Final Preparations
Evening had arrived and the ENC crew had everything set up and ready to go. All that needed to happen was for the candidates to arrive and the pony she was supposed to moderate the debate with, Breaking News to arrive. After ten minutes the candidates arrived and finally, not too long before the debate was set to begin, Breaking News arrived.
Sunny waved her hoof at Breaking News and said, "Breaking News, you're almost late!"
Breaking News gave her a scowl and snapped, "Well I'm here aren't I?"
Sunny rolled her eyes and then cast her gaze towards the crowd. She knew that the unicorn population in Ponyville had been steadily growing but it appeared as though over half the crowd was unicorns. Sunny couldn't help but point, "Wow, talk about a different crowd! Four years ago there weren't that many unicorns!"
Breaking News grunted in disgust when Sunny got a beep in her ear that it was time to start the debate. She continued, "Come on, we need to get down to the moderator's table. The network is about to start coverage."
The two headed down to the moderator's table, got sat down and readied themselves for the debate. In past debates, Breaking News was not thrilled having to moderate besides Sunny but this time he felt a sense of dread. He knew that she was going to do everything she could to expose weaknesses in Iron Will so he figured that he would do the same with Amethyst.
Debate Time
A red light flashed on the camera and they were on the air. Sunny began, "Good evening Equestria. My name is Sunny Flames and alongside me is the head reporter for The Ponyville Express, Breaking News. Tonight we will be bringing you the Ponyville mayoral debate"
The candidates walked onto stage and to their podiums. Sunny continued, "Let's meet the candidates. We have incumbent and Reform Party Candidate Amethyst Star and Ponyville First Party candidate, Iron Will. Tonight we will be doing it somewhat like the debate was four years ago where we will ask a candidate a question, they will respond and then their opponent will be given an opportunity to give a counter response."
Breaking News was sick and tired of Sunny always taking control of the debates early on so he decided to ask the first question, "Amethyst Star, from what I understand after you decided to eradicate winter, not only did you have to bring in a weather mage, but you also had to bring in a mage to control pests that a cold winter would have killed off and you also had to bring in a mage to rejuvenate the soil that a cold, snowy winter also would have taken care of. What I would like to know is how much the town is paying all these mages and how it is affecting the budget."
Amethyst was glad he asked the question because it was yet another chance for her to shine with her transparency. She projected the first year of spending and pointed out their pay, "Well as you can see, the weather mage is from Canterlot and is quite wealthy so he offers his services at five thousand bits per year.." She then pointed out the pay for the other mages and continued, "Regarding the other mages, they are also from Canterlot and plenty wealthy and offer their services for 5,000 bits per year as well." She stood proud and continued, "That is 15,000 bits per year for the mages."
Breaking News had a feeling that Sunny was about to give Iron Will a chance to counter but wanted to know more, "Amethyst, this 15,000 bits per year, what percentage of the budget is this taking?"
Amethyst projected more records for everypony to see. She continued, "As you can see, in my first year it was around 20 percent of the town's budget but as time has passed and we have more revenue coming in, it has dropped to around 10 percent of the budget so the payments to them certainly are not harming the town any." She again stood taller and continued, "While those figures may sound high, they are still lower, even back in my first year, than what it cost to publicly fund festivals, low enough that we still run a surplus despite us taking care of other necessary expenditures."
Breaking News was not thrilled that there were absolutely no holes in Amethyst's response and hoped that Iron Will could provide a good counter response, "Iron Will, your response?"
Iron Will began, "While Iron Will knows that Amethyst's policies have aided everypony financially, he knows that farmers are very old fashioned and are likely not thrilled with having to basically rely on unicorns for them to maintain their livelihoods. If Iron Will is elected, he will restore things to how they used to be and allow farmers to have more control over their way of life. Iron Will will make sure that they do not have to rely on unicorns for their livelihoods."
Many of the earth ponies, especially the farmers, began to cheer wildly when they heard his response. Given that Breaking News asked the first question, it was Sunny's turn and she decided she would target Iron Will over something that the warm winters do to benefit him. She asked, "Iron Will, as you have stated throughout the election cycle, you have said that you would restore winter despite it wiping out three months worth of tourism and that would harm your profits with your zeppelin cruise business. How can the ponies here be sure that you would stick to your word?"
Iron Will knew that this was going to be a tough question and replied, "Iron Will will admit, he does like high profits but like he has said before, his zeppelins sail all over Equestria so it will not harm him so much that he would go back on his word." He faced the earth ponies and continued, "Iron Will knows how important tradition is and he wants to return Ponyville back to what it used to be, a community of tradition. He does not want to see tradition die and see Ponyville turn into a mixture of Las Pegasus and Manehattan."
Again the earth ponies cheered until Sunny continued, "And what about the ponies who work for businesses that rely heavily on tourism? If you restore winter, tourism will grind to a halt for three months and they may be laid off until the arrival of spring. How do you expect ponies to make a living when they would have three months of the year without a paycheck, particularly the hotel workers and assuming it passes, the casino workers?"
