Convincing Twilight
A little over three months had passed and it was late July. There still had not been any ponies who went up to Canterlot to file for their candidacy and there were certain ponies who were contemplating doing so. In Twilight's castle, she and her friends were hanging out when it would be brought up. "Well it is only one week until Amethyst wins by default," Applejack sighed "I just wish somepony would go up and file so she doesn't automatically win."
Rainbow groaned, "Ugh, not this again! Look, Amethyst has done a great job and if you're expecting me to run again, I'm not doing it."
Everypony else seemed to be frustrated by Applejack bringing it up. She knew that Rarity couldn't run, she knew that Pinkie, Rainbow and herself had failed in the past. She then began to focus on the remaining ponies in the throne room. She first turned to Starlight and asked, "Ah know you said no before but please? Would you please try to help the traditionalist cause?"
Starlight replied, "No, I will not. Amethyst Star has turned Ponyville into an economic powerhouse that is now home to a very diverse population and if traditionalist policies are restored, you'll see an exodus from here. You'll see Ponyville's economy collapse and ponies will not be happy. I love how things have changed and I'm not going against what I support and I'm not going against prosperity."
Applejack sighed in frustration before turning to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, what about you? Would you be willing to run?"
The very thoughts of running sent Fluttershy into a panic, "No, I can't do that! What if everypony hated me? What if I panicked during the debate? No, no, no!"
Fluttershy then began to breathe heavily and Applejack knew that even running would be too much for Fluttershy to handle, much less running the town. She then turned to the one pony that might be able to actually win, Twilight. "Twilight?" Applejack asked, "What about you, I know I asked you before but I'll ask again, would you be willing to run?"
Twilight sighed, "Applejack, I don't know."
Applejack brought up Twilight's brief interview from election day, "But Twilight, everypony could tell, especially that reporter and anchor, that you miss the old ways! If you really want the old Ponyville back, you have to run!"
Twilight again sighed, "Applejack, I don't know if I even could. I'm a princess and that is likely a conflict of interest." Applejack gave Twilight a look of desperation which caused Twilight to cave in. "Alright, I'll go talk to Celestia and if it isn't a conflict of interest, I'll file, alright?"
"Thanks Twilight, I'll really owe you one." replied Applejack.
Twilight got up and headed for the exit so she could go to Canterlot. As she took flight, she couldn't help but wonder how she would be received by the electorate. She knew that Amethyst was popular beyond belief, perhaps even more than her and knew that advocating anything that would either hinder or reverse progress, that ponies would likely start to think negatively of her on a princess level. Despite all these concerns, she did miss the old Ponyville and decided she would file.
The Royal Candidate
When Twilight arrived in Canterlot, she headed immediately to the palace to talk to Celestia. When she got to the throne room she was greeted warmly, "Twilight, it is so nice to see you! What brings you by today?"
Twilight was nervous but knew that if she wanted old traditions back that it had to be done. She replied, "I know there isn't much time left to file but I'm wondering if it would be a conflict of interest for me to run for mayor in Ponyville."
Celestia was so shocked that she fired a beam of energy out of her horn before laughing, "Twilight, I could have sworn that you said you wanted to run for mayor of Ponyville!"
Twilight approached the throne more and repeated, "I did. If it is not a conflict of interest, I would like to run for mayor of Ponyville."
Celestia was not exactly thrilled that Twilight would ask and had a strong feeling as to why she wanted to do this. She asked, "Twilight, are you really wanting to run or are you doing this as a favor to Applejack?"
Twilight froze when Celestia asked this. She thought that the princess would simply have her fill out the paperwork and she would get on the ballot. Never once did she expect Celestia to question her motives. She replied, "Well Applejack did mention it and I'll admit, I do miss the old Ponyville. It seemed like such a happier, more close-knit place."
Celestia sighed, "Well there is nothing in election laws that would forbid it so I can't technically stop you from filing but you do know that if you do run, some ponies may think you'd use your powers as a princess to try and change things."
Twilight replied, "But Amethyst has used her mayoral powers to turn Ponyville into what it is. She used executive powers to make it a city, she killed all the traditions, she has turned it into a smaller Las Pegasus and she's in the process of making it like Manehattan too!"
Celestia looked deep into Twilight's eyes and continued, "Yes but you are a princess Twilight. Ponies may think you have a lot more power than you do and would blame the monarchy on anything you would do that hinders or reverses progress."
Twilight held her head low and sighed, "I take it you don't want me to run?"
Celestia replied, "No, I do not but I can not stop you. If you choose to run, do so at your own risk. I know some ponies will see it as a conflict of interest and you will have to be prepared to go up against Amethyst and her political savvy."
Hearing about Amethyst made Twilight completely sure, "Look, I know about Amethyst now could I please file? I want to bring back the Ponyville I first went to, the Ponyville I loved."
Celestia handed her the paperwork and sighed, "Ok, it is rather simple. Fill out the necessary information and if your political affiliation is not listed, check other and write it in."
