OFIMEËTREËLICIA

[09:30 am] Minutes before the incident...

"I don't know what Mayor Mare is thinking! Holding a referendum to limit the number of new non-pony residents in Ponyville and establish a new set of coexistence rules? That's not very friendly! I mean it!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, waving the wooden spoon with which she was mixing cake batter.

On the other side of the Sugarcube Corner counter, her customer (one of Ponyville's most notorious visitors) didn't seem impressed.

"Uh-huh. Are you going to give me my muffins now?" replied Discord, indifferent.

"Give me a few seconds," Pinkie replied quickly, adding some crushed crayons to the mix.

Discord wasn't alone; beside him was Fluttershy, also listening to her friend.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Pinkie. But I think the mayor is doing the right thing..."

"You too, Fluttershy!" Pinkie suddenly shouted between tears, stretching her neck from the counter to get her face almost in front of her friend's.

Of course, Pinkie wasn't crying because of Fluttershy's words, but because of the onions she was chopping to add to her strange mix.

"Fluttershy is right, dear Pinkie. Maybe you haven't noticed because you're so busy making smiles here and there, but the latest statistics show that Ponyville has been alarmingly overpopulated in the past few months. I think there are too many 'others' in this pie," pointed out a scholarly Discord, magically making a large pie chart appear.

The chart was divided into proportions showing the number of ponies in Ponyville by race (earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns), plus a large segment (almost a third of the pie) titled 'others.'

But to Pinkie Pie, that pie didn't taste good.

"Huff! Maybe that chart shows something, Discord. But when it comes to friends, I think more is always better. Besides, all the new residents who have come have been super friendly and none of them have caused any trouble so far," Pinkie replied, determined and proud, while mixing the strange cake batter with a spiked war mace.

"Until 'this' moment..." murmured Discord, making his academic attire and the charts disappear in an instant.

"Pinkie, what you're saying is true, everyone has been very good to us and they've adapted very well, but... I think it's just a matter of time before some 'incident' happens. The mayor is just taking appropriate measures as the authority she is," said Fluttershy in a soft but serious tone. Meanwhile, Pinkie was pouring the foamy mixture into muffin molds made of newspaper.

"They still are! The elections are very soon. Don't be so naive, Fluttershy," Pinkie corrected, quickly shoving the unsupportable muffins into the oven. However, not even five seconds had passed when she took them out immediately.

Serving them quickly on the counter, on a silver tray, Pinkie placed a folded napkin next to each muffin before declaring her eccentric creation finished.

"Here they are, just for my best friend Discord! THE IMPURE MUFFINS!" Pinkie announced, lifting the muffins to the sky in an exaggeratedly dramatic gesture.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR HOURS!" Discord replied, indignant (he had only been waiting for 3 minutes).

With great delicacy, the Draconequus extended his right claw, took one of the muffins, and with the concentration of a true connoisseur, brought it to his nose to catch the imperceptible aroma of those infamous snacks.

A moment later, he threw it in the trash and began eating the accompanying napkin with excitement.

"UHMMM! YES! DELICIOUS! YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO MAKE THEM THE WAY I LIKE, DEAR APPLEJACK!" exclaimed Discord excitedly between spasms of pleasure.

Beside him, a cheerful Pinkie Pie watched as her hard work was 'consumed' satisfactorily. On the other hand, Fluttershy looked worried about her friend.

"Pinkie Pie, what are you going to do then?"

"Easy, I'll just convince all my friends in Ponyville not to attend the referendum tomorrow. Starting with you, Fluttershy, my friend!" said the pink pony cheerfully, hopping to the other side of the counter and swishing her tail.

"Wait, Pinkie, that's not right. You can't just convince everyone not to vote for something just because they're your friends and you don't agree. Besides, this is something serious that each one should decide for themselves."

"I understand... I respect that you have your own point of view, Fluttershy. And yes, I fully grasp the seriousness of this election. But if I really want them to consider my viewpoint that we're making a huge mistake by excluding a large number of potential new friends from our lives, then I must seriously answer you that I will do it anyway," said Pinkie Pie, determined, leaving Fluttershy behind and heading towards the exit.

However, halfway there, before Fluttershy could try to stop her again, someone else did.

With a snap of his fingers, Discord appeared in front of Pinkie Pie, blocking her path. He immediately took the pink pony and gave her a warm hug.

"Haaa, dear Pinkie Pie, your muffins were delicious, I mean it. On the other hand, as a good friend, I think you're making a small error in perspective by trying to do this whole boycott thing."

"Thanks, Discord, and it's not a boycott, it's a 'silent protest of friends,'" replied Pinkie, swiftly escaping Discord's hug and resuming her path.

