May 16 1010 A.G
3:30 PM
Downtown Canterlot.
It was a cool afternoon in the city of Canterlot, and right now Atlas was walking down a crowded street with bag of takeout hayburgers for him and his siblings. The reason why there are so many ponies around because the nearby convention center was hosting the last chancellery debate.
This event is really important.
Why?
It’s because the chancellor is the most powerful person in the Equestrian government behind Celestia and Luna. Every five years this position is up for grabs and all major political parties in the country spends millions of bits to convince the ponies to vote for them.
The candidates who will be in this debate is the current chancellor, Neighsay of the National Progressive Party.
The former governor of New Mareland, Huey Kingfish of the Equestrian First Party.
Famous writer and director, Vasily Shukshin of the Federationist party.
Atlas walked past the Convention Center, he looked at the crowd and noticed the Chancellor Neighsay speaking to his supporters.
Since he is Celestia political advisor, he attended more meetings with the chancellor more than he can count and knows how difficult he can be to work with.
He is stubborn on certain issues, and he doesn’t take criticism well.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention he’s like this when the royal sisters are around. So, imagine how much of a headache he can be when they are not.
Atlas was so deep and thought that he didn’t notice a certain seapony journalist until it was too late.
“Oh crap. Are you ok?” He asked guilty.
“Yeah, I’m all right.” Then she realized who bumped into her. “Atlas?”
“Mira? It’s good to see you. Sorry for bumping into you.” Atlas said before helping the journalist up.
“It’s right it’s nice to see a familiar face in this Faust damn crowd. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing fine, same thing with my siblings. I am guessing that you’re here for the debate, right?”
“Yep, I was chosen to ask some of the candidates some questions after the debate.” Mira answered.
“Really, that’s great. This must be a really big deal for you.”
“It’s every journalist dream to be on national television. So, are you going to watch the debate tonight?”
“Definitely, this is like a glorified job interview, and I want to know who I might be working with for the next five years.” Atlas said before he checked his watch.
“Oh shoot, I have to get going. Good luck.” He said before walking away.
“Thanks.” Mira waved before making her way towards the convention center.
===•••===
8:00 PM
The convention center.
Vasily Shukshin’s POV.
The Vasily was in backstage, waiting for his name to be called, so he can finally get on stage.
If you have told him back in November that he would’ve been running for chancellor of Equestria in the new year, he would’ve thought you were crazy.
Yet here he was seven months later. He didn’t expect to come so far since he’s not a career politician. But fate proved him wrong when his speeches gained him a good amount of support from his party and the population.
And now he bout to go against the biggest names in politics for the last time.
The reason why he was running for chancellor is because he wanted to make a difference. The year 1010 wasn’t the best year for Equestria so far and he felt like he was the best stallion to lead the nation through this trying time.
All he has to do was to convince Equestria that.
“Please welcome on the stage, the Federationist candidate, Vasily Shukshin!”
The white unicorn smiled and waved as he walked onto stage and stood at his designated podium.
After the last candidate walked on stage, the mediator cleared his throat.
“Good evening, I welcome you to the third and last debate of 1010 chancellory debate. Gentlemen, each of you will have two minutes to answer each question then we’ll move onto the next. Chancellor Neighsay, in recent months tensions has been rising across the world. The average citizen is getting concerned about this. What is your solution for this problem?”
“The solution should be to continue to status quo, fortify our borders, make sure that our allies can defend themselves and expand the entente. Equestria defeated a major world power by itself so imagine how quickly a future war will end with us and our allies working together. That is more than enough for enemies to think twice before they mess with Equestria. And if we take advantage of that fact, we don’t have to be involved in any future conflicts anytime soon. That is all.”
“Former governor, Kingfish, you got two minutes. You got two minutes.”
“Now Mr chancellor, I agree with some of the things you’re saying, except for expanding the Entente.” The brown earth pony said, with a thick southern accent. “If we want to lower the temperature a bit, we should keep our alliance as it is. If we allow more countries to join, they will bring their problems to us, and we would have to send our troops to help them out. That is not going to happen under my leadership. What we should do is dig in and wait for the storm to pass. In the meantime, we should focus on the problems at home. Improve the lives of our fellow ponies, help the changeling refugees that seeks asylum here and last, but at least we should expand social services like the ‘every stallion a king’ program. It worked in new Mareland, it should be able to work here.”
Before he can continue with his speech, his time was up.
“Mr. Shukshin, is your turn now.” Said the host.
‘Well, here it goes.’ The writer thought.
“I know that every pony in here do not want to see another war happen. I don’t want that either.