Iron Will suddenly found himself in a tough situation and had to think of some sort of response, "Well Iron Will doesn't think that tourism will grind to a complete halt just because it is winter. Iron Will is certain that there may be some ponies who will come here in the winter and if that casino referendum passes, they may come to Ponyville instead of Las Pegasus for a gambling trip."
Sunny figured that Iron Will had went into enough detail and then turned to Amethyst, "Your response?"
Amethyst began, "While Iron Will is stating that he will not harm harm his business that much by restoring winter I can't help but wonder. What is my opponent going to do when he actually sees the lower figures on paper during the winter? Is he going to be satisfied with lower profits for one-fourth of the year? If Iron Will is like other creatures that run the kinds of businesses he does, he will not be happy and he will go back on his word."
Sunny asked, "Anything else?"
Amethyst continued, "Regarding tourism and the jobs that it generates, it seems as though my opponent does not care whether these ponies will have any paycheck coming in or not. He seems to think that ponies will pick Ponyville over Las Pegasus for a gambling trip during the winter. Here is the thing, temperatures are comfortable down there during the winter while if we restore it here, it will be freezing cold and who in their right mind is going to go on a vacation to someplace cold?"
After her response, all the ponies who had moved to town for the jobs along with every single unicorn began to cheer loudly. Even some of the other creatures who had relocated their businesses to Ponyville began to cheer loudly. After the cheering died down Sunny decided to announce the one difference between this debate and the last one. She announced, "And now that we have asked the candidates some questions, one member of the audience will be able to ask a candidate a question and like it was before, their opponent will be able to issue a counter response." She turned to the audience and asked, "Who wants to ask a question first?"
Everycreature in the audience raised their hooves and Breaking News was not about to just let Sunny pick who would be allowed to ask the first question. He went out into the crowd and found a cerise earth pony. He asked, "Ma'am what is your name?"
The pony replied, "My name is Miss Cheerilee and I am the teacher at the local school."
Breaking News asked, "Which candidate would you like to question?"
Miss Cheerilee stepped forward and asked, "Amethyst, I have noticed that ever since you have become mayor, Ponyville has steadily grown and as time goes on, it is growing faster and faster. It seems like you are dead set on eradicating the small town feel" she pointed towards the new hotel and the nearly complete Sky Needle and continued, "and are trying to turn Ponyville into a mixture of Manehattan and Las Pegasus. Is that your goal? Do you think that by eradicating the small town charm and traditions you can ensure that you will be mayor clear up until you either retire or breathe your last?"
Sunny couldn't help but chuckle over Cheerilee's conspiracy theory but Amethyst took it in stride, "To answer your question. I have no intentions on trying to eradicate the small town charm. I enacted the business friendly policies to aid in Ponyville becoming debt free and many creatures, MY OPPONENT INCLUDED, have taken advantage of it."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "I noticed you pointed towards the hotel and the Sky Needle. While many of the traditionalists have their concerns, my goals are not to eradicate the small town charm. I am simply capitalizing on the increase in tourism along with keeping the tourists coming to make sure that nopony gets laid off and again, all of this does help my opponent."
Again the unicorns along with everypony who had benefited from Amethyst's policies began to cheer loudly which was not part of Cheerilee's hopes when she questioned her. It was then another pony's turn to question the candidates and Sunny approached a griffon. She asked, "Ma'am, what is your name?"
Gilda replied, "My name is Gilda loser."
Sunny knew how griffons could be sometimes and continued, "And your question for one of the candidates."
Gilda seemed to be a bit more confrontational, "Iron Will, I don't get why you would want to harm so many businesses with this winter nonsense. You realize that if you win and do this, every businesses would see their profits drop." She pointed towards Amethyst and continued, "Which is something that your opponent has brought up on multiple occasions." She raised her voice and finished, "I don't know about anycreature else who owns a business but I do not want my profits cut."
Many of the businesscreatures, especially the ones who had relocated there began to cheer. Iron Will waited until the crowd died down before replying, "While Iron Will understands that it would cut into many businesses profits a bit, many ponies spend more around Hearth's Warming so that may help lessen the hit."
A decent portion of the crowd began to boo over his response, mainly those whose livelihoods depend on the year round tourism. Iron Will noticed this and had a flustered look on his face. After the booing subsided Sunny announced, "The Ponyville debate is almost complete so we shall allow the candidates to make one final point." She pointed towards Iron Will and continued, "And on a final note, why should Ponyville elect you?"
Iron Will began, "Ponyville should vote for Iron Will because not only will he keep some of his opponent's business friendly policies but he will make sure that winter is restored. He will make sure that farmers will no longer have to rely on unicorns to maintain their livelihoods. He will restore publicly funded festivals because he knows that they always brought the community together." He then pointed towards Amethyst and continued, "While Iron Will can not be sure, he has a feeling that Amethyst and her cohorts in The Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development will use their own money to do everything it takes to transform Ponyville into a miniature version of Las Pegasus."
