//------------------------------//
// The Second Candidate 
// Story: Open Ballot 
// by RamboZelda 
//------------------------------//

"Trixie Lulamoon."

The name elicited gasps from the crowd. Trixie's heart began to pound and her eyes widened. She looked around wildly, not even knowing how to react. The only thing that came to her mind is that she certainly didn't sign her name on that sheet. She had only been in Ponyville for a few hours!

The citizens of Ponyville seemed to be just as confused as she was. Heads swiveled and eyes wandered, searching for a glimpse of the pony that had once taken over Ponyville with an iron grip. And suddenly, Trixie's heart splashed into her stomach. A pony near her lifted his hoof and pointed it right at her.

"There she is!" he shouted.

Every eye turned to look at her. Whispers began to course through the crowd, and Trixie didn't care to know what they were saying. Faces of confusion began to twist into faces of rage. Fear began to take over Trixie's mind, and as the angry ponies approached her she did the first thing that came to mind.

In an instant, she was outside the doors of Town Hall. It had taken her forever to learn a teleportation spell, but it was certainly worth it.  But now what should she do? She couldn't go back in there and face those ponies. Her courage deserting her, the only feasible plan she could come up with was to run. She wasn't ready to do this. She wasn't ready to face the town. They certainly didn't seem ready to face her. She was about to head back to Fluttershy's cottage and retrieve her wagon when she was stopped by five ponies that burst through the doors of Town Hall.

"Wait, Trixie!" called Fluttershy. Following behind were Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack.

Trixie whirled around. "What?!" she shouted angrily.

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy asked. She was concerned.

"Hold up a minute," Applejack cut in. "What in the hay is goin' on?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Rarity added. "Fluttershy, did you know Trixie was back?"

"Well, um, yes," Fluttershy said. But after getting some suspicious stares from the others, she quickly added, "But she only came this morning!"

"I'd like to ask Trixie herself why she's back," Pinkie said, "and why in Equestria she would sign up to run as mayor!"

Everypony looked over at Trixie, making her feel very uncomfortable. "Hey, I only came back here because I wanted to set things right! I have no idea how my name got on that ballot!"

"Well, then who did, if not you?" asked Rarity.

"Like I know!" Trixie snapped. "The only ponies I saw this morning were Fluttershy and..." A sudden realization dawned on Trixie. She looked over at Rainbow Dash, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "YOU!" She jabbed Rainbow's chest with her hoof.

"Hey, what gives?!" Rainbow shot back, returning the hoof-jab.

"You entered my name in the ballot, didn't you?!"

Rainbow gave her a dumbfounded look. "WHAT?! You think I did that?!"

"It couldn't have been anypony else but you!" Trixie said accusingly. "It certainly wasn't Fluttershy, and you were the only pony besides her that I saw!"

"Ugh!" Rainbow grimaced. "I don't believe this. How could you think it was me?"

Applejack tried to intervene. "C'mon everypony, let's just relax..."

But Trixie was hardly finished with her berating. "You said yourself that you weren't ready to forgive me! So you'd rather have some revenge!"

"Oh, right Trixie, you caught me," Rainbow said, her voice oozing sarcasm. "Because I'm the one that goes crazy with revenge and tries to ruin everpony's lives!"

"Y'all best settle now or I'll..."

"I cannot believe that even after being so apologetic you still won't believe me!"

"Because you haven't done anything worth forgiving you for!"

"HEY!" Applejack shouted. Trixie and Rainbow finally stopped shouting and looked at Applejack. "Y'all should be ashamed of yerselves. Yer squabbling like foals."

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak. "But she—"

But Applejack cut her off. "Not a word outta you!"

"Ha!" Trixie taunted.

"And especially nothin' outta you!" Applejack said, pointing at her threateningly with her hoof. "Now, Trixie, I certainly don't want you goin' around and accusing my friends of things they didn't do. Yer on thin ice as it is." She turned to the other belligerent. "And Rainbow Dash, haven't we learned as friends that forgiveness is important?"

"Yeah, forgiving my friends," Rainbow emphasized. "She is NOT my friend."

"Well, she's my friend, and I forgive her," Applejack said. The others looked at her, stunned, as Applejack moved to stand next to Trixie. Even Trixie was dumbfounded.

"I don't believe this!" Rainbow shouted. "You're taking her side?"

"I'm not taking nopony's side," Applejack replied firmly. "But she said she wants to make things right, and I want to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Whatever," Rainbow spat. Without warning, she turned and took to the air, leaving them all behind.

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Rarity called, but to no avail. "Oh, it's no use. That pegasus is too stubborn for her own good."

"She has every reason to be mad at me," Trixie said with a sigh. "I can't do anything right." She hung her head dejectedly, making her mane flip over her face.

Pinkie's frown-hating instincts kicked in. "Hey now, everypony makes mistakes! A real friend will realize that and forgive! Like us!"

Trixie looked up. "You really mean that?"

"Of course!" Rarity agreed. "Although, I think you should apologize to Rainbow Dash the next time you get the chance."

"But she needed a reason to apologize first!" Trixie said.

"Well, you said you wanted to change, right Trixie?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'd l like to try."

