Amethyst's Preparations
The day of the fall debate had arrived and like she had been for the major events of the election cycle, Amethyst Star was in her living room going over town spending records again. Another thing she had done was packed up her projection screen as it would be needed for the debate. Sea Swirl saw what she was doing and asked, "Amethyst, what's up with packing the projection screen?"
Amethyst replied, "I don't feel like having to ask somepony else to set one up. I'm taking my own, I think it will make me appear more professional."
Sea Swirl gave her a smile and said, "You seem to be getting more and more professional as this election cycle progresses. You're shooting for at least 200 aren't you?"
Amethyst replied, "We've had even more ponies move in here since the primary and I am hoping that they have registered to vote. I'm not setting my sights on any specific number. Doing so would be bad luck."
Sea Swirl knew how her friend was and couldn't help but chuckle, "Same old Amethyst I see. Won't make predictions on camera and won't make predictions here at home."
Amethyst replied, "Nope." She then decided to do something that she has done before other events, "Sea Swirl, you always say you support me but never have you attended anything. You don't attend the debates nor do you attend the watch parties. Do you think you could attend something this election cycle just once? Would you want to come to the debate?"
Sea Swirl threw her hooves up in the air and sighed, "Look, you know I don't care much for politics." She saw Amethyst developing a sad look on her face and continued, "Fine. I'll attend your watch party come Election Day but I do not want to have to deal with Iron Will and his arrogance tonight."
Amethyst gave her a smile, "Well I will appreciate that." She took a look at the clock and realized that she needed to get going and continued, "Well I will see you tonight Sea Swirl."
Sea Swirl replied, "Well good luck tonight. I know you have it in you, go out there and prove why ponies should vote for you."
Amethyst nodded and headed out the door. What surprised her was Sea Swirl's last comment. In the past she had always gave her suggestions to be cautious but this time she seemed far more supportive. Amethyst said to herself, "Don't worry Sea Swirl, I plan on it!"
Iron Will's Preparations
While Amethyst was preparing for the debate, Iron Will was doing the same. On most days, he would be out inspecting the zeppelins to make sure they were safe for travel but the day of the debate would be different. One thing that Iron Will had done was try and do some research on the town spending and had some papers of his own.
Around noon one of his captains came into his office and asked, "Boss, you've been in here all morning! Normally you would have been out inspecting the zeppelins to see if they are safe for flight." He then saw that Iron Will was looking through a stack of papers and continued, "And what is up with that stack of papers?"
Iron Will sighed, "Iron Will is looking through the town's expenditures to see if tax money is being spent on anything it shouldn't be but he is finding nothing that would give him an advantage, nothing!"
His captain replied, "Boss, this isn't like the mayor four years ago. From what I've seen, Amethyst is incredibly transparent and from what I understand, that Sky Needle is completely private funded so if you're looking for misuse of town funds, it's not going to happen."
Iron Will continued to look through the papers until he found something. He exclaimed, "Ha! Iron Will has just discovered that all the companies that have applied for business permits here are owned by UNICORNS!" His voice became louder as he continued, "Iron Will has reasons to believe that Amethyst Star is allowing all these companies in so she can alter the demographics of Ponyville to the point that she will always win."
His captain replied, "I wouldn't say that because she did give you a business permit and she also gave that griffon with those tasty scones one as well."
Iron Will sighed, "Ok, most of them but still, Iron Will believes that Amethyst wants to make it impossible for a non-unicorn to win." He pointed towards the exit and finished, "Now Iron Will is certain you have a cruise scheduled to set sail soon. Iron Will would suggest you get ready to sail, NOW!"
The captain left and it was all Iron Will could do to not start yelling. While he knew that Amethyst had allowed other creatures to move their businesses to Ponyville, he still found something odd about how many of them were owned by unicorns from the big cities where earth pony traditions are viewed as ridiculous.
Sunny Flames' Arrival
It was midday in Ponyville when Sunny Flames and the ENC crew arrived in town. When she disembarked from the train she couldn't help but smile as she saw that the hotel was open for business. She said to herself, "Well now their tourists will have someplace nicer to stay than the small inn they had for so long."
Sunny noticed that the houses that were going up on the new end of town earlier in the summer were either completed or nearly complete. She turned to her crew and suggested, "How about we walk around town a bit. I think I can get a pretty good idea of who ponies support by doing this."
As she headed into the new part of town, she couldn't help but notice something that she had never seen in Ponyville and rarely saw in other communities, yard signs. It seemed like almost every single house she passed had an "Amethyst 2020" sign. She developed a huge smile, turned to her camera crew and exclaimed, "Wow! I know she is popular but I didn't expect to see yard signs for her!"
She continued to look around and also saw signs saying "Vote Yes on Referendum 1." She figured that those were likely ponies who supported the vote regarding Amethyst's plans for casino gambling. She couldn't help but wonder how things were in the older side of town where the debate was going to be held so she ordered her crew to follow her to check on things.
Once she arrived in the older part of town, she found what appeared to be a mix of "Amethyst 2020" signs and "Iron Will: Best of Both Worlds" signs. Sunny couldn't help but chuckle, "Best of both worlds? Sorry Iron Will but wiping out three months of economic growth every year isn't anything good!" She also noticed that even many of the ponies on the older end of town had signs supporting Referendum 1. She thought out loud, "Looks like the casino gambling referendum isn't a sure thing but I guarantee Amethyst's re-election will be a given."
After spending nearly an hour checking the town out, she and her crew finally headed to the debate site and began to set up. One individual that had not shown up yet was Breaking News. Sunny noticed this and began to wonder if she was going to be moderating this one solo or if he was simply running behind since he is usually already there when she arrives.