"Tavi, I am so sorry!" Vinyl Scratch said as she pushed Octavia's wheelchair out the front exit of the hospital. "I swear I thought you were gonna pop!"
"It's okay, Vinyl." Octavia replied. "Even that wasn't the worst part. Looking on the bright side, I can say it was actually kind of fun to feel goofy like that. I'd do it again eventually."
Once again, Vinyl couldn't believe what she had just heard. All of her life, Octavia had been the one to try to steer clear of anything risky even if it meant avoiding fun. Vinyl was presented with a double dose of good news. Her longtime best friend was (for the most part) unharmed and was really blossoming when it came to lightening up to enjoy life.
"Well, we'll have to be more careful next time for sure." Vinyl began. "but if that wasn't the worst part, then what was?"
"Th-that...that ghastly image!" Octavia shuddered. "Never in my life have I...My Celestia, why is modeling at her age legal?!"
"Dunno, Tavi but I gotta agree with ya that it shouldn't be. I'm telling you though, you're qualified! If you go down to city hall and sign up to run for mayor you could change that!"
"Vinyl, I'm flattered really but I've already got enough stress as it is."
"Aw c'mon! Then why'd you get a degree in that government crap if you don't wanna do anything with it?"
"Because I do-um I...I've never thought of that before. I don't know, Vinyl I guess it's what I thought I wanted to do at the time but I suppose I just lost interest."
"You're still working off those student loans to this day, Tavi."
"Ugh, Let's just go home now so I can sleep this off, Vinyl. We'll talk more about this when my stomach doesn't feel like it's on fire."
Their friend Fluttershy then drove the two home in the outdated ambulance of which was converted out of a Sadillac station wagon in the early seventies. Octavia wasted no time passing out on the sofa as soon as they entered their apartment. Luckily for her, it was both her and Vinyl's day off so they could get their much needed rest without being reprimanded at work the next day. Employers do not typically take kindly to their employees ditching a shift because they got high the night before.
With Octavia fast asleep on the sofa and Vinyl simply relaxing on the reclining chair in their living room, the apartment was quiet enough for one to hear the putty inside the lava lamp move around. With the piece and quiet, Vinyl figured that this would be a great opportunity to actually think straight for a moment. The previous couple of days had been extremely hectic and it was time to relax and catch a breather.
Vinyl began contemplating her vacation next week and was also glad to have gotten Octavia to agree to take hers the same time. As the DJ's thoughts drifted from one thing to the other, she even started to really stop and think of what Ponyville would be like if Octavia could actually run for mayor and win. Octavia was anything but interested in the idea but Vinyl was still determined to convince her friend that she could pull it off.
Although Vinyl Scratch was a big fan of Mayor Mare's administration, there were still many things the town desperately needed. Mare was very successful in making the town the best she could but even the best can only do so much and their runner up would need to pick up where they left off. For starters, Ponyville could use a more efficient way of dispatching its public servants to emergencies. It certainly would have come in handy the previous two nights. The police department was too busy partying and Vinyl had to waste time frantically tearing through the phone book to find the hospital's number. Not only did it take what seemed forever to get Octavia the medical help she needed, the ambulance that their friend Fluttershy had to drive for her job was simply deplorable. It was the newest most up-to-date ambulance the town had and it started it's service in 1971. The rest of the fleet was even more pathetic and spent more time in the repair shop than on the road. The condition of some of the roads themselves was unacceptable. The pavement on the busier side of town was in decent shape but the residential section was in need of repairs.
Vinyl knew however, that there was hope. She knew that the responsible and level headed Octavia could keep the quiet but still vibrant little town moving in the right direction. The new candidate, Filthy Rich on the other hoof, was not going to be the one to do it. She was not sure why or how but Vinyl just knew there was something about him that simply screamed "untrustworthy". Though the crazy DJ was a wild party girl who took chances often, she was anything but dumb. If Vinyl was gifted with anything useful, it was her superb intuition. That and she never found it easy to trust anypony running in the Equblican party.
After napping for a few hours, it was now two O'clock in the afternoon and Octavia was prepared to wake up. Vinyl would do her roommate the courtesy of waiting until she was fully awake before bugging her with more reasons to run for mayor. She thought she should first approach the topic with a relaxing distraction and proceeded to flip through the game cartridges she kept under the television stand. Had it not been raining outside, she would have offered a nice walk in the park so the games would have to do for now.
"Hey, Tavi" Vinyl began. "How about we break out the MES and go two player on Super Royal Sisters? It's been a while since we played this."
"Sure Vinyl, sounds like a good day to me" Octavia replied. "I get to be Celestia this time though."
While the two friends enjoyed the game, Vinyl began thinking of a way to approach the matter delicately. She would start out being subtle and then try to stress how bad it would be if this Filthy Rich were to win the election. Vinyl scratch was not one to get nervous easily but even she could not help it. She knew that Octavia could do anything she set her mind to but she would just need help realizing that.