"Ah yes, whatever you say, but I think you could demonstrate your point of view better by being a bit less 'boring'..." said Discord in his characteristic subtle and dark tone.

Immediately, Pinkie stopped in her tracks and reversed back to face Discord.

"Boring? What are you insinuating, Discord?" asked Pinkie with a critical look.

"Nothing... just that I think there are better ways than going door to door to share an idea. How about that idea comes to each of their homes by itself...?"

"Uhmmm," intrigued, Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

"...since your problem is this fear that these 'non-ponies' could cause a problem in the future. How about bringing that problem now? Solve it as you always do and, at the end of the day, laugh together thinking about how silly it was to believe they really had to worry about it in the first place."

With a deeply reflective expression, Pinkie began to look at the ceiling, pondering Discord's idea.

Fluttershy, however, didn't think it over and immediately confronted her Draconequus friend.

"Discord! Bringing problems to others just to show we can solve them is reckless and..." Fluttershy didn't finish her words; a zipper magically appeared over her mouth, sealing it completely.

Discord paid her no attention and turned back to Pinkie, who had already made a decision.

"Done! Wait... you don't plan to turn all the 'non-pony' residents into monsters, right?" asked Pinkie with a sharp look.

"Ahhh, of course not! I'll just bring two new neighbors, a bit difficult, to the neighborhood... nothing that you, my cheerful and super-friendly Pinkie Pie, can't handle," replied Discord while observing his sharp claws.

Looking up at him, Pinkie was still wary of what Discord might be planning. But she set it aside and soon thought about the possibilities... If two problematic visitors came to town and, despite their differences, could live amicably among the ponies, wouldn't that be proof enough that anyone could do it, no matter how many and what they were like?

"Oki doki, Discord! Bring those new neighbors, I'm ready!" proclaimed Pinkie, defiantly.

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Discord happily with a snap of his fingers.

A mute and anguished Fluttershy watched Discord's back as he bid farewell to a hurried Pinkie Pie, who was rushing to the town entrance, eager to meet her new neighbors and potential friends...

[09:50 am] Outside Ponyville, at the beginning of the incident...

In the middle of the road leading to the town's entrance, the shadow of two unknown figures appeared out of nowhere. Both entities were bewildered by the sudden change from the place they had previously been.

"This doesn't look like the entrance to the military school, Chum Chum..."

"Haa... I'm not sure, Fanboy, but judging by the confusing responses from my phone, it could be that we've been transported to another universe different from our own."

"Or... we're suffering a collective hallucination due to the psychic attack of a brain eater!" exploded Fanboy in panic, grabbing his head in despair.

"Well, that too... Ahhh!" Both Fanboy and Chum Chum ducked as a creature quickly flew over their heads.

Neither could believe what their eyes had just seen.

"Was that a brain eater?"

"I think it was more like a... Pony!" exclaimed Chum Chum excitedly. "And it was flying! Fanboy, we're in a universe of magical ponies! Yesss!"

Chum Chum started jumping up and down in excitement at the discovery. But for Fanboy, this was not a good sign.

"SPLATT!" In a swift movement, Fanboy slapped Chum Chum, abruptly cutting off his enthusiasm. "Control yourself, Chum Chum! Maybe that's what the brain eaters want you to think."

"Ouch... but what if there are no brain eaters, Fanboy?"

"Uhmm... in any case, we must be extremely careful and thoroughly investigate each one of those supposed ponies," replied Fanboy with a sharp look, observing the nearby town.

"Thoroughly investigate..." Chum Chum repeated, drooling as he imagined the tests he would have to conduct to prove the innocence of those ponies.

"Very thoroughly..." Fanboy repeated, putting on a pair of elastic surgical gloves over the gloves he was already wearing.

Thus, both entities began to move down the road, like midnight emissaries, towards the unsuspecting town of Ponyville, which would soon be plunged into a day of chaos and infamy.

[10:00 am] The Day After the Incident at the Town Hall

Mayor Mare was in her office, quietly enjoying her favorite coffee while reading the morning newspaper.

Nothing in the headline surprised her...

"TERROR IN PONYVILLE! - TESTIMONIES FROM RESIDENTS ATTACKED BY UNKNOWN MONSTERS - LORD OF CHAOS SAVES THE DAY!"

The mayor finished her coffee and set the newspaper aside. She had more things to do that morning.

She rummaged through one of her drawers in search of a blank piece of paper, setting aside Princess Twilight’s request to hold a referendum and the latest polls showing a 100% approval rating for the new cohabitation regulations. Finally, Mayor Mare found some clean sheets of paper.

But when she took out her pen to write, she paused.

"Ju, ju. Good job, Mayor Mare, always making Equestria great as ever..." she said to herself with a smile before starting to write.