Open Ballot

by RamboZelda

Returning

It was a beautiful night. The princess of the night had done her job well. The moon was full and bathed Equestria in a calm silvery-blue glow. The stars seemed to twinkle and shine so bright that it was as if a pony could reach up and pluck one from the sky. The trees shuffled softly in the cool breeze. Down on the earth, the fireflies danced in the air and the frogs croaked rhythmically.

Underneath the night, a mare trotted slowly through the Everfree Forest. The trees were beginning to slowly thin out, and she knew she had to be reaching her destination soon. Behind her was a small, yellow, wooden wagon with a red thatched roof. It had once been decorated with her cutie mark and few simple designs, but she had since simplified it. She had simplified herself, as well. Gone was her star-spangled purple cape, replaced by a drab and tattered brown cloak. The wagon held her few possessions and rolled alongside her wherever she went, and so far it had remained as loyal a friend as she deserved.

In the past she had done things that she regretted deeply, but it was time to face those things and the ponies she did them to. She moved through the forest slower than she should have, but she knew that each and every hoofstep brought her closer and closer to Ponyville, and just the sound of the name brought forth a guilt that she found harder to swallow, even after receiving forgiveness from Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight, the mare knew, was now one of the princesses of Equestria, and the wanderer didn't even know if Twilight would be in Ponyville. She was the last pony the mare had seen before leaving Ponyville. That was a year ago. She had spent a lot of time recuperating in other places, scraping up some bits where she could. She had definitely planned for a different trip this time around. She was done with trying to put on a show. The mare just wanted to make things right this time. In fact, she was planning on leaving her wagon behind and wearing a cloak, in hopes that she would be recognized as little as possible.

It finally happened. She passed the last of the trees and was out of the Everfree Forest and could see the buildings of Ponyville in the distance. She wanted to be sure that her wagon would staying a good distance from the town, and she knew this wide-open field of space would do nicely.

She decided to make herself some breakfast and wait for sunrise, which was about an hour off. She hadn't been able to sleep during the night, and she had spent much of it walking. But she wanted to have a little bit of time to relax.

She pulled a slightly stale biscuit out of her wagon and began to chew on it thoughtfully. She didn't know how she was going to tackle her anticipated meeting with Ponyville. The restless pony was trying to sort through the townsponies through her mind to see which one would be the most okay with seeing her. No... that didn't sound right. It would have to be the pony that despised her the least.

The mare swallowed the last of her biscuit, took a drink of water, and laid her head down. But only for a moment; suddenly she heard hoofsteps approaching her. Her head bolted up, and she saw trotting towards her a slightly familiar pony. It was a yellow pegasus mare with a mane of muted pink. The cloaked pony started scrambling for a name.

"Hello there!" the pegasus said in a demure voice. "All you all right out here? I was looking for one of my lost animals when I noticed your wagon."

Hiding herself had never been part of the plan. The mare took a deep breath and stood up, removing her hood. "Hello, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy gasped and reeled back, taking in the sight of the unicorn that stood before her. She had a periwinkle coat and violet eyes. Her mane and tail were both predominately white with a large light gray stripe running down them. "It's... it's you!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Trixie!"

Trixie gulped. She just had to get this out. "I want to apologize."

Fluttershy blinked, not expecting words like that to come out of a pony like Trixie. "Apologize?"

"Yes, apologize," Trixie said again. "To everypony."

Fluttershy sheepishly scraped the ground with her hoof. "Is that what you're really here for? Because we both know what happened last time."

"Twilight Sparkle forgave me!" Trixie shouted. "Why can't you?!"

Immediately Fluttershy shrank back from Trixie's tirade. For a moment Trixie hated herself. But she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she said sadly. "I want help. I want everypony to see that I want to change."

Fluttershy looked in Trixie's eyes, and for once she saw genuineness in them. She, above most other ponies, knew that second chances had to be given.

She straightened herself and said, "All right. I believe you."

"You do?" Trixie said hopefully.

"Yes, I do," replied Fluttershy, even offering a smile.

"Thank you, Fluttershy!" Trixie said with relief. "Soon, everypony will see how apologetic I am!" She got a blanket of her wagon and laid down on it, preparing to fall asleep.

"Wait, is this where you sleep?" Fluttershy asked.

