her political ambitions. As she began going through the recent business permit applications, she not only felt happy that her wife was firmly with her, but that the applications were going to help her push the town even further in the direction she wanted.

The Interview

Sunny Flames and her crew had arrived in Ponyville earlier in the morning and when the time came to go interview Amethyst, she couldn't help but be happy. As she looked around, things appeared to be progressing even further than they were in the spring. More modern brick houses were going up in town, what appeared to be a new restaurant was going up, one with a unicorn statue by the doorway. She thought to herself, "Oh yeah, another unicorn owned business!"

It was five minutes before three when Sunny and her crew arrived at Amethyst's house. Unlike the place she lived in four years ago, it was a fully modern house and Sunny could hardly wait to see what it was like on the inside. When she knocked on the door, her wait to enter was short. Sea Swirl answered the door and said, "Sunny Flames, it is good to see you."

"You as well." replied Sunny.

When Sunny headed into the front room, she was not one bit surprised. There was Amethyst with a screen set up and a stack of papers, showing that she was fully prepared. She approached her and greeted, "Amethyst Star, how is Equestria's best mayor doing?"

"Quite well thank you." replied Amethyst.

Sunny asked, "So what do you think about Princess Twilight being your opponent? Are you nervous?"

Amethyst replied, "Hardly. I already have plans on how I can turn this town against her."

"Good. Now shall we get started?" Sunny asked.

"Certainly, let's shall." replied Amethyst.

The cameras began rolling and first focused on Sunny. "Good evening Equestria and welcome to Politics Equestria." The cameras then shifted to where they were showing the three sitting across from one another. Sunny continued, "And this evening I am interviewing Reform Party Candidate and incumbent mayor of Ponyville, Amethyst Star along with her wife, Sea Swirl." After introducing them she first brought up them being together, "Before we get started, has anypony brought up the fact that you are in a same sex marriage? How has it been received?"

Sea Swirl replied first, "Well nocreature has even brought it up. To the creatures here, it is a non-factor."

Amethyst added, "What matters to the residents here is how I am handling the town and how that is impacting their lives. Things such as a same sex marriage may be an issue in other communities but Ponyville has progressed enough that such things aren't even thought about as important."

"Alright," began Sunny "during the spring debate you provided proof that your policies have caused the town to grow further and has resulted in the construction of two additional schools. During the debate, you brought up that was made possible by full scale casino gambling. How was that received?"

Amethyst replied, "Back in 2022 when I held the special election, over 90% of the population voted for it so outside of a few hard line traditionalists, it has been met very well."

Sunny asked, "I noticed multiple things that are different from 2020. One thing I noticed is that Ponyville has streets that resemble those in Manehattan. That is a vast change from the Ponyville of old. How did the ponies react to the construction of those?"

"Like it was with the passing of full scale casino gambling, it was met very well. It certainly made life easier for the taxi company that moved in earlier this year. Now the taxis can move at the same speed they are back in the bigger cities. The best thing, rain storms no longer create mud that slows them down."

"Alright, now in the spring debate you showed proof that money flowing into the town coffers was continuing to increase. Would you say that more revenue is being generated now."

"Certainly." Amethyst replied. She found the papers that showed the increase in tax revenue. She projected it and continued, "Beginning in late April, construction on a new restaurant began and that of course brought in more workers and thus, more ponies spending money and thus, more sales tax revenue was generated."

"I noticed the restaurant in construction when I got in town. Are there any other construction projects that will be starting soon?"

"There will be. Recently I granted approval for a night club to be built, a large grocery store to come in and also I granted approval for a metal works factory to be built on the northeast end of town, not too far away from the Everfree Forest."

"About these, could you provide some information on these businesses?"

The camera then turned its focus to the screen before Amethyst continued, "Certainly." Amethyst projected the approved permit application for the night club first, "As you can see, the night club that will be coming in is owned by UniClub, which is owned by the parent company of UniBiz."

Sunny asked, "Alright, now are there any others?"

Amethyst moved on to the next application. She pointed to it and continued, "And the second one is for a UniGrocers supermarket. Yes for as long as we can remember all the food here was sold by local vendors in a market but because of the increasing demand for food and food items that other creatures want, a grocery store that will supply all kinds of food. It will supply meat products for the griffons and ponies, such as myself, who do like meat, produce, bread products and so ponies no longer have to travel to Canterlot to get their medications, it will include a pharmacy."

Sunny replied, "It sounds like this grocery store will make life much easier for ponies. Now for the metal works factory you brought up."

Amethyst went on to the next permit and continued, "And this one for the metal works company is for a factory that will produce things like iron horseshoes, steel beams since more and more buildings across the country, especially ones here, are being steel reinforced. Metal is fast becoming a larger part of Equestrian life and this factory will help meet demand."

Sunny asked, "I see that the factory will be owned by UniFactories. Is it also under the parent company of UniBiz?"

Amethyst replied, "Yes. With as successful as the hotel and casino have been and they have gotten nice returns from their investment in the Sky Needle, UniBiz is primarily focusing on Ponyville. They have even rented out the whole top floor of the new office building because they are moving their corporate headquarters to Ponyville."

Sunny asked, "Do you have any concerns that some ponies may feel that UniBiz is going to wind up over running Ponyville to the point where it will own all the businesses here?"

"No I don't," Amethyst replied, "There are still plenty of locally ran outfits. The bowling alley is still locally owned, Barnyard Bargains is still locally owned, the spa is still locally owned and I'll see to it that it stays that way."

"Amethyst," Sunny asked "so if you are re-elected, what sort of plans would you put in place? Would you ever consider bringing back some traditions, traditions such as having normal winters and having Winter Wrap Up again since the traditionalists are calling for its return?"

"No way in Tartarus." Amethyst replied, "The moment I brought in the mages to handle things, the economy started to boom and as long as I'm mayor, no antiquated tradition will be restored. Not only would that harm the economy overall, it would put many creatures working here out of work for three months of the year and a majority of the city has no desire to have to deal with such backwards things."

Sunny asked, "What other plans would you have if you were re-elected? What could the city expect you to do?"

Amethyst replied, "Well my primary plan is to keep things going the way they are. With the continued growth and increases in spending, I doubt we'll have to worry about increasing sales taxes. Business taxes will remain the same, our 7.5% tax on winnings over 1,000 bits at the casinos will remain and naturally, the absence of a municipal property tax will remain."

"That sounds all good Amethyst. Well Equestria, our time here is almost up so Amethyst, is there anything else you would like to say to the voters to persuade them to vote for you?"

"Yes, there is." Amethyst replied, "If you want to keep things prosperous, if you want to continue to see everypony have what they need and you don't want to see the city's economy crash and burn, vote for me on November 5th."

"Well that was Amethyst Star, incumbent and Reform Party candidate sharing her views and providing everypony with the information they need to know for the election. Up next, I will be interviewing her opponent, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Once the cameras went black, Sea Swirl was the first to say anything, "Congratulations honey, you did well! I know you'll keep them on your side with that."

Amethyst replied, "Thanks sweetie, I certainly hope so."

Sunny Flames wanted to ask something off the record, something that she knew that the traditionalists had been thinking, "Amethyst, I couldn't help but notice that all the business that are coming in are owned by unicorns. Are you trying to make sure that the old traditions never return?"

Before Amethyst could reply Sea Swirl loudly exclaimed, "Of course she is and I couldn't be happier! All those old traditions were idiotic and hopefully if we can get enough rational thinking unicorns in town, they'll never return."

Amethyst couldn't help but chuckle, "You know sweetie, you have changed so much in the past four years! Back in 2020 you would have said that was a bad thing!"

Sea Swirl returned the chuckle, "Well times change and compared to 2016, Ponyville is so much more prosperous. Everypony is doing so much better off, even those farmers who threw such a fit over you providing them with an extra harvest."

Sunny cut in, "Well ladies it has been nice but I had best get going. I still need to interview Twilight and when I scheduled her interview, she seemed less than friendly."

"Well good luck dealing with her." Sea Swirl laughed.

Amethyst added, "Don't be surprised if she doesn't have that dragon of hers taking notes. I could see her doing something to use it against you and the network given how close to the traditionalists she is."

"I'll keep that in mind!" replied Sunny.

Once Sunny and her crew left Amethyst's house, Sunny was rather happy. She knew that if Amethyst had her way, that this would be the year that old traditions would be gone for good. As she headed towards Twilight's castle, she sighed, "Well here we go, time to interview somepony who misses some traditions."

Twilight's Interview

After what she viewed as a successful interview with Amethyst, Sunny headed towards the castle. While many ponies would be thrilled to be able to interview Princess Twilight, Sunny felt a sense of dread. She knew about how close Twilight was to the ultimate traditionalist, Applejack. She began to wonder if she should question her about why she was running. She thought to herself, "Asking this in her castle may be a mistake but this city has to know. They have to know what her real plans are."

When she arrived at the castle she knocked on the door. Almost immediately she was greeted by Twilight, "Sunny Flames I take it."

"Yes, I'm Sunny Flames." Sunny replied.

Twilight motioned for her to go in before yelling, "Spike, it's time for the interview."

Twilight led Sunny and the camera crew into the throne room to find Spike there, waiting with a notebook and quill. Sunny wasn't the least bit surprised. She knew that when Amethyst brought up what might happen, that it likely would.

While the crew was setting up, Sunny wanted to at least make some sort of conversation, "Princess Twilight, how is your day treating you?"

