The Ponyville Express: Wednesday, November 7, 2068 C.E.
Editorial: Departure of the Last Non-Unicorn
by Breaking News
One thing I can not help but notice is how Ponyville has changed over the decades. I grew up here and I always loved the publicly funded festivals, the small town feel and events such as Winter Wrap Up, the Running of the Leaves, creating winter and the Nightmare Night Festival.
When I went to journalism school back in Manehattan back in 1996 I am going to admit, I loved learning all the tricks of the trade but there was one thing that I hated, the big city hustle and bustle. I grew up being used to peace and quiet, I grew up knowing everypony I ran across and the friendly conversations we would always have. In Manehattan, it was not like that. Most ponies don't know one another and the ponies will yell at one another when they get in one another's way.
When I returned home in 2000 and got a job with The Ponyville Express, it was right as election season was beginning and I remember how there was a progressive unicorn going up against Miss Mare. I remember how happy a majority of the community was when that unicorn was defeated easily.
Back in those days, I remember truly believing that Ponyville would always be that community that was an oasis of happiness and harmony in a nation where the big cities were growing and the city ponies simply weren't that friendly. I remember when 2016 arrived and Miss Mayor was running for her fifth consecutive term. I remember all the promises she made and I remember all the promises Amethyst made. I believed until the very end that our mayor would win and finally crush the wave of cynicism and privatization that Amethyst brought with her.
I still remember that election night when it was announced that Amethyst had won. I remember my heart sinking as I dreaded what she would do to the town. My dread became a reality all too soon as she scrapped all of our traditions, brought in mages that controlled the weather, eradicated bugs that cold winters would have killed off and rejuvenated the soil to make it more fertile.
While she did make many promises, she took things to a whole new level over the years as she along with her wealthy donors in The Ponyville Department of Tourism and Economic Development began to expand the town to the south and created a modern, "cosmopolitan" end of town that began to destroy the small town feel we had.
It was in that first four years that she did a great job of pretty much making sure that the traditions of old would never return as the town's demographics had changed. In 2016, we were a community of PONIES, primarily earth ponies but by 2020 when she was up for re-election, the town had become diverse and over half the population was unicorns, unicorns that were fiercely loyal to Amethyst along with businessponies that were loyal to her as well.
I remember that 2020 election, it was Amethyst going up a Minotaur that was promising the return of tradition yet keeping some of what Amethyst had used to destroy the town. He was hardly a good candidate but I hoped he would win. When he was crushed by Amethyst, my frustration became greater. I knew that by the time 2024 would arrive, the town would have so many unicorns in it and so many other opportunistic creatures in it that a traditionalist would never stand a chance.
That is exactly what happened, the unicorn population began to grow further and modernization not only continued to build the new, modern end of town but even the older, traditional side of town began to modernize. It was in 2026 when almost every single straw roof had been eradicated in favor of wooden roofs and in some instances, new houses entirely were being constructed, primarily out of brick with metal frames. By 2031, I was the only one with a traditional home with a straw roof.
I was happy with that as I was determined to keep it that way until Amethyst finally banned straw roofs in 2033. Why did she do this do you ask? She claimed that it hurt tourism and may keep some Equestrians from coming, she claimed it made the town look like a dump. What was worse, most of the town celebrated her decision, they celebrated the fact that she was one step away from eradicating everything traditional.
One thing that I remember the most was in 2037 when the Apple Family, the last farmers in Ponyville, sold off Sweet Apple Acres to a juice company back east because what had become a city life simply was not for them. I remember the day when they packed up and moved to Appaloosa, I remember believing that was the day that Amethyst had finally won. I remember the ribbon cutting for what became a factory farm. Amethyst was there with the CEO of The Equestrian Fruit Beverage Company with huge smiles on their faces. I remember having to interview them and having to come up with an objective article about it. That was the hardest article I ever had to write.
The decade of the 2040s only became worse as more and more unicorns moved in. Eventually their business savvy nature even drove out other species. I remember in 2049 on her ninth inauguration day when the statue of the creatures in the town square was moved to a local park in favor of a statue depicting Amethyst herself as the savior of Ponyville. I remember the huge dedication ceremony she held. While I knew that it would never happen, I hoped and prayed to Mother Faust every night that things would return to normal. I prayed that the unicorns would return to the larger cities but the more I prayed, the more the unicorn population increased.
I remember that it was finally in 2052 when, for the first time in Ponyville's history, that a candidate ran unopposed in the election. I remember on what was basically another coronation night, there was Amethyst standing at the base of the newly renovated Sky Needle with the whole town except for myself, cheering for her and absolutely adoring her. That was the first time I honestly considered relocating and hoping I could get a job with another paper but when all there was were other big city papers hiring, I chose against it.
I remember it was in 2060 when Ponyville finally had a vice mayor and the vice mayor was no better than Amethyst. She was Amethyst's grand-niece, Morning Dew. During that year's Vice-Mayor debate, I learned she was a carbon copy of Amethyst and was basically the heir to the office of mayor. Yes it is still an elected office but Amethyst and anypony related to her were loved in Ponyville by that point.
The 2060s saw no change, more unicorns moving in, more ponies of the other tribes relocating to more diverse communities and then earlier this year, the unthinkable happened. Amethyst Star, in her thirteenth term announced her retirement and that her vice-mayor, Morning Dew, would be running for mayor. I was thrilled when this happened. While it was far, far too late to bring back the Ponyville I loved but I was hoping that at least she would want to restore some traditions.
When she unveiled her policies, that would not be the case. Her policies were simply continuing Amethyst's legacy and her vice mayor, Anvil, the head of a construction company, had the same mindset. I did have hope though. Their opponents were a pair of unicorn stallions who wanted to do things to restore the old way of life and hopefully diversify the town again.
Like it was in 2020, a referendum had been added to the ballot. In one final spit in the face to tradition, Amethyst put a referendum on the ballot that would change the name of Ponyville to Unicornopolis, a name that in my opinion signaled that the community was solely for unicorns. When I learned of this, I was appalled. I went so far that I was out campaigning against the referendum, putting a great amount of bits and energy into saving the town's name and legacy.
In the end it was all for naught. Morning Dew and Anvil crushed their opponents and the referendum only had three ponies who opposed it, myself and Morning Dew's opponents. This was the moment I knew everything I feared in 2016 when Amethyst became the first non-earth pony to get elected was achieved. The fears I had of her eradicating all tradition had finally come to pass.
Now here it is, November 7, 2068 and this is the final two weeks of Ponyville. Two weeks from today, the town will throw the biggest celebration in Ponyville's history as it will officially become Unicornopolis. I for one plan on starting to pack tonight and relocate to Appaloosa and with any luck I will be gone within a week because I will not, I repeat, I will never be a citizen of Unicornopolis.
All I can say is congratulations Amethyst. Congratulations on destroying what was once the most traditional community in all of Equestria. You succeeded, you succeeded in what your REAL desire was back in 2016. You and your kind eventually caused all the pegasi to leave, you caused all the other creatures who eventually came in to leave, you caused all the farmers to sell out to corporations and once I am gone, you will have caused the last non-unicorn to depart this community.
I will always have my fond memories of the community I grew up in and began work in long ago. It is sad though that my final memories will not be of a wonderful, small earth pony community but instead, a metropolis populated solely by greedy, power hungry unicorns.