"Then you be the bigger pony and apologize first," Fluttershy said. "You'd be surprised what sincerity can do."

"I will certainly try," Trixie said. A new hope began to rise up in her. And a new idea. After all, she had never been one to stay down for very long.

"So whatcha got in mind?" Applejack asked. "There's a lot more ponies here who would like an apology."

Trixie wore her signature smug smile and puffed out her chest. "I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, am going to run for mayor of Ponyville!"

"WHAT?!" the four others shouted, expressions of shock taking over each of their countenances.

"You all heard me!" Trixie said.

The declaration was met with immediate opposition. All at once they began to spout out how she was being foolish, hasty, or otherwise crazy. Rarity was the one that finally quieted them all.

"Trixie, dear, have you lost your mind?" she asked sweetly.

"No, I've found an opportunity," Trixie replied proudly.

Pinkie leaned forward eagerly. "Ooh! What is it?!"

"If I run, all eyes will be on me."

Applejack narrowed her eyes and frowned. "I thought your plan was to change," she said.

"Look, I can't go around door to door and beg for forgiveness," Trixie said. The others nodded. That made sense. "But, maybe allowing myself to be in the open ballot will show that I'm willing to help Ponyville and not harm it. I'll get a chance to change minds."

"But do you even know anything about being a mayor?" Fluttershy asked.

Trixie gave Fluttershy a look. "After seeing how everypony swooned over that Grass Roots guy, I highly doubt that I'd win. That's not my plan anyway. I just want to get the chance to prove myself."

The four others exchanged glances and nodded their heads with approval. "Ya know, that's actually not a bad idea," Applejack admitted.

"I think it's exciting!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It's genius!"

"I know," Trixie said, a bit too pridefully. She quickly caught herself and said, "I mean, thank you." She looked at each of the ponies listening to her, and a solemn feeling came over her. These were the Elements of Harmony, or most of them, and they were already at her side supporting her. If anypony had influence over the town of Ponyville, it was them. "But, I don't think I can do it alone."

Pinkie piped up first. "If it's help you want, you got it, Mayor Trixie!" She saluted the unicorn with her hoof.

"I must say, I would enjoy dabbling in Ponyville's social and political affairs," Rarity said. "I am at your service as well."

"I'm not much for getting involved with anything public, but I'll help if I can," Fluttershy said.

"And me makes four!" Applejack said enthusiastically. "If you need anything, just name it!"

The four Elements of Harmony all extended their forelegs for a hoof stack. They looked over at Trixie. "Come on!" Pinkie called to her. "There's no brakes on the friendship train!"

Trixie smiled in spite of herself. "All right, I'll do it your way." She put her hoof on the top of the stack. The others cheered with exuberance at their new friend.

"So what's next?" Applejack asked.

Trixie looked back over at Town Hall with a determined look on her features. "Grass Roots got his time to speak. Now I want mine." She trotted back to the doors and pushed them open dramatically. She was quickly reminded why she has left the building in the first place. Every single pony was staring at her with complete and utter silence. They were waiting to see what she would do. She swallowed her fear and began to make her way down the aisle. She kept her head held high, not daring to make eye contact with anypony.

Her new friends followed closely behind her, letting everypony else know that they were for her. They ignored the strange looks they were getting.

Trixie took to the stage and walked up to the microphone. "May I?" Trixie asked the mayor. The microphone picked up her voice and carried it throughout the room, breaking the crushing silence.

"Don't let her, Mayor Mare!" somepony called out.

The mayor cleared her throat and paused before she said anything. "Well, her name is on the ballot. I cannot deny her her place to speak."

"Thank you," Trixie said. She picked up the microphone with a levitation spell and brought it to her lips. "Hello, everypony," she began awkwardly. "I know many of you must have mixed feelings about seeing me back in Ponyville, and I don't blame you. But the main reason I came back was to apologize.

"I admit that what I did was horrible and wrong. I deserve whatever anger you have towards me. But, I want you all to know that I regret what I did." She paused to see if they would react. They remained quiet. "I want to make things right, though.

"That's why I'm going to run in the race for mayor." This definitely caused a major stir amongst the citizens of Ponyville. Heads turned to one another and began to whisper. Disapproving glances came her way. The prominent reaction she saw, though, was shock. "I'm running because I want a chance to prove myself. I want to help Ponyville, and more than anything I want to change."

Her audience reacted a bit different to that statement. The anger slipped away a bit, but Trixie could tell that they were still suspicious.

"So this is the Great and Powerful Trixie, huh?" It was Grass Roots, who had boldly stepped up next to Trixie to share the microphone. "I've heard much about you. But, well, I can't hold anything against someone I've never met before. So you are to be my opponent?"

"Yes, yes I am," Trixie replied firmly. She was quite annoyed with the fact that he had taken her platform.

"Well, Trixie Lulumoon, let me be the first to welcome you to this race. I must say that I'm very excited to be running against such an... interesting candidate."

Grass Roots definitely rubbed Trixie the wrong way. Not wanting to make a scene, she quickly put her annoyance on the back burner. "Well, may the best pony win, then." She extended her hoof towards the stallion. He gave the audience a winning smile and shook it.

The campaigning had begun.