He stood taller and finished, "Vote for Iron Will and that will not happen. Iron Will will make sure that Ponyville does not grow too big and all your beloved traditions will be restored. He will restore creating winter, he will restore Winter Wrap Up, he will restore publicly funded festivals and despite what his opponent may think, the restoration of festivals will not lead to deficits."
When Iron Will finished his statement, all of the traditionalists began to cheer loudly and chant Iron Will over and over. Once the crowd had quieted down Sunny turned to Amethyst and asked, "And why should Ponyville re-elect you?"
Amethyst began, "I believe that Ponyville should re-elect me because my policies allowed the town to get out of debt for the first time since before my predecessor held office. It was because of my policies that the municipal property tax will cease to exist come January 1st of next year. It is because of my policies that we still have the most advanced hydroelectric dam in Equestria, it is because of my policies that Miss Cheerilee is one of the best paid teachers in Equestria. It is because of my policies that the businesses here are turning much higher profits and those will only grow further with increased tourism, which will be brought in by the new hotel and the Sky Needle which is ahead of schedule and should be open for business by Nightmare Night."
She stood taller and finished, "Now I have a question, do you really want to return to outdated things such as Winter Wrap Up when our mages keep the weather warm and have aided in the farmers in turning larger profits than ever? Do you really want an economic downturn for three months of the year along with the lousy weather my opponent wants to bring back? If you want twelve months of economic prosperity and you want the quality of life to continue to improve for everycreature, vote for me. If you want stagnation and debt, vote for my opponent."
After Amethyst finished, her supporters erupted into a loud cheer and the words, "Repeat, repeat, repeat!" were heard all over town.
Post-Debate Discussion
Once the crowd quieted down Sunny received notice that they were running out of time and realized the time for the post debate discussion had come. The cameras turned away from the candidates and towards the two moderators. Sunny turned towards Breaking News and asked, "This was quite the interesting debate tonight. Who do you think won?"
Breaking News, like always, was frustrated by the question but tried to maintain his cool, "Well to be honest, I think it was a tie. Amethyst Star did show how the hiring of all these mages is not harming the town financially but Iron Will, like he has been, is trying to appeal to everypony. He is reassuring the more modern thinking ponies that the current financial policies will not be deviated from but at the same time he is reassuring the traditionalists that not only will he restore our beloved traditions nor will he allow this to become the second Las Pegasus." He took in a deep breath and finished, "And he realizes that tradition is very important to earth pony communities." He then turned towards Sunny and despite knowing what her answer would be asked, "Who do you think won the debate?"
Sunny turned towards the cameras and replied, "I think Amethyst won this one easily. Like she always has been, she was transparent in showing the town records for everypony to see. Not only did she show town spending records but she made it clear that she was not about to allow anypony to suffer financially by allowing the community to suffer by reverting back to old, outdated ways of life. She has also made it clear that she does not want to see anycreature suffer through what could be a three month layoff that would result from next to no tourism during the winter that Iron Will wants to bring back." She then turned back towards Breaking News and finished, "And I don't know if you've noticed this or not but Ponyville is no longer an earth pony community, it is very diverse and Amethyst's policies have aided everycreature and shall continue to do so if she is re-elected."
Before Breaking News could reply, Sunny heard a beep in her ear signaling that they had ran out of time. She finished, "Thank you Equestria for tuning into the Ponyville Mayoral Debate. Up next is the mayoral debate from Las Pegasus and after that, the Vanhoover debate."
Breaking News's Breakdown
The cameras stopped rolling and it was at that moment that Breaking News just couldn't contain himself any further, "Sunny, you just don't get it do you? Ponyville may no longer be an earth pony community but in the end, all the long term residents will realize that you can't just go throwing tradition in the trash. Even those unicorns will finally realize that what they did four years ago was wrong. They will vote for the candidate that wants to restore tradition, they will not vote for a candidate who wants to turn Ponyville into a big city." He got up in her face and finished, "Just you wait Sunny, come election day, Iron Will will win and tradition will be restored and you can go back to your fancy big city and cry over your beloved Amethyst losing!"
Sunny couldn't help but snicker over his rant. She replied, "You know, I would take you much more seriously if you weren't so emotional and stuck in the past. I know that some ponies here will vote for Iron Will because of his emphasis on tradition but the newcomers and the business owners will not bite the hooves that are allowing them to increase their profits." She then got a smirk on her face and mockingly continued, "And don't forget, us unicorns stick together! We ALWAYS stick together."
Breaking News slammed his hoof on the table and yelled, "That is why I hate unicorns! So many of you would vote for a unicorn solely because he or she is a unicorn. Amethyst could have brought about financial ruin and the unicorns would STILL support her!" He then stormed off and yelled, "Just like I said last time, you probably have a marecrush on Amethyst! Good riddance."
Sunny remained sitting down for a moment and laughed, "I can't wait until Election Day! When Amethyst wins big, he will finally realize Ponyville has changed."