But the reality is that continuing the status quo, or not allowing more nations to join the Harmony entente it’s not going to work. Because of three nations, the Changeling Empire, Livonia and Wingbardy.”
“These expansionist countries not only one to come after us but also our all as well. They have established an alliance between themselves and are busy expanding their militaries. The dictator of Livonia said that his goal was to unite Kirin tribes under the Livonian flag. 28% of our population is of Kirish descent, making us one of his targets.”
“Now I’m not suggesting that we should turn this country into a militarized society like them, what we should do is stay vigilant, work with other nations that are facing the same threat and invest in new technologies that can help us in a future conflict.”
“The only reason why the changing-equestrian war ended so fast is because we were lucky enough to have guns and tanks. If it wasn’t for those two inventions, the conflict would’ve been a long and bloody. If we don’t want that to happen in the future, we shouldn’t rely on dumb luck. That is all.”
“Does any of you have any comments or opinions you want share before we move on?” The mediator ask.
“I have nothing.” Neighsay said.
“I have nothing to say.” Huey replied.
“Same over here.” Vasily said.
“The next issue is about the economy. The Equestrian economy grew lot in the past year and many voters would like to see this trend continue. Candidates what are your plans to continue our economic growth? Chancellor, as usual, you go first.”
“The economy is doing so well because for the past five years, my administration has done nothing but give businesses more freedom to do their business. I could’ve done more if the Senate wasn’t a pain in the flank. Many of my critics and opponents might disagree with me on this, but I am the main reason why the economy is doing so well in the first place. Nothing more nothing less.”
(This statement made Artemis very angry.)
“I have to disagree with you there.” Huey Kingfish said. “The reason why the Senate didn’t pass most of your legislations is because it will take advantage of the average pony and derail the economy. You even ignore the experts. If you want the Senate and this country to support you, you should do all you can to help this country not fill the pockets of the rich stallion!”
“I been leading this nation with the Empresses for five years now. I always had every pony's interest in mind.” Neighsay argued.
As his opponents argued with each other, Shukshin stood quietly, waiting for them to stop. He knew that the chancellor would say something controversial and start an argument, but he didn’t know it would start this early.
A few moments later, the mediator muted their mics.
“That’s enough you two. Mr. Shukshin, do you have anything to add?”
“Yes, I do. I believe that the best thing for the economy is to make legislation that benefits both the businesses and the average pony. If we support businesses too much, they’ll become too powerful and become a big problem. If we support the workers too much, the businesses won’t get any profits and the economy will stagnate. But if we make a compromise, every pony will win. If we don’t come together and figure out issues like this, it will end poorly for us.”
“Do you have anything else to say before we move on?” The mediator asks.
“No, I do not.”
“All right.” The mediator looked at the list of topics and got nervous when he saw what was next.
“The next issue is a controversial one. Ever since the end of the Changing-Equestrian war there’s been hundreds to thousands of refugees crossing our Northwest border risking their lives trying to see asylum. Despite their heartbreaking stories, Chancellor Neighsay trying to close the Northwest border, only to be overruled by the Empresses, the Senate and the Supreme Court. Gentlemen, will you try to implement a similar policy or do something completely different?”
All eyes were on the chancellor now.
And he thought the best course of action was to defend himself.
“The reason why I try to close the border is because none of those changelings deserve our help. What have they done for us? Nothing but trying to conquer and subjugate us. And now they want our help? no way. We should’ve sent them back when we had the chance. And if we allow more changelings to stay, they might try to take over the nation like they tried to do during the wedding. They might be doing that right now. That’s what I’m trying to prevent. That’s why I try to put that policy in place. It’s either us or them.”
Most ponies in the room were speechless.
===•••===
Canterlot Castle.
Apollo‘s room.
8:15 PM
Meanwhile in Canterlot castle, the triplets, Thorax and Zeya were watching the debate together to see who would come out on top.
All of them were shocked of what Neighsay had said.
“Holy shit, he did not just say that. He did not just say that.” Atlas said. “How stupid do you have to be to say that on national television?”
“I need some air; I’ll be right back.” Zeya said in anger before leaving the room.
“What a jerk. What did we do to him?” Thorax asks.
“Just existing, that’s it. You think that’s bad; you should hear what he said about us when we first came to Equestria.” Apollo answered.
“Finally, he shows his true colors.” Artemis laughed. “He’s going to lose this election. He’s going to fucking lose for sure.”
“Hey guys be quiet, one of them is about to speak.” Apollo said.
===•••===
Back in the convention center.
“That has to be the most disgusting statement I have ever heard of my life.” Kingfish said.
“Chancellor, you don’t really mean that do you?”