While Twilight would normally speak freely with most reporters and news personalities, she didn't feel so comfortable doing so with the famous news personality from back east. She sighed, "Oh I'm doing alright. Nothing special has been going on."

Sunny could tell that Twilight wasn't exactly in the mood to talk, which was something that kind of surprised her given Twilight's role in Equestria. Once the camera crew got set up Sunny asked, "Well princess, are you ready to do this?"

Twilight replied, "Yes, lets get this over with."

The camera started rolling and Sunny began, "Good evening Equestria. I am Sunny Flames and welcome to Politics Equestria. Tonight I am interviewing Princess Twilight Sparkle from her home in the friendship castle." The camera then went to where it was showing them sitting across from one another. Sunny continued, "Princess Twilight, many ponies are likely curious as to why you decided to run when Amethyst has brought about so much prosperity."

Twilight replied, "Well, here is the thing. Many ponies may be doing well off but when I first came here, Ponyville was a small community full of traditions that brought the whole town together. Those were things that I always enjoyed and even after I got my wings and my castle, nothing seemed to change. "

"Alright," Sunny asked, "I understand how things used to be but why are you going up against a popular incumbent? Why are you going up against a pony whose economic policies have benefited everycreature?"

Twilight sighed, "Well a large part of it is because I know plenty of ponies who miss the old traditions. I know plenty who miss publicly funded festivals, traditions like Winter Wrap Up, the small town charm, everypony knowing one another and the quiet nights. Once Ponyville got casino gambling, there began to be ponies out at all hours of the night and that new end of town feels a lot like Las Pegasus, that place never sleeps."

Sunny asked, "So I'm taking it that if you are elected you'd want to shut them down? I take it you'd want to put so many creatures out of work?"

Twilight knew exactly what Sunny was up to. She knew that she was going to try to trick her into losing a huge part of the electorate and provide Amethyst with plenty to work with in the debate. She replied, "I never said I wanted to shut those places down. I do think that perhaps forcing them to close at ten every night might be a good idea. That way they can still have their casinos and Ponyville won't wind up exactly like Las Pegasus."

Sunny asked, "You have brought up how you know plenty who miss the old traditions. If that is the case, then why did Amethyst, a pony who got rid of so many traditions, get over 98% of the vote in the primary?"

Twilight knew that again Sunny was trying to get her into a situation that would sink her. She replied, "Well I think it was in large part due to her opponents. Trixie Lulamoon lacked the seriousness to gain any votes beyond hers and that of her best friend. Rarity, while she is a friend of mine, I think ponies didn't think that she truly had the know how to be mayor. When it came to Colgate, she was basically an Amethyst who wanted to be reckless with the town funds and the fact that she is openly racist didn't help her any either."

"I see," Sunny continued "but still, going up against somepony that popular is going to be an uphill climb. What are your plans if you were to win this election? What would you do as mayor?"

Twilight began, "Now I'm sure Amethyst, Sea Swirl, The Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development and the hotels will try to scare everypony into thinking that the return of traditions would kill the town's economy but it won't. One thing I would want to do is scrap these mages and return things to how they used to be."

"I see." said Sunny.

Twilight continued, "I would see to it that things such as The Running of the Leaves, creating winter and Winter Wrap Up are restored. I would also return the Nightmare Night Festival to being what it used to be, a community funded festival instead of some emotionless event funded by private donors."

"Princess Twilight," Sunny asked "during the last election Iron Will brought up similar things and everycreature knows that if you make the weather cold here for three months out of the year, that will wipe out three months of tourism and thus, leave all the creatures' jobs who are tied into tourism without a paycheck for three months. How are they supposed to make a living with no paycheck coming in?"

Twilight knew that Sunny was again trying to get her to slip up but took it in stride, "Well given how much Ponyville has grown, I think that we would have enough in the way of tourists coming in regardless of the weather. That argument may have worked four years ago before our town had grown too big but now, I don't think bringing back the long held, beloved traditions would hurt anything."

"Twilight," Sunny asked "as you know a huge portion of the population of Ponyville are newcomers. The percentage of the city's population that has been here since before Amethyst took over is quite small. Even out of those, a fair amount of them were thrilled when Amethyst scrapped those costly, antiquated events. Why do you think that all these creatures would want to have to change seasons the old fashioned way?"

While Twilight had done plenty of preparing, this is something that she was not prepared for, it was something she never even thought of. "Well they might want to embrace old traditions. They might think it would be doing Ponyville a great service by taking part in such wonderful traditions."

At that point Sunny decided to try and expose Twilight given that she is not a Ponyville native, "I'm curious princess, before you moved to Ponyville, what were your opinions on changing seasons the old fashioned way? When you were still up in Canterlot and you knew communities did that way, what was your thought on that?"

At that point Twilight knew that Sunny and likely ENC in general was going to do everything they could to sink her. Despite that though, she figured that she would be truthful, "I'm going to admit, before I came to Ponyville, I thought of such things as ridiculous and wondered why they didn't just use magic to change the seasons like they do in Canterlot."

Sunny asked, "What was it that caused you to change your views on it and why do you think that creatures who actually work for a living, creatures who own businesses and creatures who never even heard of this event would want to take part in something that involves heavy manual labor."

What Sunny said hit Twilight wrong. Twilight had been doing a good job of holding it in but this time she just couldn't. She snapped, "What, you're bringing up creatures who have jobs because apparently I didn't do anything?" Twilight then calmed down and realized her mistake. She continued, "I'm sorry Sunny but just because I didn't have a job didn't mean I didn't have any responsibilities."

Sunny asked, "Ok but could you answer the question please? I'm certain the voters will be curious."

Twilight sighed, "I changed my views because I began to understand friendship and how important events that bring ponies together are. Regarding the newcomers and business owners, like I said before. They might know about Ponyville's past and want to embrace old traditions."

Sunny asked, "Princess Twilight, what are your views on economic issues? What are your views on things such as taxes, public funding and city growth, things involving what businesses to allow in and any kind of cap on growth."

Twilight had more traditional views on such things but she knew she couldn't just come out and state her true thoughts if she wanted to win. "Well when it comes to taxes, I think things are fine the way they are. I know everypony celebrated the eradication of the municipal property tax and that is one thing that I would never restore."

"And what about city growth and businesses?" asked Sunny.

Twilight knew that this was going to be a tough one to answer but with this, she couldn't lie, "Well I do think that any healthy community should have a cap on growth. I personally think that Ponyville has expanded far enough to the north. If it goes much further, they will have to start clearing part of the Everfree Forest or the Apple Family will have to sell their farm out to private corporations because of pressure from Amethyst."

"And what of the businesses?" asked Sunny.

Twilight replied, "Well I have noticed something about the businesses Amethyst allows in. Here lately, every single one of them has been owned by unicorns and because of Ponyville's extremely low unemployment rate, they have to bring their own employees in, who all happen to be unicorns. I don't know if Amethyst is enticing them with special favors or it is completely coincidental but I would reach out to earth pony and pegasus owned businesses and entice them to come here."

This really piqued Sunny's interest, "You say you would entice companies owned by earth ponies and pegasi to come here. How exactly would you entice them? Would this involve giving them city money or something else that would give them an advantage over businesses owned by unicorns and other creatures?"

Twilight again froze. She realized that she had brought up something that she never should have. She sat there flustered and rather than snapping Twilight back to reality, Sunny just let her sit there in silence. After a full minute Twilight finally came to. She shook her head and asked, "What was that again?"

Rather than Sunny responding, it would be Spike, "She asked about what advantages you'd give earth pony and pegasus owned businesses to come here."

Twilight replied, "Thanks Spike." She then turned to Sunny and continued, "Well I would give them an exemption when it comes to their business taxes. I think what Amethyst is trying to do is increase the unicorn population to the point where she will always win and tradition will never return." Twilight again began to become agitated, "I think she won't rest until Ponyville is populated solely by unicorns, all the farms become factory farms and Ponyville is the biggest city in Equestria. I don't want to see that happen."

Sunny felt as though she had got enough out of Twilight so she began to finish, "Well everycreature, we are about out of time but I would like to thank Princess Twilight for so generously offering some of her time."

Twilight sighed, "The pleasure was all mine."

Sunny sighed off, "Thank you for watching tonight Equestria. Up next is Global News, good night everycreature!"

Once the cameras stopped rolling Twilight had a scowl on her face. She knew that Sunny had one mission on this interview, to sink her chances of winning. She wanted nothing more than to go off on Sunny but then began to think to herself, "Be the bigger pony, be the bigger pony, be the bigger pony." She then approached Sunny and asked, "So when will this be aired?"

Sunny replied, "Well tomorrow I have to do interviews in Vanhoover, on Monday I have to do interviews in Las Pegasus and then I'll get back to Manehattan where I'll have to get all this ready to air. I would say next Friday evening when we'll do a marathon airing of all these interviews."

Twilight replied, "Alright, I'll be sure to watch."

Once Sunny's crew got everything taken down, she wanted to get away from Twilight as soon as possible so without even saying goodbye she ordered, "Alright guys, we need to get to Vanhoover. Let's get going."

Twilight's Reaction

Sunny and her crew left and Twilight was furious. With Sunny being gone she screamed, "I should have known! I should have known that she would do anything and everything to sink my campaign! I know she just loves Amethyst but I never thought she would stoop that low and to make matters worse, everypony in Equestria is going to see this. Not only will it turn some voters against me, it will make me look like a bad princess!"