"So, Tavi." Vinyl began. "I just though of something. I sure hope if this Filthy Prick or whatever his name wins the election, the town doesn't change too much."
"Oh I wouldn't lose sleep over it." Octavia replied as she continued to tap the buttons on her game paddle. "What's the worst he can do?"
"Well, I never really agreed with the Equblican trickle down bull shit. I mean, by the time any capital gets down to us pony joes, I don't really wanna be trickled on if you know what I mean."
"Uh, that's true I guess. I'm sure another candidate with the Equemocrat party will try to run agains-hey! Vinyl, you killed me!"
"The hell I did! If you were paying attention, you wouldn't have ran into that shroomba!"
"Well if you weren't distracting me I could have jumped on th-"
"Aw c'mon, Tavi! Just 'cause you're pissed off that you suck doesn't give ya the green light to push my player into that pit!"
"Ha ha! You get what you give, bitch!"
Video games had always made Octavia lighten up and not be afraid to have fun with casual insults between her and Vinyl. The normally uptight pony she was seemed to completely disappear as the two friends called each other anything they could think of. None of it came from the heart though as they only did so in good fun.
"Okay Tavi, in all seriousness, I think you and I shou-"
"Since when are you of all ponies one to be serious?"
"Hey, shut it! Lemme finish ya chump! As I was trying to say, we should go and see that Dirty Shit's publi-"
"His name is Filthy Rich, Vinyl. Really though, what do you have against him? For all you know he could be a very nice guy. You've never even met him so why be so quick to judge?"
"Okay, okay whatever! Anyway, how about we go to his first campaign speech tomorrow afternoon? Sure, maybe I am being unreasonable. If it turns out I am then I'll admit it. C'mon Octie baby, start your vacation tomorrow and let's just go down to the City Hall and hear what he has to say."
"That's probably the best idea you've ever had, spunk breath!"
"Spunk breath?! Oh it is so on! Game over, nerd!"
The next day, Octavia and Vinyl took the short drive to the town office located in the middle of the village. Upon their arrival, Octavia and Vinyl found a suitable parking spot and made their way to the building.
"Psst! Yo Tavi, check it out." Vinyl whispered. "See that squad car parked over there?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Octavia responded. "And why do you need to whisper about it?"
"Because that's the one that chased after us the night you got smashed, you wild party animal you."
"What? How can you tell?"
"That's the only DisKord Tiara Victory the local PD has. They just got it for their fleet and they're switching to those. The rest of the town's cars are Bovy Curvatures like ours. Looks like they got it fixed pretty quick. I heard that they had to replace the whole engine."
"Only you would know every little detail with that rap sheet of yours. C'mon let's just go in and hear this speech. Filthy Rich will be taking questions at the end of it."
The inside of the Town Office was nearly packed and it looked as if all of the seats were already taken. After a moment of looking around, the two friends were each able to find an open seat. They would not be able to sit together as they wear nearly on opposite sides of the room but they would have to make do with what they had. The mayoral candidate, Filthy Rich then made his way up to the podium before the room full of citizens and greeted them with a genuine smile and cheerful tone.
"Good afternoon, everypony!" Filthy chimed. "I'd like to start out by saying It's an honor to be here today! Yes, I know the election hasn't even started yet but just getting to know everypony in this totally rad little town is simply the beginning! Even if somepony else ends up joining the race, I know that you will all make the right choice! You all look like quite the smart crowd so I'm confident that you know what this town really needs and it it you who can make all the difference!"
Wow, this guy's such a flank kisser. Octavia though to herself as she continued to listen to the stallion addressing the crowd. Well, maybe he's just nervous. I know I would be if I were the one doing that. Everypony else actually seems to be buying this though.
Filthy continued to ramble on about how he planned to change the town for the better. He spoke of everything ranging from strengthening the already growing economy to his plans to combat the recent spike in the crime rate. The only thing that distracted Octavia for a moment was the brief ringing coming from a mobile phone of the mare sitting next to her. To avoid annoying the rest of the ponies in the room, she pulled the gray brick out of her purse and got out of her seat to have her conversation outside. Once again, Filthy Rich had Octavia's undivided attention and she barely noticed the other pony take the seat that the mare with the phone once occupied next to her. The stallion that had seated himself next to her was just minding his own business for several minutes and drew no attention to himself whatsoever...until he quietly spoke to her.
"Excuse me, miss?" The stallion said. "I didn't catch your name."
Octavia then looked to her left to see a yellow Earth pony with a brown mane and tail looking directly at her. He had three horse shoes as his cutie mark and was dressed very sharp, sporting a white collar and a green and purple striped tie.
"Uh, I'm sorry but I don't think we've met before." Octavia politely replied. "You must have me mistaken for somepony else."
"Oh of course, hehehe. You were probably too drunk to remember much. Wow, I still can't believe you smacked my flank. The name's Caramel. When I'm on duty, I'm Officer Caramel. What's yours?"
"Oh crap."