Shukshin ask in shock.
“Yes, I do mean it my duty is to protect and serve Equestria, not allow the enemy to infiltrate the country. You would’ve done the same thing if you were my shoes.”
“I would never do something like that. The refugees are not the same ones that try to subjugate us. The reason why they are running away from their homeland because they their country has become a military police state that will jail any pony that disagrees with the government. Not only that, but half of the refugees also want to go to countries like the Crystal Empire and they have to come through here because we’re the closest nation that will help them. Trying to send them back to the authoritarian tartarus should be a crime.”
“And if I remember correctly one of the reasons why we were able to defeat the changelings in the first place, is because their princess warned us. So, are you suggesting we should send her back as well after everything she done for us?” Huey asks.
“No comment.” Neighsay said.
A few moments of awkward silence later, the mediator decided to move on. “Ok, since our candidates already made their positions clear, let’s move onto the next topic, shall we?”
===•••===
10:03 PM
After two hours of speeches and arguments, the last chancellery debate was finally over.
After he got off the stage, he walked over to his running mate. He is a white Pegasus stallion with a green mane and tail. This is Shukshin’s good friend, Alexander Pokryhkin. A.k.a. the Equestrian falcon.
“Hey Alex, how did I do up there?” Vasily asked.
“You did great, Vasily. Way better than the Neighsay. All we have to do is talk to some journalists and smooth sailing until election day.”
“Speaking of election day, how are the polls doing?”
“We are neck and neck with kingfish for first place. The chancellor is in last place.”
Alexander answered.
“Neck and neck, huh? It looks like things are going to be interesting for the next few weeks.”
“You can say that again.”
Before they can leave, Mira walked over to them and said. “Hello, Mr. Shukshin, my name is Mira Breeze from the Canterlot Times. Can I ask you some questions about tonight‘s debate?”
The writer thought about it, and then smiled.
“Of course, ask me anything.”
===•••===
June 6
Four weeks later.
2:30 PM
SaintPetershoof, Equestria.
Vasily Shukshin was many things, a writer, a director, a poet, and now a chancellery candidate.
He went from an average colt from a middle-class family, to one of the most recognizable ponies in the country.
However, as he sat at home, watching the election results with his wife, Charlotte. All he can feel was trepidation. Months of fundraising, speeches, rallies, and interviews lead to this moment.
With his family’s moral support, he traveled all over Equestria, from Stalliongrad to Las Pegasus, from the Twin Cities to Manehattan, and now the only thing he can do was wait.
The votes came in agonizingly slow, his heart soar with every positive result and sink with every loss. After hours of waiting and a few cups of coffee later, the last of the votes were counted.
And it was clear. Equestria wanted Neighsay out, and Shukshin in.
“Oh, my stars.” Vasily said in shock.
“Yes, you won! You Won!” Charlotte exclaimed as she hugged her husband tightly. “I knew you can do it.”
This is when his victory finally sunk in.
“I actually did it.” He said emotionally as he hugged his wife back.
After pulling himself together, Shukshin ended the hug.
“Now all we have to do now is to move to Canterlot and enroll our daughters into new schools.” He said in thought.
“Hey don’t worry. I can take care of that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, you work your flank off to achieve this. It’s the least I can do.”
Thanks, I really appreciate that.” He said before yawning. “Let’s go to bed. After tonight, I am exhausted.”
“Agreed.” Charlotte replied.
After they put the coffee mugs in the dishwasher, they went upstairs and got into to bed.
Vasily fell asleep as an ordinary citizen and later woke up as the new chancellor of Equestria.
===•••===
Canterlot castle.
8:10 AM
Apollo’s POV.
Apollo was in his office, doing his daily routine of a royal advisor when he heard a knock on his office door.
“Come in.”
After hearing this Artemis enter the room.
“Morning Artemis.” Apollo greeted. Then he noticed the bags underneath his eyes. “Let me guess, you stayed up late?”
“Yep, I was trying to see who won the election but fell asleep in the middle of it. Here’s the documents Luna requested.”
“Thanks.” Apollo said after receiving the papers.
Artemis was going to leave but then he stopped in front of the door. “Apollo.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know who won the election last night? I didn’t get the chance to watch TV or get a newspaper.”
“Shukshin won. Kingfish was in 2nd place and Neighsay was humiliated. I almost felt bad for him.”
“Oh really? Thanks for telling me.” Artemis smiled before closing the door. After he checked that the coast was clear, he said in a loud whisper.
“Yes, yes, fuck you, Neighsay!”
For the rest of the morning, Artemis was in a good mood, knowing that he will be out of office in a few weeks.