Spike tried to comfort her, "Twilight, I'm sure everypony will see that she was treating you bad and maybe it will turn them against her and ENC. Ponies know how you are, ponies know that only extreme stress would cause you to behave like that."

Twilight sighed, "I certainly hope so. I don't want to look like a bad princess." She then began Twilighting, "What if Princess Celestia contacts me? What if she orders me to drop out? What if she was to come out and formally endorse Amethyst?"

Spike again tried to comfort her, "Twilight, calm down. Nopony is going to think any less of you and Princess Celestia would never go out and endorse a candidate for any office! That would be a conflict of interest if she did."

Twilight sighed, "I hope not."

While Twilight wanted so badly to tell her friends about this, she knew there were certain ones she couldn't. She knew that Rainbow and Starlight were firmly behind Amethyst and would be happy over it and she knew that Applejack would be angry over her reaction. All she could do was hope that they wouldn't react too badly when it was aired.

A Summons from Celestia

The morning after the interviews aired on ENC arrived and Twilight woke up in a foul mood. She had watched both Amethyst's interview and the one of her own. She felt as though Sunny was asking Amethyst easy questions and never once put her on the spot while she had her on the hot seat throughout the whole interview.

When she got up she groaned, "Ugh, curse that Sunny Flames. She made things so easy for Amethyst....."

Spike then came running into her chambers holding a scroll, "Twilight, you got a message from Princess Celestia."

Twilight took the scroll and began to read it.

"Dear Princess Twilight,

I really need to speak to you regarding your interview last night. I am not going to share much but could you come up here alone? I really don't want anypony else listening on this."

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia"

Twilight threw her hooves up in the air and began to panic, "Spike, she wants to talk to me alone. What if she forces me to withdraw because of how I behaved during that interview?"

Spike tried to calm her down, "Twilight, I don't think she is going to make you withdraw. The most she might do is give you advice on how to behave in the upcoming debate."

Spike's advice did calm Twilight down, temporarily anyway. Soon though she would begin to panic again, "Spike, she might but I know for a fact that she supports Amethyst! She even told me that she didn't want me running when I filed! She seems to like Amethyst as much as Sunny Flames does!"

Again Spike tried to calm her down, "Twilight, I'm sure Celestia only likes Amethyst because of her wiping out the debt. I know that if you talk to her for longer, she'll be more supportive of you."

Twilight began to head towards the exit and sighed, "I sure hope so."

Twilight then took flight towards Canterlot. As she was flying up there, she couldn't help but think of all the bad scenarios that could happen. She had a very strong feeling that the least Celestia would do is convince her to change her views on things to make her more electable while the worst thing she thought about was, "What if she makes me come back to Canterlot? What if she ascends Amethyst, gives her my castle and makes her Princess of Ponyville?"

Twilight's mind was running so fast that she got to Canterlot in what seemed like nothing flat to her. When she arrived, she headed straight towards the castle and the throne room. When she arrived, she saw that Celestia had more of a neutral look on her face, not the warm smile that she normally did.

She approached the throne and asked, "Princess Celestia, you wanted to speak to me?"

Celestia got up and replied, "Yes, but not in here. I don't want to risk anypony hearing our conversation."

Twilight followed Celestia and would be surprised when they were headed to Canterlot tower, a place so secure that only Celestia can get into. When they got to the doorway, Celestia lit up her horn, inserted it into the hole in the door and cast the proper spell. Once the doors swung open, Celestia ordered, "Follow me."

She did as ordered and when the doors closed, Princess Celestia began, "Twilight, I saw that interview with Sunny Flames and I must say, I'm not thrilled."

Twilight immediately commented, "I'm sorry Princess Celestia. It is just that she was constantly asking me hard questions, she insulted me about not having a job and that being why Winter Wrap Up wouldn't inconvenience me any."

Celestia continued, "And why did you lie about knowing so many ponies who miss the old traditions? You know as well as the voters down there that a majority of the city is either newcomers or long term residents who celebrated when those old traditions were done away with."

Twilight sighed, "Ok, I know I shouldn't have lied. I just want to make it sound like more ponies miss the old traditions than really do."

Celestia continued, "And what was up with the conspiracy theory claiming how some individuals and businesses would claim that three months of winter would kill them? You know as well as I do that three months of cold weather would kill tourism and harm creatures because they would go without a paycheck for three months. NOPONY is going to go to a place that is cold for an out of town trip, NOPONY."

Twilight was quickly being flustered and felt like her former mentor was attacking her, "Princess Celestia, why are you attacking me over this? I remember how much you loved Ponyville and its close-knit nature and the traditions when I first went there. Why is it now that you seem to love what Amethyst has done? Why is it you seem to love Amethyst for ruining it?"

Celestia was becoming frustrated but didn't want to go on the offensive against her former protege, she decided to be calm and truthful, "Twilight, I like it because Amethyst wiped out the debt down there. Ponyville is the ONLY community in Equestria that doesn't run a deficit and they are the only community who doesn't have to beg me for money."

Twilight decided to bring something up from the past, "But Celestia, you never had issues providing communities with necessary funding up until recently. Why is it a problem now?"

Celestia replied, "Twilight, it isn't a problem but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to praise mayors who get their cities to run surpluses."

Twilight began to sort of see where Celestia was coming from but then wanted to know another thing, "So are you going to force me to drop out after this?"

Celestia replied, "I have no authority to force you to drop out although I am strongly encouraging you to do so. Look, Amethyst has a proven track record and I don't see anypony defeating her, not even you."

This is something that hit Twilight wrong. She could hardly believe that the one pony she had always been closest to would suggest that. A tear began to roll down her face as she asked, "Really? Do you really think I should just drop out and let Amethyst win by default?"

Twilight's behavior caused Celestia to feel a sense of guilt. She knew that what she said to Twilight was wrong and was something she could have said with more tact, "Twilight, what I am trying to say is that unless you change your views on things and scrap your desire to bring back those old, costly, antiquated traditions that you will not win."

Twilight asked, "But don't you think that there are ponies who want tradition restored? Don't you think that some ponies might miss winter?"

Celestia gave Twilight a slight smile, "Twilight, Ponyville isn't the same way it was when I first sent you down there. Back then, it was a very small community that was over half earth pony. Things began to change when Amethyst was elected. She pretty much promised sunshine and rainbows and delivered on it. It was because of her that it began to change."

Twilight asked, "But do you really think....."

Celestia interrupted, "Twilight, look at it now. At least if not more than two-thirds of the population are unicorns, unicorns who are loyal to Amethyst and Amethyst alone. A decent portion of it is made up of other creatures and a large majority of it is creatures who relocated because of what Amethyst turned it into. Almost nopony is going to want to change seasons the old fashioned way and no other creature will want anything to do with something like Winter Wrap Up."

Twilight stood there in silence for a minute trying to process everything Celestia had told her. She broke down and began to cry, "I'm sorry, it is just that I miss the old traditions and I don't want to fail Applejack."

Celestia gave her a smile, "I figured that you are doing all this for Applejack." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Twilight, you need to do what you think would be best for Ponyville. You can not just do what your heart is telling you and you can't just view this as a favor for a friend. I am pretty sure that Amethyst is already coming up with a battle plan to expose any and all of your weaknesses after that interview of yours."

Twilight replied, "Alright, I'll have to change my plans a lot but I'm still kind of nervous about Amethyst and Sunny Flames calling me out on any changes and asking why I've made them."

Celestia reassured her, "Twilight, all you have to do is tell the voters that you have thought about what is best for the community. Now I'm not going to make you become exactly like Amethyst but I do think that not wanting to bring back old traditions would help you, and you might not want to support capping growth either. That would definitely help if you drop that."

Everything Celestia was saying was beginning to bother Twilight. She knew that Celestia had good intentions and some of the advice she was giving her was good, but there were other things that she simply didn't want to drop. She then decided to go, "Well thanks for the guidance princess but I really need to get going. I have a get together scheduled with my friends before too long."

Celestia had a feeling that Twilight was becoming uncomfortable with the things she was saying and rather than addressing her about it, she decided to let her go. She replied, "Very well Twilight. Just take what I have said and seriously think about it. If you don't, Amethyst will win by a historic margin."

Celestia used her magic to open the doors to Canterlot tower and Twilight took off running out of the castle and then took flight to go home. As she was flying home, she began to cry. She knew that a lot of what Celestia said would aid her but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder if Celestia actually wanted Amethyst to win big. She felt that if Amethyst did win big, Celestia would be happy that Ponyville changing forever would be inevitable.

Debate Day Preparations

The day of the fall debate had finally arrived and throughout Equestria, politics were at the forefront of every single community. The anticipation for the debates was growing everywhere from Manehattan to Las Pegasus but it seemed even more so in Ponyville given who Amethyst's opponent was. The very fact that a princess would run for any kind of elected office stunned many ponies in Equestria and in the case of those who were more in line with Amethyst on her belief system, they wondered if Twilight should even be eligible to run.

Amethyst's Preparations

In Amethyst's house, it was just like it was four years ago with one exception, Sea Swirl had cooked the two a larger than normal meal. One thing she never imagined she would do was cook Amethyst something that she would normally cringe over, a steak. That morning she went to the one vendor who caters to griffons and bought her one. When she saw this she embraced her and exclaimed, "Thank you Sea Swirl! This means so much to me!"

