//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: Friendship in Politics // by Shockburst //------------------------------// It was early in the next day. The Ponyville train to Baltimare rode smoothly toward the east. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were in their beds sleeping soundly, Rainbow being especially loud. Twilight was reading An Analysis on Pony Economics and catching up on the essentials in Baltimare from the Ponyville Gazette, while making notes to herself. She needed as much information as possible in order to formulate a bill for the Society. Her quill stopped as she read a rather large paragraph on economics: "Most ponies regard the ideas of fiscal liberalism and fiscal conservatism as incompatible, impossible to link. The very opposite is true actually. In the late 7th century of the exploratory age of Canterlot, the national debt was so high that the National Equestrian Banking Service decided to slash all spending while driving up taxes for all ponies. Although their plan was derived from blind desperation, it surprisingly worked. The debt was slowly brought down to a controllable range. Although the consequences of the spending cuts were somewhat severe, important expeditions and projects were cancelled and the revenue of all the ponies was scaled down by 25%, the economy of Canterlot was made more stable and slowly the city began to recover. What we must understand from this therefore, is that the combination of policies from fiscal liberalism and conservatism is not only extremely successful, but should serve as the template for modern day economic policies. Unfortunately however, it still must be understood that government cannot affect the economy on large scales. The economy has a separate path from politics and will go up and down no matter what happens. Government policies can only speed up the process of recovery or exacerbate the process of decline." Twilight thought the paragraph over as she tapped her hoof on her face. If policies wouldn't affect the economy that much, was there any point in trying? Increasing the rate of recovery probably wouldn't have that much effect, so is it worth it to try and implement policies? She read ahead. "Although government policies can affect the economy, what counts the most is what the ponies themselves think. The credit for all banking services is dependent on how the ponies think and regard the economy on. When the ponies think the economy is good, the economy generally does better. Ponies tend to spend more, making businesses richer and the government gets more money. When ponies think the economy is declining, they tend to spend less, which in turn destroys businesses. Therefore, government policies can, in a sense, create a sort of placebo effect where ponies think that the economy would get better, and choose to spend more. In the end, what makes the economy better is the thoughts and mindset of each of the individual ponies. Modern-day economic policies tend to favor the average spender, in the hopes that he or she will spend more." That sounded good. Maybe if their bill was good enough, the ponies in Baltimare would make the economy the better. Twilight began paraphrasing the paragraphs for future use. Suddenly, the train slowed down. The coaches rocked forward and Twilight almost spilled her ink well. She quickly jotted down the last bit and stuffed everything back in her bag. " 'S time to go already?" came a muffled and tired voice. Rainbow Dash looked up from her bed. Applejack got up and scratched her head. "Whoo! Yay!" cried out Pinkie Pie. She jumped out excitedly and started to jump around the rather small sleeper carriage. "Girls. Get your stuff together, we should be getting off soon," said Twilight. She levitated her bags and brought them down. Right on cue, the magical announcements came on: "Rise and shine, everypony! This is Ponyville train #25, headed to Baltimare. We will be arriving at our destination in 10 minutes. Please take out all luggage and check to make sure that you have left nothing behind!" Meanwhile, in a few carriages behind, the Blank Mare woke up herself. She shook her head and jumped out, grabbed her bags and walked toward the door. She looked out to see a large line of forest, which surprised her. She thought that such a large city as Baltimare would have already gotten the surrounding wood. The wind that flowed from the cracks in the door felt good and woke her up from her early-morning torpor. The Blank Mare donned her cloak, but she stopped for a moment to think. She came so she could really connect to society. The cloak was a reminder that she had tried to do the opposite. She shrugged and put it on anyway. If pony society was welcoming enough, they would allow her to join the fold no matter what she did. In a sense, the Blank Mare was setting up a test for society, to see whether it was worth mingling with all the ponyfolk. The train finally slowed and stopped at the Baltimare station. The doors opened magically and the Blank Mare walked out. The steam from the train mixed with the morning fog to create a lingering cloud around the station. She walked slowly, carrying her luggage and made for a terminal. