“No, Rainbow Dash! I cannot and will not permit this!”
“But Mayor Mare! What better way is there to distract the dragon from looking down into the basement than filling the sky with an awesome Sonic Rainboom?” Rainbow asked in a honeyed voice.
“Miss Dash, your first Sonic Rainboom was visible in half of Equestria, and your second was even bigger! I understand that you have to gain the speed by flying downwards, so it can only happen close to the ground! Releasing that much energy in proximity to Ponyville equals a disaster! Broken windows everywhere! The damage would be terrible,” the mayor explained.
“But the Princess is paying for the whole event!”
“That doesn’t mean that we can burn down the town!”
“I wouldn’t burn it down. Just... shake it up a bit!”
“Massage it into the ground is what I would call it.”
“So... that’s a maybe?”
“NO! No Sonic Rainboom! I want regular, good weather and maybe a few conventional tricks, if Ms. Sparkle and Pinkie deem them appropriate!”
Dash was about to start another barrage of pleading, begging, and possible bribes just as Twilight entered the mayor’s office.
“Oh, there you are, Twilight,” the mare in office said. “Could you please inform Miss Dash about her duties? And how they do not include Sonic Rainbooms!”
“Dash?” Twilight asked with a bit of surprise.
“Come on, Twi! What better advertisement for me than a dragon stating my awesomeness? My hoofs are already bound to go down in their history. Now I just have to add my wings! What better way to impress the Wonderbolts than this?”
“Is there a single thing in your life that is not focused around joining the Wonderbolts?” Twilight sighed.
Dash tilted her head. Very old and rusty gears seemed to turn inside of her head. “I think pulling pranks with Pinkie doesn’t further that goal...” she said after a while. “But why waste my life on Non-Wonderbolt related stuff?”
“Anyhow, the mayor is right. We can ask the dragoness if she wants to see your routine, but a Sonic Rainboom would be really counterproductive,” Twilight explained.
“Great!” the pegasus moaned. “Two ‘bad news’ moments and it’s not even time for my late noon nap!”
Twilight gave the mayor an apologetic look and shoved Rainbow out of the office. She really didn’t feel like piling on more trouble, but if Rainbow had a problem, she would help her.
“What is it Dash?” Twilight asked carefully, closing the office door behind her.
“Oh... I just got this stupid mail,” the pegasus explained as she grabbed an envelope from her saddle bags. “They rejected me, again!”
“Oh... Rainbow, I didn’t...” Twilight started, but decided to read the letter before trying to console her friend.
Dear Rainbow Dash
We, the Wonderbolts, are honoured that you have applied for a position within our team. Sadly we have to inform you that, by decree of Princess Celestia of Equestria, foal protection act §11. 3 you are not within the age margin for high risk stunt work.
All your efforts to join will be noted, but please remain patient, until...
“YOU’RE TWO YEARS TOO YOUNG?” Twilight yelled.
“Pah, they always send me that excuse!” Rainbow countered. “As if there was such a silly rule.”
“Of course there is! That’s also why we are also not allowed to join the guard yet! Heck, I expected you had some defect or were just afraid of officially joining. But you’re just... how can anypony be this impatient?”
“Hello! Rainbow Dash!”
“Right... Loyalty and bravery... not patience.”
“Bored now, can we do something else?”
“Or attention span...” Twilight sighed in defeat. No wonder she was best friends with Pinkie. “As I said, regular stunt work is fine. But no Rainbooms! If you blow the library away, the dragoness will see Spike!”
“I think you might want to reorganize your priorities, Miss Sparkle,” chimed a calm voice behind the door.
Twilight sighed. “Go and see if you can help Pinkie. Please.”
Dash saluted in her usual manner and left.
Twilight entered the lion’s den. The mayor was an interesting mare. Ponyville was her first priority and she ruled it with a calm and soft hoof. Feats of loyalty towards the community got rewarded and she always had the right words to motivate the inhabitants. But right now, she seemed... different. Currently she was giving Twilight the patented “hoofs together just below the lips and right over the edge of the glasses” stare. How Twilight envied ponies with glasses! They could do so many great things with them!
“Is there something you have forgotten to tell me?” The mayor asked calmly.
“As it seems, we will have to hide Spike in the library and completely deny his presence in Ponyville!” Twilight explained. “Order from the Princess!”