Sea Swirl replied, "You're welcome Amethyst. I want you to have a full stomach so you'll have the most focus and can prove to the city that Twilight's royal status should not be a reason to vote for her. I want you to be so focused that you can tear Twilight to shreds!"

Amethyst again embraced her, "You know sweetie, I am so happy to have you by my side. I am so happy to have somepony by my side who loves me and supports me 100%."

Sea Swirl replied, "I'm going to be honest, it feels so much better having you close and supporting you unlike it was in the past two elections. I feel happier."

"That is wonderful sweetie." Amethyst looked up at the clock and gasped, "Well we better get to eating. I know I have everything packed up and ready to go but still, I want to get there before Twilight does. It wouldn't look good for me if she showed up first."

Sea Swirl agreed and the two began to devour her meal. She couldn't help but smile seeing that Amethyst was being her usual self. She knew that with Amethyst wanting to be quite early, that she would likely have more time to focus on one thing, swaying the voters and making Twilight look like the wrong pony for the job.

Twilight's Preparations

In her castle, Twilight was pacing back and forth. It had been two months since Celestia summoned her up to Canterlot to talk to her about her views and she still couldn't get it out of her head. She knew that she couldn't go advocating things that would harm ponies economically but at the same time, she still wasn't a fan of Ponyville becoming a place that never sleeps. What had been bothering her further were ponies walking around the whole town at all hours of the night and talking. That made her think all the more that forcing casinos to close at ten would be a good idea.

Spike saw her pacing pack and forth and asked, "Twilight, what is wrong? You seem really nervous."

Twilight replied, "Spike, I am nervous. There are some things that I want to bring up but I'm concerned about how it will be received."

"What is that?" asked Spike

"Making the casinos close at ten. Right now, ponies are walking all over town at all hours of the night and that is because they never close. Ponies even come over to the old end of town just to take a look at things after midnight. If I close the casinos at ten, hopefully they will turn in for the night and there won't be anypony out talking keeping everypony awake."

Spike suggested, "You know Twilight, that might not be the best idea. That would reduce the amount of hours some creatures work and I know that Amethyst will use that against you."

Twilight replied, "Well making them close at ten isn't as bad as making them close down entirely."

Spike asked, "And what else are you worried about?"

"My plans for putting a cap on the growth of the town." Twilight said, "Ponyville has already grown big and after watching Amethyst's interview, I know the only thing she cares about is economic growth and what bothers me more is the fact that all the businesses she has been letting lately are owned by unicorns."

Spike asked, "But didn't she say it was just a coincidence"

Twilight replied, "She did. Even if that is the truth though, I think a good mayor would reach out to business owners of all types of ponies instead of just letting them reach out to her because Amethyst knows full well that unicorns are preferring to come here and earth ponies are choosing Appaloosa and Dodge Junction."

Spike looked up at the clock and suggested, "Twilight, we really should get going. I'm betting that Amethyst is already there and for all we know, she may be on the stage waiting, smiling at and maybe even talking with the creatures that are already there."

Twilight sighed, "Yeah we better get going. I don't want ponies loving Amethyst more than they already are."

Twilight and Spike headed for the exit and while he didn't want to say anything, he couldn't help but be concerned about how the creatures would react to Twilight's plans. He knew that the regulations on the casinos would not go over well and was certain that her ideas for reaching out to non-unicorn owned businesses would not be well received by the ever increasing unicorn population and knew that Amethyst could use that against her.

Sunny's Arrival

It was early in the morning when Sunny and her crew arrived. Like it had been during her earlier visit, she had a huge smile on her face seeing everything Amethyst had done with Ponyville. She began to explore the further expanded new end of town and saw that the night club and grocery store were already in the beginning phases on construction. What made her happier was when she saw that the ponies building them were unicorns.

Another thing that she noticed in the new end of town were many, many yard signs that read, "Keep the Monarchy out of City Business: Vote Amethyst 2024."

Sunny got a huge smile on her face and said, "Don't worry Amethyst, with as many yard signs as I'm seeing, I think you've got this in the bag."

She then decided that they would head out to the northeast end of town where Amethyst said that the metal factory would be located. To get there though she would have to go through the old end of town, which was continuing to modernize as well. She was also happy to see a fair amount of signs for Amethyst but the closer to Twilight's castle she got, the more "Twilight 2024: Save Ponyville" signs she saw. She laughed, "The only thing voting for her will do is save Ponyville from continued prosperity!"

Once she headed out towards where the new factory will be located, she passed a house that would make her laugh. The place looked run down and horribly outdated compared to the rest of the city and had not only a Twilight sign in front of it, but all sorts of anti-growth and anti-prosperity signs in front of it. She began to laugh when she saw a sign that had Amethyst inside a no symbol and a message that read, "Vote out Evil." Then another she saw read, "Unicorns are evil."

She broke down laughing as she knew whose house that was, she knew it was the house of Breaking News. While she wanted to start yelling and belittling him, hoping that he was home and could agitate him before the debate but then chose against it. She thought that the network, despite not caring for Breaking News, would discipline her over such an action.

While construction had yet to begin, some of the forest had been cleared and ground had been broken. On the site was a sign that read, "Future home of UniFactories Metal Plant." She smiled when she saw this knowing that very soon yet another construction crew, most likely all unicorns, would be moving in to begin construction.

After checking out the site of the new factory, Sunny said to her crew, "I think that new restaurant with the unicorn statue is open. Let's go grab a bite to eat."

As they headed to grab a bite to eat, Sunny couldn't help but continue to smile as she saw the city continuing to modernize. She knew that chances were that the traditionalists would finally be forced to give up after their candidate, a princess, wound up getting crushed by Amethyst in the election the following month.

The General Debate

Evening had arrived in Ponyville and Sunny and the ENC crew were getting everything set up. She was looking forward to the debate and seeing Amethyst shine like always, one thing she was not looking forward to was the arrival of the pony that always moderated by her, Breaking News. She had always figured that he was somewhat racist against unicorns but given his behavior the last time, she knew he was very racist. She thought to herself, "Alright Sunny, he is just an overly emotional racist who is stuck in the past. Don't let him get to you."

A couple minutes later she saw a light gray unicorn with a purple mane headed her way. She was in a state of shock when she saw that the pony had a press badge on him. When he saw who she was he extended his hoof out and said, "Sunny Flames, it is so nice to meet you."

She extended her hoof out and asked, "It is nice to meet you...."

"Written Script," the unicorn replied, "I'm the chief political analyst for the Ponyville Express."

Sunny's eyes lit up when she heard this. She thought that maybe she would have somepony moderating alongside her who actually understood politics and thought with his brain and not his heart. She asked, "So are you the moderator the paper sent over?"

Written Script replied, "Yes. The paper decided that given how much the city has grown that they need a pony who actually understands politics and after the behavior of Breaking News in that last debate, they didn't think he was suitable to handle politics anymore."

Sunny was very curious as to what happened with him. She asked, "So what happened to him anyway? What he did was unprecedented and uncalled for but how was he disciplined?"

Written Script replied, "Well he was placed on administrative leave for three months and he has been demoted to simply handling news from Appaloosa and Dodge Junction since they are populated solely by earth ponies."

"That is likely for the best. That way he can not be agitated since he'll be working only with earth ponies and he won't be causing the network any problems." said Sunny.

Given their friendly conversation, the network's signal to her that it was time to begin came much sooner than it normally did. Once the cameras began rolling in Ponyville, Sunny began, "Good evening Equestria and welcome to the Ponyville debate. I'm Sunny Flames and moderating alongside me is the chief political analyst for The Ponyville Express, Written Script." She then turned to Written Script and asked, "Written Script, you are more familiar with politics here than I am. How have creatures reacted to Princess Twilight running for mayor?"

Written Script replied, "Well when I am out and about, there are some, especially business owners, who are concerned about what she said she wanted to do in her summer interview."

"I'm assuming that they don't like her ideas on capping growth?"

"They don't and it just isn't that. They have their concerns that she would determine what businesses get let in based on who owns them."

"I would have the same concerns." When the candidates got up on stage the cameras shifted towards them and Sunny continued, "And let's meet the candidates. We have incumbent and Reform Party candidate Amethyst Star and we have Princess Twilight Sparkle who is unaffiliated."

Written Script added, "And this year's debate is going to be a bit different. Unlike in the past where it would simply be a question and answer session involving us, we will be allowing the candidates to address one another over their responses as well."

Normally Sunny wanted to get a jump on starting the debate but given that her fellow moderator was a unicorn, she let him go first so she could get a feel for him. He decided to focus on the incumbent first, "Amethyst, as many ponies can see, the city is continuing to grow faster and faster. With the increasing population, do you think that it will be able to keep up with the educational needs, things such as more schools if necessary."

Amethyst had a feeling that such a question would come up and began to go through her papers. Once she found the right one she projected it for all to see and replied, "Certainly." She pointed to the revenue flowing in from the casinos and continued, "As you can see here, the revenue brought in from the taxes on casino winnings is steadily climbing as time goes by. All this revenue goes into the general education fund." She then grabbed a paper showing the money going into the fund to project and continued, "And for any who doubt where the revenue from taxes on casino winnings goes, you can see here that the growth in both is the same. With any luck, we will get more casinos coming in, get more tourists coming in and hopefully collect more taxes off of their winnings."