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight all got out with their luggage. "Is this Baltimare? Gosh, it's so white, I can hardly see a thing. Maybe my night-vision goggles could help!" said Pinkie Pie. "This fog's getting really annoying. I'll take care of it!" said Rainbow Dash, and she jumped up and began circling around in a large tornado, sucking in all the moisture. Slowly the station began to clear up, while the Blank Mare and the rest of the ponies looked in shock. When the station was clear enough to see the sun, Rainbow Dash released the compressed cloud from the vortex. Unfortunately, her outbound vector wasn't the best and the cloud headed straight for the Blank Mare, which passed right through her, soaking her to the skin. "Oh, whoops," said Rainbow Dash, while Pinkie Pie started to laugh. The Blank Mare scowled as water started dripping from her hair. She started walking again, but Rainbow Dash blocked her way. "Hey, wait! I'll make you dry again, just give me a second!" said Rainbow Dash. "No, thanks, I'm good-" began the Blank Mare, but it was too late. Rainbow Dash started another tornado around her. "Rainbow!" Twilight cried out, but Rainbow Dash didn't hear her. She finally stopped after a moment. The Blank Mare whirled around dizzily before steadying herself after a second. Although she was dry, her mane was now a messy bush. Twilight rushed forward. "Sorry," she said, as she took out some manespray Rarity had given her before the trip, but the Blank Mare waved her down. "It's nothing. I'm sure your friend had good intentions," she said. "Incidentally, are you a fan of the Wonderbolts?" she asked Rainbow Dash. "I was, why?" she replied. "Oh, your moves are somewhat, er, unique. Just like theirs. I'm sure you would've made a good Wonderbolt before they were caught," said the Blank Mare. "What's your name?" asked Twilight, as they all started to leave the station. The Blank Mare hesitated, but decided to go on with the "test" for society. "The Blank Mare," she answered. Twilight and Rainbow Dash stopped in surprise,while Pinkie Pie and Applejack went on ahead, taking a look at the already visible skyscrapers. "You're the Blank Mare?" the two asked in shock. The Blank Mare nodded. Rainbow Dash looked positively aghast while Twilight looked at the Mare in analytic curiosity. "But, you're so... normal!" said Rainbow Dash. The Blank Mare laughed. "I get that a lot. Don't worry, I'm as normal physically as ponies come from." "But," said Twilight, as they started to leave again. "But it you're the Blank Mare, I thought your entire act was secrecy. Why are you here just ambling about?" "Well, I've decided to come and assist the Society for the Betterment of Baltimare. They said they needed a good writer. Princess Celestia even came personally to come and talk to me. I thought there would be a good amount of juicy stories here plus a good writing job, so I decided to come," said the Mare. "You're here to help the Society? So am I! We can go together!" said Twilight. "Sure, I guess," said the Blank Mare. "Wait!" said Rainbow Dash. "You're going to help her? Twilight, you know what's she like. She's probably here to destroy the entire Society from within or something like that." "Rainbow-" began Twilight, but the Blank Mare waved her down again. "Trust me, you- er, what's your name again?" she asked. "The one and only Rainbow Dash!" replied Rainbow. She dashed up in the air, leaving behind a streak of rainbow and did a few loops, before coming back down and creating a rainbow above her head using moisture from the air. The Blank Mare raised her eyebrow, apparently impressed. "One and only eh?" she said. "That's right! Won't find another pony like me!" said Rainbow Dash. "I doubt that," said the Blank Mare, as she started walking again. "And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Rainbow Dash as she stopped ahead of her. "Well, it's just that, it isn't so hard to find a pegasus who's arrogant, egotistical, and self-confident right?" "Well, you see, it isn't so hard to find a pegasi like that. But that's what makes us so much better than the rest of you. I mean, we have good lucks, talent, and we're important to Equestria. You guys depend on us." Rainbow Dash pointed at the Blank Mare and Twilight. They looked at each other before the Blank Mare replied. "Well, that explains the personality, but you guys all have the same talents, right? Flying? Just in different degrees, right?" "Well, I mean..." said Rainbow Dash, but she didn't get to finish. At that moment, Applejack stuck her head out the terminal. "Are ya'll gonna just stand there and chat or are we gonna move?" she asked. The Blank Mare and Rainbow Dash exchanged a look of rivalry, before Rainbow Dash flew toward the terminal. Twilight and the Blank Mare followed. At the Society, Lightstring walked through the door and right into Bright Seeking's face. She stepped back involuntarily. "Lightstring! Thank Celestia you're here! Come on, we have a lot to do," he said. He grabbed her without waiting for a reply and pulled her to his office. Sitting inside were Meriwether and another pony, who was clutching a clipboard. "Hi!" greeted Lightstring. Meriwether nodded while the other pony continued to stare at the paper on the clipboard filled with notes. "Alright, enough greetings. Listen, we're in a wrap here. The lame-duck period for the 6 ponies who've been voted out ends in just 5 days from now. We have until then to try and get this bill up as well as secure the votes of those 7," said Bright Seeking in a tone of business. "Well, that's a pretty long time, right?" asked Lightstring. Meriwether shook his head. "Under normal circumstances, yes, but we need to get these ponies convinced as soon as possible. First, we need to come up