Twilight could feel the anger coming from Celestia as she filled the paperwork out. When she got to the section about political affiliation, she had to think for a minute. She would be pushing a traditionalist platform but knew full well that she couldn't actually use the name because of how bad Applejack fared four years ago. When she finished she handed the paperwork back to Celestia.
Celestia was looking over the form and then replied, "Alright, you're on the ballot. Now I am certain that Sunny Flames will want to do a summer interview with you so your message can be spread across the country. Then in October you will have a head to head debate against Amethyst and then election day is in November."
When Celestia brought up Sunny Flames, Twilight cringed. She knew just as much as everypony else that Sunny absolutely adored Amethyst and felt that she always showed favoritism towards Amethyst in the last debate. She replied, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." She looked towards the exit and continued, "I can't wait to tell my friends! I know they'll be so happy!"
Once Twilight left, the very first thing Celestia did was call Amethyst to let her know about Twilight running before it showed up in the paper.
She picked up the phone and dialed Amethyst's number, hoping she would pick up quickly. After just one ring it was answered.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Amethyst, it is me Princess Celestia."
"Princess Celestia! It is so good to hear from you! So what do I owe to this call?"
"Princess Twilight decided she wanted to run for mayor so she could restore the old Ponyville. I think Applejack had a lot to do with it."
*gasps* "Wait a minute, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?"
"Unfortunately no. Only princesses that have actual political power are forbidden. Twilight doesn't have any actual power so she can run."
"Well, I'm pretty sure that some ponies may not know that and will question whether she can do this or not."
"In the report in the paper, I will state that it isn't a conflict of interest but the very fact that she is a princess may cause some ponies concern."
*snickers* "And I already have a plan! I am very well liked down here and I am quite certain that I could exploit that to my advantage. I could easily make them think she could use executive powers to force all the newcomers out, to close the casinos, to restore property taxes and to set us back to a time of high taxes and high deficits."
*giggles* "That's my girl! I know you've still got this Amethyst! Twilight may be a popular pony but ponies aren't going to go against prosperity!"
"No they won't. Thank you for warning me about this Princess Celestia."
"No problem but I better get going before somepony catches me warning you. We don't want a scandal erupting."
"No we don't. Talk to you later Princess!"
"Talk to you later Amethyst."
*CLICK*
As Amethyst was hanging up the receiver, Sea Swirl got curious about who she was talking to. "Sweetie, who was that?"
Amethyst replied, "It was Princess Celestia." *sighs* "It looks like I will have an opponent after all."
Sea Swirl asked, "Who is this opponent?"
"Princess Twilight," Amethyst replied "apparently Applejack talked to her and convinced her to run but I'm not worried. Princess Celestia and I were talking and I already know how I can handle this. It may not be a conflict of interest for her to run but I can use her royal title against her."
Sea Swirl snickered, "You're planning on making the city think she has powers that she does, right?"
"Yes, I am." replied Amethyst. "My past opponents had their weak spots. Miss Mare had her deficits, Iron Will had him wanting to shoot his own business in the hoof and Twilight's royal status will be easy for me to pick apart."
Unlike what she would have done in the prior election cycles, Sea Swirl was very supportive, "Well you're good at exposing weaknesses and with Twilight, it is going to be easy, beyond easy!"
"It will be." Amethyst replied, "It certainly will be."
When Twilight returned to Ponyville the very first place she headed was to Sweet Apple Acres. She knew that Starlight and Rainbow Dash would not support her in the slightest but Applejack would be thrilled. She saw that Applejack was out applebucking so she approached her and yelled, "Hey Applejack!"
Applejack approached her and replied, "Hey Twilight, I take it you have good news?"
Twilight said, "Yes, I do. Princess Celestia wasn't thrilled but I was able to run. I told her I missed the old Ponyville and I wanted to restore it."
"Well Ah'm glad Twilight but why wouldn't Celestia be happy?" Applejack asked. "Ah thought she'd love to see the pony who was her protege run."
Twilight began to go on a rant, "Well here is why I don't think she was happy. Amethyst Star has eradicated all debt, Ponyville no longer has to beg her for money, Ponyville has become a city and for some reason, she thinks Ponyville losing its small town charm is a good thing." She became more agitated as she continued, "I don't think Celestia cares about tradition! It seems like all she cares about is communities with money! I can't help but wonder if Celestia doesn't favor Amethyst over everypony else!"
Applejack put her hoof around Twilight and replied, "Twilight, calm down. You just need to come up with a plan. If you can convince everypony that you'll run the town better, you'll win."
Twilight said, "You're right Applejack but for now, I think I'm going to go home and start making a plan." She began to leave and added, "Well I'll see you later."
"See you later Twilight."
As Twilight headed back towards the castle, she couldn't help but be nervous. She knew that Starlight would likely question her over things and given her love of everything Amethyst had done, she knew that her student probably wouldn't vote for her. She also knew that Rainbow's chance of voting for her was zero because Dash has repeatedly said that Ponyville is cooler now. She sighed, "I won't have their support but I have to win over the town and I have to find flaws in what Amethyst has done."