The crowd clapped their hooves over Amethyst's transparency involving the records. Written then turned to Twilight and asked, "Your response to this?"

This was another thing that Twilight was not completely prepared for, Amethyst's transparency. After a good twenty seconds of silence she began, "I see Amethyst projecting these records but how can we be completely sure that those records are in fact accurate or even correct. For all we know Amethyst could have just made these figures up!"

Given the rules of this debate Amethyst would be quick to silence her, "Princess Twilight, you know that falsifying data like this is against the law here in Equestria and besides, that is something I would never do. Not only do I believe in transparency but I also believe in honesty."

Twilight fell silent which allowed Sunny to ask her a question, "Princess Twilight, this is tied into the revenue generated from the casinos. During your interview in the summer, you brought up closing the casinos at ten because of ponies walking around town all night and keeping ponies awake. What time would you allow the casinos to open in the mornings?"

This was something that Twilight hadn't completely thought about but quickly came to a decision, "I think it would be good if the casinos operated from ten in the morning to ten at night. I think that a twelve hour day for them would still allow creatures to go and gamble and allow casino workers to still get a paycheck."

Sunny addressed Amethyst, "Your response?"

Amethyst gave the crowd a smile and replied, "Ok Twilight, so what you are wanting to do is cause casino workers to only get half of the hours that they currently get. It would either be cut their hours or some of them wind up losing their jobs because of reduced hours. I don't know about you but if I were in that position, I certainly would not want to have to face one of those two options because of what you want."

Amethyst paused for a moment before continuing, "Now while I am unsure how much traffic the casinos see during that time period, I am pretty sure that we'd likely lose at least 35% of the revenue that they generate if not more and of course that revenue goes into the education fund." She then turned to Twilight and added, "Princess Twilight, it is well known that you have always been big on education yet here you are wanting to cut into a source that provides funding for it."

Twilight let out a sigh of frustration knowing that so far she was not faring all that well in the debate. She would then face a question from Written Script, "Princess Twilight, during your interview with Sunny, you brought up not only wanting to restore things such as cold winters and bringing all the old traditions that came along with it back. You are already wanting to hurt casino workers by cutting casino hours but now you are wanting to wipe out three months of tourism as well. Why is that?"

Twilight knew that both moderators were targeting her over things she said in her interview and while she could hear Celestia's advice in her head, she felt that she needed to be honest. "I did bring those things up but Ponyville has grown so large that I am certain that there would be enough in the way of local residents going to the casinos to lessen the hit."

Before even being asked for her response, Amethyst began, "Princess Twilight, this is about a lot more than the casinos. A huge part of this involves the hotel workers as well. This was addressed four years ago, who in their right mind is going to go to a place that is cold for their vacation? I certainly wouldn't and unless the community has a ski area, no other creature would either. When it comes to the casinos, like it is in Las Pegasus, the tourists bring in a lot more revenue for them than the locals do."

Twilight tried to get a word in, "But....."

Amethyst continued, "And when it comes to the traditions that go along with winter. Creating winter was a royal pain and the cost of the snowflakes and icicles that Cloudsdale charged is outlandish. They were already pretty high back in 2016, which was the last year Ponyville did business with them, but I'm certain they are higher now and who is going to want to have to deal with it? I remember dealing with it and it was nothing more than a chore that was mandated by my predecessor." She paused for a second before continuing, "And you saw what a mess Winter Wrap Up was that first year you came here. It was a nightmare and I highly doubt that anycreature is going to want to go back to changing seasons the old fashioned way. It is difficult, it is a royal pain and it is downright ridiculous. Why use time consuming, antiquated and costly methods when you have mages to handle all that stuff?"

Twilight had a frustrated look on her face and the moderators decided that it was time to take back control. Written Script decided to question Amethyst, "Amethyst, during your summer interview with Sunny, you talked about the businesses that you are giving business permits to. From the way it sounds, it sounds like almost all of them were given to unicorn owned businesses. Is there a reason for that?"

This was something that Amethyst was hoping would be asked so she could silence anycreature who might think she had an objective, "Well here is the thing, it has been almost all unicorn owned businesses that have applied for business permits and I granted them. There were a couple of griffons who applied for permits and those were also granted. I have not had any permit applications from earth pony or pegasus owned businesses for quite some time. Basically, it is because it is unicorns that apply, it is that simple."

Sunny turned to Twilight, "Your response?"

Twilight began, "Alright, so it is primarily only unicorn owned businesses that have applied for permits but if I was to be elected, I would reach out to earth pony and pegasi owned businesses and see if they would be interested in coming here. A good mayor would not simply wait for permit applications to come in, a good mayor would reach out to a variety of businesses and entice them to come to Ponyville over some other location."

Written Script asked, "You say entice them. Could you elaborate on that?"

Twilight wasn't completely sure how the audience would react to it but she figured she better be honest, "Well it would be something like giving them an exemption from business taxes for a few years. What I don't want to see is it reaching a point where it is only unicorn owned businesses moving in" she looked over to Amethyst before continuing, "and allowing her to achieve her ultimate objective. Correct me if I'm wrong but I have a feeling that Amethyst won't rest until Ponyville is populated solely by unicorns and this is how she is doing it! She has created a demographic that will only allow unicorn businesses to make a profit!"

It was all Amethyst could do to not break down laughing over Twilight's conspiracy theory. She turned to Twilight and began, "Twilight Sparkle, that is not how things work. It is up to the businesses to apply for permits in places where they know they will turn a profit. A mayor should not go and entice businesses to come to their community, especially if they are doing it based off of who owns the business. Given what you said in your interview this summer, you said you would do this for earth pony owned businesses. That is racism Twilight Sparkle, showing favoritism for them over other business owners."

The moderators wanted to try and take control again but Amethyst wanted to keep her opponent on the defensive and continued, "As I listen to your conspiracy theories regarding my agenda when it comes to what business I let in, I almost can't help but wonder if you even understand that much about what being a mayor entails. Yes you are the Princess of Friendship but that does not entail any kind of governing, it is basically a ceremonial position while it is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna who actually run the country."

Twilight was not thrilled with her comment, "Hey, I......"

Amethyst decided it was time to go in for the kill and guarantee victory, "Twilight, I know how close you are to the traditionalists. One part of me almost wonders if you didn't even run because you thought you could improve the town. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if you didn't run because somepony else begged you to." She paused for a second before emphasizing, "Somepony such as Applejack?"

Twilight froze when Amethyst said this. Things became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The moderators were patiently awaiting Twilight's response to the accusation while the crowd was shocked that chances were Twilight actually did just run for her friend. After a whole minute of Twilight's silence, Amethyst commented, "I think that is a yes."

Twilight continued to be in a state of shock over the accusation for another twenty seconds until Sunny said, "Alright Equestria, this debate is about to come to a close but we will give the candidates one final chance to state why they should receive your vote." The cameras shifted directly on Twilight and Sunny asked, "Princess Twilight, why should creatures vote for you?"

Twilight was still a bit shocked and was having trouble coming up with something. Finally she replied, "I believe that I am deserving of your vote because I will not allow Ponyville to grow too big. My opponent has let it be known that she will never cap growth, she will simply wait for business permit applications to come in and she will not restore any old traditions. All my opponent cares about is economic growth. She doesn't care if local farms have to sell out to big corporations, she doesn't care if the Everfree Forest is leveled and she certainly doesn't care about us being a close-knit community like we once were. As long as the economy is booming, she will be happy.

I however will bring back our old, long held and beloved traditions. I will scrap the weather mages, I will restore real winters, I will bring back things like The Running of the Leaves, I will have us create winter again, I will make the Hearth's Warming pageant special again with snowy weather and I will bring back Winter-Wrap Up. Ponyville will wind up being bigger but we will be a large community full of tradition, not a community with artificially warm winters and privately funded festivals."

Outside of a few ponies cheering, it was quiet. After those few ponies finished cheering, Sunny asked, "And why should everycreature vote for you Amethyst."

Amethyst stood tall and began, "I believe that I am deserving of your votes because under me, Ponyville has prospered. Back when I took office, we were a community drowning in debt and we had absolutely nothing that would cause ponies to come here from across Equestria and beyond to spend their bits. Thanks to my policies, that has all changed.

Because of my policies, we now have a very diverse population and we have had many more businesses move in. Because of my policies, everycreature is doing much better off and if I am re-elected, things will only continue to get better. Unlike my opponent, you won't have to worry about having three months of your year wiped out. For the hotel workers, you'll still have year round demand for your services and thus, won't go without a paycheck. Also, the casino workers won't have to worry about maybe losing their jobs because of restricted hours on their places of employment.

With me, more employment opportunities will come along as my business friendly environment will allow even more businesses to move in. With me, no business will be given preferential treatment solely because of who owns it. Unlike my opponent, I won't discriminate nor will I involve the city government in persuading certain businesses to come here, businesses that may not turn a profit here.

With me, revenue for the schools will not decline because face it, there will be demand for more schools as the city continues to grow. There will be no cap on growth and thus, no cap on Ponyville's prosperity. Vote for me and everyone will continue to do better. We are already an economic powerhouse and with me, Ponyville will become by far the most prosperous community in all of Equestria!" She became more enthusiastic and added, "Who knows, maybe one day we'll be the place where the stock exchange is located, not Manehattan!"

