Mayor Mare rubbed her forehead, a mug of coffee in one hoof. It had been an hour since the debates had started and none of Ponyville’s leaders had come to a decision. Bickering about calling scientists, if the location was safe, what to do with potential artifacts and how to keep away ponies who would steal them was still going underway as she downed her thirteenth cup this hour. She almost regretted calling in the Elements of Harmony to help, with the way they were acting. As Spike took notes and oogled Rarity, Rarity argued with Applejack. Twilight tossed out scientific facts about similar phenomena. Pinkie Pie snacked on some donuts they’d left in the break room; getting jelly and custard all over the place. Rainbow Dash tried to amuse herself with paper hoofball and Fluttershy hid behind potted plants in the corner.
It was a mad house. She made repeated mental notes to fire the assistant who suggested bringing them.
“Gentlecolts!” She finally said as she began to wish she’d taken that bottle of aspirin with her that morning. “We need to focus! There is a thing in the Everfree Forest that has never been seen before and all we’re focusing on are the parts we can’t even control!” The crowded boardroom steadily gained more and more silent as she said these things, there was a quiet murmuring but it was easily shut out by her pounding headache.
“Now, let’s just calm down and think. The first thing we need to do is to form a part-er...” She reconsidered her wording, eyeing Pinkie Pie’s ears perking up a bit as she heard the first syllable of her favorite word. “An investigative group to check over the site and see if it contains any dangerous gases or radiation.” The group nodded to their elected leader as they settled back into their chairs.
“Er... Miss?” An intern said, walking through the door.
“Yes?” She said, turning her chair to the thin, brown pony, his cutie mark was a pile of paperwork.
“Ma’am, we... uh, seem to have a bit of a problem.” She raised her brow, ignoring how the group behind her went back to the state they were at before. She motioned for him to keep going. “Well ma’am... You know how you’ve never had a pony run against you for your last four terms?” She nodded. “Well... you won’t be happy with this.”
He gave her a newspaper, the Equestrian Decider. On the cover was big black letters reading bad news for her. Local Parental Group challenge Mayor; “She’s not trustworthy!” The Mayor looked horrified as she saw pictures of a group of parents holding picket signs and various posters depicting the “lies” she’d been spreading. She ran it through her head over and over again, yes she lied about her mane and the Charity Drive was really just a cheap excuse to make another appearance near election, but every politician had skeletons like those in her closet.
“This is outlandish!” She exclaimed, reading about the “Clevergate” Scandal, where she’d given half the food in the canned drive to a questionable foundation of the same name that was really a group of changelings in disguise. “I’ve done questionable things yes, but this is ridiculous! These were snap decisions that had to be made... well, not Clevergate but that’s the exception that proves the rule. Nopony believes this filth do they? I mean, EQD’s just a tabloid!”
“Well... yes ma’am. A protest rally had formed outside just minutes ago! Most of them have spears.”
“Have? As in they’re still here?” He nodded quickly. “Ugh... Get these ponies out of here as quietly as possible,” she said pointing to Twilight and company. “And set up my podium so I can speak with the protesters.”
<hr>
Mayor Mare sat in her office, her mane mussed up, her tie undone and her glasses sitting broken on the desk before her, next to an intercom. The conference went terribly, she’d tried to explain away everything, but for every problem she defeated two more propped up in its place, they kept bombarding her with irrelevant questions, that propped up in perfect timing to make her sound like an idiot while finishing the last question. Although none of them had been carrying spears (just poorly put-together signs) they as may well have been, considering how they assaulted her with complications. Then came personal attacks, a group of drunkards began throwing tomatoes at the podium she sat at and eventually the entire crowd joined in. With rocks.
Only a select few had been arrested, the rest had gotten away to continue to plan on making her miserable. It was her dyed mane that had done it, the straw that broke the camel’s back, making all sorts of influential ponies do research on her past mistakes and flub-ups. Tomorrow officially began her re-election campaign, and if she didn’t find a way to get the town back on her side she’d end up out of office. Or possibly in a casket.
She tried to think of something, anything she could do to make her look like the hero she once was to these townsfolk. Then, much like the rock that had broken her glasses, it struck her. She pressed the intercom button. “Miss Files, could you set up a meeting with Zecora as soon as possible?”
<hr>
As Mayor Mare stood at the opening to the forest, Zecora by her side, they both wore hazmat suits. Mare looked around, seeing nothing but empty fields around them; worrying that perhaps nopony would come. She was going to a possibly dangerous crash site that could likely contain alien creatures and technologies, on her own. Once she made it there, armed with only a pocket knife and dozens of plastic baggies for obtaining specimens, the media was off reporting the Cake’s Twins doing something adorable or the like. After half an hour a grey colt with a mohawk and a camera strung around his neck approached. Zecora smiled to the small child while Mayor Mare was less than happy.