Trixie sat up. "Yes," she said a bit defensively. "I have nowhere else to go."

"Oh, well, if you're up to it, you can stay for a while in my cottage," Fluttershy offered a bit hesitantly. "If you would rather stay here, that's fine. I'm just putting that out there."

Trixie looked up at Fluttershy, having not anticipated receiving kindness this soon. "You'd really let me stay in your cottage?"

"Sure!" she replied. "I wouldn't feel right letting you stay out here. There's been weird tracks showing up in the Everfree Forest. Usually I'm pretty good at identifying tracks, but I've never seen anything like these."

Trixie yawned at the explanation.

"A-anyway, so, how about it?"

Trixie stood up. "I accept your gracious offer," she declared. "It would be much better than staying out here, anyway. Lead the way!"

Trixie strapped herself to her wagon and fell into stride beside Fluttershy. As they walked, the first rays of dawn leaked into the sky. The stars were not quite ready to give up their place in the sky, and they clashed against the red light.

"So..." Fluttershy said a bit awkwardly, "what have you been doing since you left?"

"Mostly working," Trixie replied. "I've been finding odd jobs, mostly in Dodge Junction and Appaloosa. They're easy to find there."

"It sounds like you were doing well for yourself."

"Yeah?"

"So why'd you come back to Ponyville?"

"Believe it or not, I do have a conscience," Trixie snapped. "I just needed a while to clear my head. I know I wasn't in my right state of mind while wearing the Alicorn Amulet, but I remember everything I did with it. And I do actually feel bad for what I did."

"So you want to be able to apologize?"

Trixie paused. "I just want everypony to know that I'm not a monster."

Fluttershy saw the look of hurt in Trixie's features, and she felt a twinge of pity for her. She quickly decided to change the subject. "Hey, you know, you came just in time for a pretty big event here in Ponyville."

Trixie looked intrigued. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"The election campaigning for the new mayor of Ponyville is going to start this afternoon!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! Mayor Mare was reelected at the last election, but she decided not to run again. We're getting pretty concerned about the election though."

"Ponyvillle is, like, the smallest town in Equestra," Trixie replied snarkily. "What could possibly worry you ponies about it?"

"Well, so far there's only one candidate."

"Is it Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie asked, trying to mask any excitement that her voice might betray. "That seems like her kind of thing. She still lives here in Ponyville, doesn't she?"

"No, she's not running," Fluttershy answered with a chuckle. "And yes, Twilight does still live in Ponyville, but she's away in Canterlot for the next week for a conference with the other princesses."

"Oh," said Trixie, trying to hide her disappointment at Twilight's absence. If anypony could have helped her, it was her. She quickly recovered. "Well, no matter. Who is running then?"

"Um, I think his name is Grass Roots," Fluttershy said after a moment of thinking. "He came to Ponyville about three months ago. I hear some ponies talk about him, but I've never met him personally."

The two of them arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. The multitude of birds that had flocked to the organic building chirped noisily. Trixie told herself that she would need to find some earplugs. She unhitched her wagon underneath a tree and stepped inside the cottage with her host.

"Does nopony want to run against this Grass Roots?" asked Trixie, keeping the conversation going. "What's he like?"

"Oh, don't worry, you'll meet him tomorrow," said Fluttershy. "From what I've heard he's taking this election very seriously."

"Yeah yeah," Trixie said, waving her hoof dismissively. "Now, where am I sleeping?"

"I have a guest room upstairs," Fluttershy said. She motioned for Trixie to follow her. Once in the bedroom, Trixie flopped on the bed as she was, without removing her cloak.

Fluttershy winced. "Oh, um, Trixie..."

"What?" she snapped. "I need some sleep."

"I was, uh, just wondering if you could take off your cloak?" Fluttershy asked with no small amount of hesitance. "I just don't want the sheets to get dirty..."

"Relax, Fluttershy," grumbled Trixie as she got underneath the covers. She kicked at the sheets and hit the pillow until she was finally satisfied with he position. "You need to lighten up a little."

Fluttershy turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She sighed heavily to herself and said, "This is going to be harder than I thought."

Comments

[Spring_Saint]

Huh, good intro although a slightly bit rushed p.s: FIRST!

[SuperChaosKG]

Hey, hey! I like it. Trixie is still a bit of a jerk, but hey. She's Trixie. Come on now.