The crowd roared loud for Amethyst. She stood up on the stage smiling at what appeared to be an adoring crowd. While she had generally never had thoughts like this, she said to herself, "Just wait until election day, those traditionalists will realize even the Princess of Friendship can't save them!"

Post-Debate Discussions

After the debate the cameras shifted to where they were focused on the two moderators. Unlike every other debate she had taken care of in Ponyville, Sunny knew that this post-debate discussion would be civil. She turned to Written Script and asked, "Written Script, you're more familiar with the politics here. Who do you think won?"

Written Script had a smile on his face and replied, "I think that Amethyst Star hit the ball out of the park here. Not only did she expose Twilight's weaknesses but this new debate format aided her significantly. She took a no-nonsense approach and did not let Twilight's royal status affect her. She took everything Twilight said in her summer interview and tore her to shreds with it. So who do you think won?"

Sunny replied, "I too think Amethyst won this easily. I will say this, I have never seen a more dominant debate performance in my life. I swear, Amethyst Star's political savvy completely destroyed an opponent who it looks like only ran as a favor for a friend. Twilight Sparkle may be a princess but this right here is proof that a pony being part of the royal system guarantees nothing."

Hard News had been listening in and couldn't help but chime in, "Sunny, Written Script, I have to agree with you. I know that we are supposed to be fair and balanced but judging by the candidates' performances and the crowd reaction, Amethyst could win almost all of the vote. I don't see creatures voting for a candidate who basically openly admitted that she was doing this as a favor for a friend."

Written Script replied, "I have to agree. Such a thing would not be well received in any community in Equestria. Whether it be a small community such as Appaloosa or a metropolis such as Manehattan, no one is going to stand for that. To be honest, I think this will easily be the most lopsided election in Equestrian history."

Sunny added, "I do agree with Written Script. I also think that this will mark a major change in elections here in Ponyville. I have a feeling that starting with the next election, there will be no traditionalists in play anymore. The differences in the candidates will be much less and both will be very prepared."

Hard News got a notification from the network, "Well everyone, that marks the end of our debate coverage in Ponyville. Up next is the debate in Las Pegasus and after that, the debate in Vanhoover."

The cameras went black in Ponyville and the two moderators couldn't help but brag up Amethyst. Sunny exclaimed, "You know Written Script, I am so excited to see how this election turns out. It isn't a matter of whether Amethyst wins or not, it is a matter of will it be the biggest rout in Equestrian election history? Oh I hope it is, I hope she wins over 99% of the vote!"

Written Script too was excited, "You know something, I think this will finally put those traditionalists to bed. After this, they will know that nocreature is going to vote for them and that Ponyville has moved forward. They will have to go off of who has the best interests of the city in mind, not who wants to destroy the city."

Sunny replied, "I do have a feeling though that in the future, we will have much closer elections here in Ponyville. I have a feeling BOTH candidates will bring out good points. It won't just be a matter of how much will Amethyst win by."

Written agreed, "I think that will be the case but for now, I need to get going. I need to get something written up for the paper."

Sunny replied, "Yeah and I had likely better get going too. My crew and I need to get things packed up and ready to catch the train to Manehattan. You have a good one."

"You as well."

The two pared ways and Sunny couldn't help but feel a sense of elation. She knew that Amethyst would likely win the debate but she never once imagined how she would dominate it so much that even she would have a hard time keeping control of it. She thought to herself, "Oh this election day is going to be sweet! I bet Twilight won't even get one percent of the vote!"

Royal Endorsements

Princess Celestia had been keeping track of the elections across the country more than normal that year. Throughout numerous communities, candidates with views similar to Amethyst seemed to be much more popular, particularly in the cities back east where the debt was affecting them adversely, even with aid from the government.

This was something that had attracted attention across the country as it was unprecedented that Princess Celestia would come out and pay that much attention to it. When word reached the news networks across the country, they wanted to do interviews with her. Out of all of them though, Equestria News Channel was by far the most interested and even went as far as to schedule a televised interview with her, one that the princess gladly accepted.

When it was two weeks prior to election day, ENC had set things up for Princess Celestia's interview on their evening newscast. When the time finally came, Hard News began, "Good evening Equestria and welcome to a special edition of Politics Equestria. Tonight we will be interviewing Princess Celestia as for the first time in Equestrian history, she will be endorsing candidates."

The screen then split as the cameras began to roll in Canterlot. On one side was Hard News and on the other side was the princess.

"Princess Celestia, it is good to have you with us this evening."

"Thanks."

"As we have notified everycreature, this will be the first time you have ever endorsed a candidate, much less multiple candidates. Why are you endorsing candidates this time anyway?"

"I am endorsing candidates because across the country, there are multiple candidates running that have views similar to those of Amethyst Star of Ponyville. I believe that if I endorse these candidates, we will have fewer communities running deficits and thus, less reliant on federal funding."

"I am not sure exactly but do you think that these other candidates across the country have a chance of winning because of what Amethyst Star has done in Ponyville? Do you think that perhaps these other cities are ready to throw outdated and costly traditions in the trash in favor of things such as weather mages and privately funded festivals?"

"I do and I couldn't be more thrilled. I believe that if these reformist candidates get elected, the quality of life in these other communities where they are running will improve dramatically. The lives of those in Ponyville are far better than they were eight years ago and I think these other communities want the same."

"Alright, so what candidates are you endorsing and why?"

"Well in Manehattan I am endorsing Smart Money because he discovered that there is a lot of corruption in the current city government and wants to fix things. He exposed the fraud to the citizens there and I am endorsing him so that those problems can be fixed and the city won't continue to run the biggest deficit in the country."

"Who else?"

"I am also endorsing Cloudbuster in Fillydelphia. Out of the major cities back east, they are the city that has been stuck in the past the most and it is just now that the ponies there are seeing their current situation for what it is. While other cities back east have hired mages, Fillydelphia has not and I know that if elected, Cloudbuster will move the city forward and improve the quality of life for everypony there."

"Who else?"

"I am also endorsing Blazing Glory in Baltimare. Baltimare, much like Manehattan, has a lot of corruption in their current situation and he too has exposed it. The citizens there deserve better and they certainly don't deserve to have their tax money being stolen by their current mayor for his own personal expenses. Blazing Glory is promising reform and I for one believe he will follow through on those promises."

"Anypony else?"

"I am also endorsing Swift Vision up in Vanhoover because their current mayor is doing absolutely nothing to help the city. He is basically taking all the tax money up there and funneling it into a 'rainy day fund.' Right now, the streets are in terrible shape, the schools are run down and their teachers are paid less than those in the small earth pony communities further south. If you ask me that is inexcusable. Swift Vision is promising to fix that and I am taking him at his word."

"Anypony else?"

*gives a huge smile* "Yes. I am also endorsing Amethyst Star in Ponyville. Before she took over eight years ago, they were drowning in debt. I'm sure your head political reporter could tell you this but things have improved dramatically down there. Amethyst Star got rid of municipal property taxes, she lowered the business taxes and while she did institute a sales tax, it was met well and has aided the community so much they now have actual streets.

She also got a casino referendum passed and that helped Ponyville further. The taxes collected off of casino winnings is aiding their schools significantly and what is very important to me is that as of right now, Ponyville is the only community in all of Equestria running surpluses. They have not had to ask me for funding for anything since Amethyst's first year in office when she inherited her predecessor's mountain of debt. I know that if she is re-elected, things in Ponyville will continue to get even better."

"You seem to really like Amethyst and what she has done in Ponyville."

"I do. She took what many called a backwater town that most ponies couldn't find on a map and transformed it into an economic powerhouse. It won't be long until they even have a factory there and thanks to her, it is close to topping Las Pegasus as the number one tourist destination in Equestria! How could anypony not want her to win a third term?"

"Princess Celestia, as everycreature knows, Princess Twilight Sparkle, who was once your protege, is running against Amethyst Star. Some may wonder why you would formally endorse your former protege's opponent."

"I am not endorsing Twilight because it has been discovered that the only reason she even ran for mayor was to make a traditionalist friend of hers happy. If you ask me, that is not the kind of pony that I would vote for. Twilight may be the Princess of Friendship and think she is doing the friendly thing but judging by her answers during her summer interview and her answers at the fall debate, it is clear that she really doesn't understand everything that goes into governing a city."

"Alright Princess, we would like to thank you for your time this evening."

"The pleasure is all mine."

The cameras went black in Canterlot and Hard News continued, "Well Equestria, there you have it. Princess Celestia has made her endorsements and it appears as though she wants to see reformist policies sweep across Equestria." He paused for a moment before continuing, "After the commercial break, we will be interviewing Fast Money, the chief financial analyst of the Manehattan Times over what would happen if reformist policies spread beyond Ponyville."

Amethyst's Reaction

In Ponyville, the two candidates watched the special interview with vastly different opinions. Amethyst and Sea Swirl watched the interview with huge smiles on their faces. Surprisingly it was not Amethyst who was the most enthused, it was Sea Swirl. She hugged Amethyst and exclaimed, "Did you see that sweetie? Princess Celestia showered you with so much praise. I know come election day, you're going to absolutely crush Twilight!"

Amethyst gave her a chuckle, "Now now Sea Swirl. What did you tell me during the last two election cycles? You told me to never act like I already have it in the bag!"

"Oh I know" laughed Sea Swirl, "but this time you do! If she could, I could see Celestia ascending you and making you Ponyville's mayor forever!"

Amethyst returned the laugh, "Unless she ascended you too, no way would I agree to that!"