“Uh... Where are the reporters?” she asked.
“They’re at the Apple farm! Applejack’s putting her hat in the ring and holding a press conference!”
“What?” Mayor Mare was glad she was wearing that mask, as if the colt saw the expression of anger on her face he may well have bolted. To think that she’d let Applejack into her office just days ago! “Why?”
The colt started to think aloud; “Well, she’s younger, a hero to Equestria and many others, she’s cuter, more honest and kind and-” Mayor Mare cut him off there, covering his mouth with her hoof.
“But, but, she’s the Element of Honesty! A politician has to know when to keep things silent and when to release them to the public! If she’s elected she’ll...” Her irises shrunk as she realized what kinds of secrets Ponyville had, all the terrible things her predecessors had done and covered up. All the bodies hidden under the proverbial floorboards and what would happen to her, her family, and the past leaders if all of them were to be released to the public would be a fate worse than death. Now she REALLY needed to get the public on her side.
Gulping, she adjusted herself. “Why don’t you take that picture? I’m sure I could give you an exclusive interview!” The school paper, despite no longer being the hot-selling guide with investigative journalism taking and breaking unknown (albeit embarrassing) truths, still sold like hotcakes due to the popularity of the “Just For Fun” section with comics and games for the bored. There was a small chance that, if she makes headline news rather than Pinkie’s new antic or a local’s anniversary, ponies may read about it. The colt snapped the photo and ran off, waving to the two as they were left alone again.
“So, Zecora, are you ready?” The zebra nodded in response.
<hr>
Applejack. That was all she could think about. The little cowgirl taking her office and revealing the history of Ponyville to all. She’ll learn of the desperate acts the early settlers had done to find changelings, she’ll learn of the native griffons who’d been violently forced off nearby land and the curse they’d put on the townsfolk, she’ll learn of the last Mayor having assassinated his competitor, and worst of all she’d learn the true reason why her previous assistant left.
“Miss Mare?” Zecora’s voice pierced her thoughts.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
“Oh, yes... sorry Zecora. We’re here right?” The zebra nodded to the aged pony.
“I am sorry, but this is as far as I will go
I sense things here that I wish not to know.” Mayor Mare nodded and let her go home, she wished she’d brought somepony else though as she walked through the vines and to the ruins.
The ruins seemed to be composed of two hollowed steel structures, each with oddly placed decorations, and windows upon the side and front. It had a dulled-red stripe going horizontally across it, along with some odd writing and a picture of some sort of bird that had been put on the side. She couldn’t read the lettering. Whatever the language was, it wasn’t Equestrian. There was also an oddly shaped opening, as if a door had hung there at one point, but rusted off.
A slab of similar metal laid beside it (The door in question, she assumed), and a bony claw of some kind clung to the handle. Five fingers were on it, and upon picking it up, she noted that each had four subsections and closed together atop a group of pebbles, save for one that had three subsections and was away from the others. It looked like whatever creature it had belonged to must have been a fearsome beast. She set it in a bag for later analyzation.
She carefully climbed her way to the open door, where she met with the rest of the creature’s remains. The stout skull, most of it caved in by some kind of metal rod, and jawbone hung limp from a long spine. It had a pack of some kind on over the segments that covered the joints where its front legs met with the body. On the lower half of the remains were two spindly hind legs, much longer than its front ones. She’d not had an anatomy class in a long time but she knew this was neither pony, dragon, griffon, or any combinations of them... Perhaps a Diamond Dog of some kind? She carefully opened the pack, to see it was filled with a large sheet, which she identified as a parachute. She took this as well, attempting to keep the specimen as whole as possible.
With the specimen examined she gazed about some more. She was surrounded by a room of a faded eggshell white with rows and rows of faded blue seats. Most of those seats had other remains in them. It was about this time, that she realized they all had some kind of faded and torn fabric covering their torsos. Most of them had items on them, which she assumed led to their deaths, such as a decapitated one holding a book, one holding the spinal segment between their front legs and skull with a fork stuck in it, or one with a knife stabbed in between two of its ribs. She bagged the book and continued on further towards the back, seeing more and more gruesome remains as she went on. Whatever level of hell that this had come from was far worse than anything she could imagine.
Finally she made it to a place with no bodies, just cases. Briefcases filled with Celestia knows what. Most of them had locks, others had been rusted shut, but after what felt like hours she found one should could open. As she opened it up she found something odd. Something... out of place.
She found a painting of the Cake family.