with the bill. Meanwhile, we need to actually start talking to these ponies and convince them to vote for this bill when it comes in. Second, once the bill is formulated, we put it in the Council and we figure out the opinions of everypony so we can make adjustments. Third, once we figure out what the Council ponies think about it, we fix anything that we can and put it up for them to vote," Meriwether presented Lightstring sucked in her breath. "That all seems complicated. Can't we just wait until I'm in and we can start working from there?" "Well, we could," said Bright Seeking. "But there's just the fact that it would mean we would essentially be wasting time for the economy to recover. In the event that the worst happens, meaning the bill gets tabled, we'll use you as a White Party connection from here to there. I just hope that we won't have to do that." "But, come up with an actual bill in just a day? How are we going to do that?" asked Lightstring. "We have the basics set up," said the pony with the clipboard. He checked his notes before explaining, "The basic idea is that we will cut spending as well as increase taxes for the wealthy. That way, we can slowly take care of our debt and begin recovering. The tricky party is the specifics of the bill: how much are we going to cut spending? What should be the range of income that we would consider 'wealthy?' Statistics and other things." "I'm sure Twilight could be of some assistance there," remarked Lightstring. "Of course, everypony here pretty much shares that sentiment. Honestly, she should have arrived by now..." said Bright Seeking. Right on cue, a clerk dashed up to the office. "Sirs, ma'am, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived." "Friends?" asked Bright Seeking. The four ponies got up and walked out, followed by the clerk. In the lobby stood Twilight, the Blank Mare, and the rest of the gang, who were looking around the spacious lobby. The stallion with the clipboard muttered about being needed upstairs and walked off. "You know, this reminds me of the time ah' went to Manehatten," remarked Applejack. Rainbow Dash flew up to one of the chandeliers and began inspecting the clear quartz pattern. She smiled and grinned at her reflection on a particularly large piece, viewing herself at different angles. The Blank Mare watched her with belittling amusement and looked down chuckling to herself. Twilight spotted the five ponies and rushed toward them. "Miss Twilight Sparkle, I presume?" asked Bright Seeking, offering his right hoof. Twilight nodded and shook his hoof. "Hey Twilight!" greeted Lightstring enthusiastically. The two hugged like good, close friends. Twilight had met her multiple times before while planning out some of the Society's events. "Hello, madam," said Meriwether graciously. He extended his hoof as well and Twilight shook it. "I don't recall you from before. Are you new?" inquired Twilight. "Oh, no. I'm a Council member, Meriwether. You may call me Weather. I'm Head of the Environmental Concern Committee and Environment representative to the Economic Management Committee. I'm currently here acting as a sort of Blue Party liaison for the Society, but I'm technically not a member," replied Meriwether. "Wow. It's nice that we have a Council member here," said Twilight. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie knocked her aside and stood in front of Meriwether. She leaned aggressively toward him, forcing him to lean back in surprise. Pinkie Pie stared at Meriwether as though she were examining him. Meriwether stared back at her, confused. "Pinkie Pie!" said Twilight angrily. She glared at Pinkie Pie, who looked at Twilight back. "What?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I was talking to him!" Twilight said. "Sorry, but he seemed so funny! He's got a great accent," laughed Pinkie Pie, and she started jumping around the lobby. "Sorry, she gets like that," apologized Twilight. Meriwether nodded in reply. "Alright, enough with the greetings! We've got a job to do!" said Bright Seeking loudly. "Accra!" The clerk jumped forward. "Take those four to the hotel nearby. Lightstring and I need to talk to Twilight Sparkle, get her briefed up." "Wait, Mr. Seeking, we need the Blank Mare," said Twilight, pointing toward the Blank Mare, who looked on at the procession on the sidelines. "That's her? The Blank Mare?" asked Bright Seeking. Twilight nodded. "In that case, Blank Mare! You should come with us as well," said Bright Seeking. The Blank Mare walked up, while Applejack tried to coerce Pinkie Pie to go with the clerk. "Pinkie. Come on, we need to go to our hotel," said Applejack, clearly vexed. Pinkie Pie was still jumping around the room and laughing at the marble walls. "One moment please." said Twilight to Bright Seeking. She walked up to Pinkie Pie and fired a blue, slow beam at her, which barely caught her on the flank. Pinkie Pie started to slow down. "Whoaaa! Everything is going dark. Maybe my nightvision..." And without a slight change in facial expression, she fell to the floor and started snoring. "Simple sleep spell. Classic," said Twilight. Applejack grabbed Pinkie Pie and put her on her back. Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight and waved. Twilight waved back and the two followed the clerk out the door. "Twilight, let's go, we need to catch you up on our plan," said Lightstring. She pointed at Bright Seeking's office. "Right," answered Twilight. She and Meriwether walked into the office.