The two shared another laugh before Sea Swirl replied, "Oh I can only imagine how Twilight must be reacting to this if she watched it, I bet she is livid right now!"

"Or hurt." Amethyst suggested. "Celestia was like a second mother to her for so long and I could see this really hurting her feelings." Amethyst became more upbeat and continued, "But what matters though is whether or not creatures will take her advice."

Sea Swirl exclaimed, "And if they do, you could get all but one vote." Her laughing became hysterical as she added, "And what if Twilight forgot to vote or she was so distraught over anything that she accidentally voted for you? Just think, you could become the first candidate to win 100% of the vote!"

Amethyst broke down laughing, "Only in my dreams sweetie but I will admit, I think that would be sweet!"

The two again broke down laughing over the very thoughts of that. While Amethyst would never come out and say it, not even to Sea Swirl, she knew that she was going to humiliate Twilight with the whole nation watching. She then began to wonder if perhaps Princess Celestia herself would show up to her watch party.

Twilight's Reaction

Twilight too was watching in her castle and was feeling two emotions after seeing how Celestia not only said that she didn't understand what it took to run a city but also how she praised Amethyst and was endorsing reformist candidates across the country.

She first went on a rant to Spike, "Spike, I can't believe it. Princess Celestia is basically advocating discarding tradition everywhere! Why in Equestria would she want to change the country so much? Why is it that fiscal responsibility is all she cares about? Does she really think of tradition as that unimportant now?"

Spike replied, "Twilight, maybe she is just sick and tired of having communities drowning in debt and owing the bank so much money?"

Twilight let out a scream, "No! I know what it is! It is all because of Amethyst and her fiscal reform and what makes me madder is that Princess Celestia seems to love Amethyst like she is her own daughter! 'Oh Amethyst has done so much for Ponyville, oh everypony is doing so much better with her, oh Ponyville will have a factory, oh Ponyville will be the number one tourist destination in Equestria."

"Twilight...."

Twilight then broke down into tears, "I don't get it Spike. I was her protege, she practically raised me, she was like a second mother to me but she goes and endorses my opponent." Her cries became louder, "I feel betrayed Spike. I thought she would always be there for me and always support me...." she then became angry again, "but she supports Amethyst Star, Amethyst Star! She supports the pony who destroyed tradition and wants to ultimately make Ponyville unicorn only....UNICORN ONLY!"

Spike said, "Twilight, Amethyst never said anything about only wanting unicorns here."

"It is her business policies Spike! Don't you see how it is unicorn owned businesses that are coming in all the time! It is her goal, make it to where only unicorns can turn profits here. A day will come when all the farms sell out, every home will be made of brick, UniBiz will own everything and I wouldn't be surprised if Celestia ascends her, kicks me out of my castle and makes Amethyst the Princess of Ponyville!"

Spike became very concerned over Twilight's sudden conspiracies, "Twilight, I don't think that will come to pass. Yes Celestia likes Amethyst for what she has done regarding Ponyville but she's not going to do all that. You have nothing to worry about."

This caused Twilight to calm down a bit, "Oh you're right. I just hope that ponies will think about tradition and put that ahead of keeping Amethyst's plan of making sure tradition never returns."

General Election Day

Election day had arrived in Equestria and for the third consecutive election cycle, Sunny Flames, the most popular and well known news personality in all of Equestria was in Ponyville again. Ponyville had become a regular destination for her when it came to politics thanks to Amethyst Star and her reformist beliefs.

When Sunny and her crew arrived that morning, she noticed that the crowd around the polling station nearest to the train station was not as large as normal. "Huh?" she thought, "Are creatures not that excited anymore?"

She began to walk around the city and noticed why. She saw that Ponyville had three separate polling stations instead of one. This made her happy as it was yet another sign that it was growing in the way that Amethyst had been hoping for. Soon she would get a notification that they would be going live very shortly so she and her crew set up shop outside of the primary polling place.

Once they got set up and went live Sunny began, "Hello Equestria. I'm Sunny Flames and I'm bringing you live election coverage from Ponyville. While elections in Ponyville have become interesting, this time it is especially so because not only is Princess Twilight running but Princess Celestia has also endorsed the incumbent, Amethyst Star."

In Manehattan Hard News asked, "So have the creatures there been talking about that? Does it look like Princess Celestia's endorsement will guarantee Amethyst a victory?"

Sunny replied, "Many creatures have been talking about it and the big thing they are discussing is why Princess Celestia would go against who was once her protege in favor of Amethyst." She then saw one of the candidates exiting the polling station and led her crew over to her. She approached her and asked, "Amethyst, I know what you'll likely say but who do you think will win today?"

Amethyst gave her a smile and replied, "I know I'm deviating from the norm but I think I'm going to win and I'm going to win big."

Sea Swirl was with her and added, "It is about time you come out and admit you're going to win!"

Sunny asked, "Amethyst, I am not sure if you will make a call on this but I have heard some ponies predicting that not only will you win, but that this will be the biggest rout in Equestrian election history."

Amethyst replied, "I'm sorry Sunny but I'm not going to go that far. I already admitted that I think I'll win but margin of victory is something I won't make a call on."

Sea Swirl said, "Come on Amethyst, who is going to vote for Twilight? Her, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Breaking News? You know that even some of her friends are on your side!"

Amethyst would be quick to stop her from continuing, "Sea Swirl, you know how I feel about some things! The margin of victory isn't as important as saving the city from a traditionalist is." She then turned to Sea Swirl and added, "Well we better get to work, we can't be late getting city hall opened."

As they headed off, Hard News commented, "Well it looks like Amethyst finally decided to make a call on the election."

Sunny replied, "I wondered if she ever would." Sunny then began to look around in the crowd to find someone to interview. She finally found a minotaur, one that ran last time. She approached him and asked, "Iron Will, I know you were defeated by Amethyst four years ago when you ran on a mix of a traditionalist and reformist platform. Who did you vote for and who do you think will win?"

Iron Will replied, "Iron Will voted for Amethyst Star because Iron Will knows that Twilight Sparkle is only running as a favor for a friend and Iron Will is certain that Amethyst Star will win and win big."

"Alright, thank you for your time."

In Manehattan Hard News commented, "It appears as though Iron Will is very confident that his opponent from four years ago will get a third term."

"He does and I can see why. He knows that Amethyst is extremely popular and that Twilight's admission she is doing this for a friend pretty much buried her."

"I do think that is the case." Sunny then went through the crowd and saw a brown earth pony that she had dealt with plenty in the past, Breaking News. While it would likely go against what most reporters would do, she couldn't help but go and talk to him. She approached him and asked, "Sir, may I have a moment of your time."

Breaking News yelled, "No you can not! I already know you're going to go asking who I voted for and who I think will win. I know you're going to rub it in my face how everypony just adores Amethyst Star and bring up how she will kill Twilight tonight."

Sunny said, "Well that happened."

Hard News chuckled, "You couldn't help but go and antagonize him could you?"

Sunny had a smile on her face, "Well I wouldn't call it antagonizing, just information seeking." She then saw Twilight leaving the polling station and continued, "Twilight Sparkle has now left the polling station."

She approached her and asked, "Princess Twilight, I'm sure you voted for yourself but who do you think won the election today?"

Twilight was less than thrilled to have to talk to Sunny. She sighed, "Look Sunny Flames, I'm pretty sure you and your reformist buddies back at ENC are gloating over who will likely win so I'm not even going to bother answering your question."

Sunny replied, "Very well, you have a good day."

Sunny got a notification that it was time to move on to coverage elsewhere. "Well Equestria, that is all the time that we have for now in Ponyville. I will be reporting here tonight when the results are available."

When the cameras went black, Sunny and her crew headed towards the Sky Needle to grab a bite to eat before preparing for the results to be announced that night. As she was headed to get something to eat, she bumped into somepony she certainly did not expect to run into, Princess Celestia.

When she saw her she bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I certainly didn't expect to see you here!"

Celestia replied, "Well I did endorse Amethyst and I figured that I'd come to her watch party. After all, I do want to be here for the third straight victory of the best mayor in Equestria's history."

Sunny gave her a smile and asked, "So are you going to be introducing her as the winner tonight when she wins?"

Celestia replied, "You know, that is a good idea! For now though, I really want to go up and get a bite to eat."

Sunny said, "Well that is where my crew and I are headed so we can go up together."

As she and her crew accompanied Celestia up to the restaurant, Sunny was thrilled. She knew that Amethyst was likely going to win by a huge margin but given the fact that not only did Celestia endorse her but even came down to Ponyville, that Amethyst's rout was going to be one of epic proportions.

The Results

That night it took much longer than it used to for all the ballots to be counted in Ponyville. It was not until after nine that the cameras would start rolling. When they finally did Sunny began, "Good evening Equestria! I'm Sunny Flames and I'm here in Ponyville at Amethyst Star's watch party."

The cameras then came on outside of Twilight's castle and Written Script said, "And I'm Written Script here at Princess Twilight's watch party."

Hard News first decided to address Written Script, "So how would you say things are at Twilight's watch party."

The cameras showed the gathering and then panned back to Written Script, "Well Twilight is out mingling with the ponies here but there might only be twenty to thirty ponies here at most. Things are not looking good for the princess at all."

The focus then shifted to Amethyst's watch party where Sunny was reporting. Hard News said, "And now we go to Sunny Flames at Amethyst's watch party." He paused for a moment before continuing, "It looks like quite the different scene outside of the Sky Needle."