“Spike is a well known member of the community, Twilight. Hiding him might prove a little difficult.”
Twilight forced a small laugh.
“Ms. Sparkle... how old do you think I am?”
Twilight’s eyes turned to the size of saucers. Her mouth opened, but no word left it.
“Not that old, I can proudly say. I already had a grey mane when I was born. But I have seen my share of issues in this town. I have held this position for almost half my life, you know. Say, Miss Sparkle, do you know what an election is?”
Twilight nodded.
“I also assume that you know how the mayor of a small community, like ours, is chosen?”
“Wait, you were elected?” Twilight suddenly stammered. What a weird way to run a town!
“Yes, I have earned this job through actions and decisions. Not by having the ‘ruler’ cutie mark and not by birth. I got elected. And every two years, I have to face my voters and see if I did well.”
Twilight was slightly confused out by the concept. Politically, Canterlot was such a simple place. You had nobility and commoners on the one hoof and Princess Celestia, who ran the place basically by herself, on the other.
“To make this clear: For several years, I didn’t even have any enemies. Ponies thought that my work was so good that they wanted me to keep doing it. That changed three years ago: for the first time in almost a decade, I had to fight hard during an election! And don’t get me wrong, Miss Sparkle, I do not want to get re-elected just because I crave power or because my ego needs the stroking. I just saw the alternative! And I refuse to allow Ponyville to be turned into the chaos capital of Equestria!”
Twilight swallowed. Who could possibly be such a bad choice? And who would vote for them?
“Who...?” she asked carefully.
“Think for a moment! Who has the most friends, knows almost everypony, is loved by...”
“NO, not...!”
“YES! It’s either me or her! I would give my life to protect this town! And Miss Sparkle, if Ponyville goes down in flames OR if you cost me the next election, which would have basically the same result, I’ll make sure you do so too! Understand?”
Twilight swallowed. “Yes, ma’am!”
“Good. Now be a dear and do what you do best. And don’t forget this conversation!”
The purple mare nodded and trotted out the door, trying not to shiver too hard. She tried to imagine Pinkie Pie in this office. It involved burning houses and an enormous, government founded Robot-Ninja-Dragon made from cupcake dough, tearing the remains apart.
The mayor spun around in her chair and waited for a few minutes. Then she burst into laughter. Some ponies needed a different kind of rallying...
- - -
Twilight had made up her mind. She would fake her own death, go into hiding and live as a travelling book sales pony on the run. Even if she got robbed on a daily basis and ate things she found on the ground, it couldn’t be any more stressful than her life in Ponyville was!
“NO! I can’t do that! Spike is relying on me!” she said to herself and swallowed. What would Princess Celestia tell me in a situation like this?
The hard face of her mentor and teacher appeared inside her head: “Twilight, if you don’t keep up that insane degree of diligence and borderline OCD, I will personally punish you! And not in the way you sometimes dream of! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“NOOOOOO!” the purple mare suddenly wailed.
“Fine! Then you don’t like my roses!” a disappointed Roseluck said, turning to change the perfect bouquet behind her.
Twilight had walked right into the preparations. Awkwardly, she moved on. “Princess Celestia is your teacher and cares about you! She would never say something like that!” the nervous mare told herself.
Celestia appeared in her mind again: “Twilight, you are my most faithful student and I only give you such difficult tasks because I know that you can succeed where others would fail. So don’t disappoint me, or I will kick you out of school and turn you into my personal slave! And not like in that other dream of yours! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
I have issues... Twilight decided and blocked out any other mental images of her beloved teacher. She decided to turn her attention to the preparations. Maybe the act of turning every pony around her into a cog in her machinery would take her mind off her impending doom.
- - -
~Meanwhile in Canterlot~
“That still doesn’t explain why I have to hold every speech before the school! We are both headmistresses now,” the sun princess demanded to know.
“I will not take any more apprentices!” Luna stressed. “Remember Star Swirl? He got so nervous around me that it ended with him putting bells all over his clothes, so he would find the parts of his body I would turn invisible for fun!”
“You never turned anything of him invisible.”
“I know that! His fantasy got the best of him! If I were you, I would watch out for your student, too!”
“I am grateful for the suggestion, but I know Twilight and there is no reason to worry!” Celestia smiled. Even though she hated lying to Luna…