At the Sky Needle, music was blaring, food and cider was being served and the crowd was huge. Sunny replied, "It is. Four years ago the crowd was good sized but I'm guessing that there are well in excess of one thousand attendees here. The crowd seems confident and like it was four years ago, the crowd is singing over the lyrics, changing them to ones that glorify Amethyst."

Hard News commented, "While in other communities, both watch parties look fairly similar but judging by the two parties there, it is apparent that....." Hard News got the signal that the results were in. He continued, "And now for the results of the Ponyville election. To give those results, we go to Princess Celestia in Ponyville."

Princess Celestia was up on the stage that had been set up for Amethyst to go out onto. She announced, "This has been a rather interesting election given everything that has happened but here we go." She also decided to do things a bit differently given the situation, "In the Ponyville general election, Princess Twilight received 26 vote and Amethyst Star received 1,130 votes! The winner of the Ponyville election is Amethyst Star!"

The crowd roared loudly and fireworks began to be shot off from the top of the Sky Needle and from the ground. When she saw this, Amethyst came out onto the stage and yelled, "Give me a HEY YEAH Ponyville!"

The crowd yelled, "Hey yeah!"

Amethyst stood side by side by Celestia and when the crowd quieted down she began, "I remember eight years ago when I filed with Princess Celestia, nocreature thought that this could ever happen! Nocreature thought I could win, much less modernize Ponyville but together we did it!" She pumped her hoof skywards and yelled, "Give me another HEY YEAH!"

The crowd roared, "Hey yeah!"

Princess Celestia then spoke up, "I too remember when Amethyst filed I had a feeling that she couldn't defeat who was then a popular incumbent but just look at things now, Ponyville is a powerhouse and Amethyst is by far the best mayor in Equestrian history!"

Amethyst added, "And there is no way I could have done it without all of you!" She paused for a moment before continuing, "And I have even greater news! Just today I approved a permit application from Equestria News Channel to come to Ponyville so once they get their headquarters built, we'll be a news powerhouse too!"

The crowd again began to cheer and then the focus went back to Sunny who was beyond happy, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh Hard News! We're moving to Ponyville! Oh I'm so happy!"

Hard News broke down laughing on the air, "Now Sunny, I know you're happy but you have to remain professional here AND you can't just go fan filly over Amethyst Star."

Sunny calmed down before continuing, "I know Hard News but I'm just so happy I'll get to live here."

Hard News realized that Sunny's sudden lack of professionalism could harm the network so the coverage switched over to Twilight's watch party. Hard News asked, "Written Script, so how would you say the ponies there have handled the news?"

Written Script replied, "I would say that they took the news fairly well because I think they knew how things would turn out, I am thinking though that they never expected the defeat to be this bad."

Twilight then began her speech, "Well everypony, I guess this is it. I guess this is proof that nopony who advocates tradition will ever stand a chance." She became more emotional, "And it is all because of Amethyst! She is making sure unicorns are the majority, unicorns from large cities who care nothing about traditions. I'm certain that" Twilight began to cry "that even Princess Celestia is happy. She was supposed to support me no matter what but not only does she endorse Amethyst but she showed up for her watch party!" She finally broke down, "I can't do this anymore, I just can't."

Twilight then rushed back into her castle and the focus returned to Written Script, "Hard News, I do think Twilight is right about one thing. I do think that traditionalists will no longer stand a chance in Ponyville."

Hard News then got a notification that the results were in down in Las Pegasus. He said, "More results are in and now we shift our attention to Las Pegasus where the results are in on a much closer election."

The cameras went black in Ponyville and while Written Script knew that he had to get post-results interviews done with both candidates. He figured that he would attempt to speak to Princess Twilight first because Amethyst's party would likely go on well into the night. As he approached her castle he sighed, "Well here goes nothing."

Amethyst's Victory Party

Shortly after the results had been released, Amethyst was down in the crowd mingling alongside Sea Swirl. Princess Celestia remained up on the stage so that Amethyst could interact with her supporters with fewer distractions. When Sunny Flames saw that it was just Amethyst and Sea Swirl in the crowd together, she wanted to go and finally congratulate her over her victories.

While Amethyst was having a casual discussion with a griffon, she felt herself in the grasp of someone. She wrestled out of the hold and discovered that it was Sunny Flames. Sunny again embraced her and exclaimed, "I knew you could do it Amethyst, I knew you could do it!"

Amethyst wasn't overly thrilled by Sunny embracing her but one would be less than thrilled, Sea Swirl. Sea Swirl gave her a glare, "Sunny Flames, keep your hooves off of my wife!"

Sunny quickly released the embrace and apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy that she won!" She then turned to Amethyst, "Like I said, I knew you could do it! I knew that no matter who you faced off against, you'd crush them!"

"Thanks," Amethyst replied "well my competition this time around wasn't exactly all that threatening. They all pretty much shot themselves in the hoof one way or another."

Sea Swirl added, "And now that even Princess Twilight couldn't win it for the traditionalists, maybe they'll finally realize it is time to either move forward or shut up and let the rest of us go about our business."

Amethyst laughed, "Traditionalists move forward? That's a good one honey, that's a good one!"

Sunny then wanted to find out about what Amethyst's plans were. "So now that you've won a third term, what are your plans?"

Amethyst replied, "Well I am planning on discussing perhaps opening a museum here, assuming we can secure the proper funding. I will donate some towards it and I'm certain the donors of the Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development would be willing to donate." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Given that this will be an Equestrian history museum, I'm sure that we could get Princess Celestia to donate as well."

Sea Swirl snickered, "You have Princess Celestia in your saddle bags Amethyst so I know if you want Ponyville to have a museum, it will have a museum!"

Sunny then decided to discuss future elections, "Amethyst, if this is indeed the end of traditionalists trying to take the city back, what kind of opponents do you think you'll face in the future?"

Amethyst replied, "My future opponents will likely be a fair amount like me, maybe just have a couple differences and I do know one thing though, I'm not going to count on winning over 97% of the vote next time. My next opponent will likely be just as sharp as me and think with their head like me."

Sea Swirl, while she had become big into politics, wanted to end the discussion. She suggested, "Amethyst, you just won big and we have had politics on our minds all year long. How about we go and get something to eat?"

Amethyst replied, "That sounds like a great plan to me." She then turned to Sunny and added, "And just think, likely in 2026 you won't have to travel anymore UNLESS they start sending you elsewhere!"

Sunny laughed, "The network knows well enough that I'm an expert on Ponyville elections and I doubt I'll get sent elsewhere."

The three shared a laugh and then headed to get some food. As they were doing so, Amethyst felt a pure sense of satisfaction. She felt that since even Princess Twilight couldn't even come close to bringing back the old traditions, that the goals she had set forth in 2016 had been accomplished. She felt that Ponyville would continue to grow and ultimately become not only the top tourist destination in Equestria but also felt that Ponyville would eventually supplant Manehattan as the financial capitol.

Prelude: The Past Seven Years

Amethyst Star was entering the final year of her second term and decided to run for a third. When she was first elected, Ponyville was an earth pony community full of old traditions, homes with straw roofs and a mountain of debt. When Amethyst first ran, eradicating the debt was her primary concern. Eradicating that debt however required that she do things to alter the town in a way that would have horrified the town founders and would anger the traditionalists.

When Amethyst won, she immediately got to work. She scrapped publicly funded festivals, she instituted a sales tax, she lowered business taxes, done away with the property tax and did something that just a few years prior that nopony would ever even dare dream of, she replaced depending on Cloudsdale for the weather and hired unicorn mages to keep the weather tourist friendly year round and to help the earth pony farmers generate an extra harvest every year.

The things she did worked beyond her wildest dreams. By the time she was up for re-election, Ponyville had changed significantly. The community had at least doubled in size, the demographics had changed significantly with the town becoming more diverse and what made Amethyst the happiest was that many new businesses came into town. Some of the businesses were owned by non-pony businesscreatures and a good amount of them were owned by unicorns, unicorns who brought in their own employees because of Ponyville's very low unemployment rate.

Because of the huge spike in tourism, a new hotel had opened and in the most recent mayoral election, a referendum for small stakes gambling was approved and that not only caused the hotel to have to be bigger but also brought in even more employees. Throughout her second term, Amethyst continued to have things go her way as a referendum for full scale casino gambling passed in 2022, bringing in other casinos, casinos that were ran by unicorns.

It wasn't just hotels and casinos that moved to Ponyville, the headquarters of larger companies also moved there because of the lower business taxes. Because of this, a twelve story office building was built, which along with the Sky Needle, the modern clock tower and the arch gave Ponyville a distinct skyline, one that was noticeable from a fair distance.

Now here it is, time for Amethyst to begin her campaign for the 2024 campaign and she can sense that her ultimate goal may come to pass. While she has repeatedly denied the accusation, her goal of seeing to it that Ponyville will never again embrace old, costly and out-dated traditions is so close. The traditionalists have a feeling that is her desire and realize that to stop her, that they have only one option. Because of the altered demographics of the town, they must find a unicorn who supports not only bringing back the old traditions but to even attempt to bring back the Ponyville of old. The most extreme traditionalists want all the progress of the past seven years gone and surprisingly, there is one unicorn who realizes that her past support for Amethyst was a mistake and wants to do what she can to bring back what some of her friends love so much.