The next morning, Vinyl and Octavia made the brief drive to the North side of Ponyville where the Golden Oaks Library sat on East Dorknerd Avenue. Hoping to get some advice or even a little help with the campaign from their new friend, the duo parked their Bovie in the driveway and trotted over to the door which had an "Open" sign hanging on it. It was a building within a tree open to the public during it's normal hours of operation but still it was Twilight Sparkle's home so it only seemed that knocking before entering was the right thing to do.
"So did you know that Princess Celestia made Twilight her own personal protege?" Octavia said to Vinyl.
"Ugh, you mean that crappy little compact shitbox that Rawzda makes?" Vinyl replied. "Those things are about as reliable as an EP oil pipe."
"No, you airhead. I mean like she's so smart that Celestia actually began paying special attention to her and spent more time with her than any of her other students. If there's anypony who we should be asking for advice, it's her."
"Ooh that's bombdiggedy! Alright, let's see if she's her-"
"Well well well!" A young male voice said as the door opened unexpectedly. "I thought I recognized that voice!"
Octavia and Vinyl looked down to see the source of the voice. Standing at the doorway was a small purple dragon sporting a Playcolt style smoking jacket. In one claw, he held a martini and a lit cigarette in the other. Tucked under his right arm was what appeared to be a rolled up Playcolt magazine. With a sultry look in his eyes, it was clear that this young wannabe stud was attempting to turn his charm on the two baffled full grown mares.
"Look who crawled over begging to get spiked!" The dragon continued. "You're as hot as you sounded on the phone, baby. Step into my mansion and I'll make this the best night of your life!"
Vinyl and Octavia just stood there not knowing what to say or if this was even actually happening. Seeing a real live dragon was one thing but a young dragon dressed like Hugo Hoofner trying to seduce them was another. The two continued to stare with shocked expressions on their faces until the dragon began to get even more raunchy.
"C'mon sweetheart, you know you wanna get spiked. Bring your friend in here and I'll treat you two like princesses. I've been in the mood for a little how you say...menage a tr-"
Slap!
"Ow! What the fuck was that for, Twilight?!"
"For acting like a little sleaze and creeping out my friends!" Twilight said sternly as she used her magic to pick spike up and toss him behind her. "I'm sorry, girls. He's at that age where he wants to seduce anything with a heartbeat."
"S'alright, Twi." Vinyl assured. "I just thought it was cool to actually see a real live dragon. I'm sure he's a chill little guy when he's not feeling all fris-"
"You know you want me, baby!" Spike called out as he ascended up the stairs. "Let's go have us some alone time and I'll give it to you real good!"
"Shut up, Spike!" Twilight shouted as she hurled a book at the little pervert, narrowly missing him as he ran upstairs, laughing. "Okay, now that he's out of the way, how about you two come in?"
"Thank you, Twilight." Octavia said as she and Vinyl stepped into the Library.
"No biggie. So what did you two wanna talk about?"
"Well, did you hear that I've decided to run for mayor?"
"No way! Octavia, that's like totally gnarly!"
"Thanks. Now neither myself nor Vinyl want to see this Filthy Rich become mayor so we both agreed that we could use somepony like you by our side. Somepony who's smart, level headed, organized and um...well I don't think connections to royalty would hurt either."
"You...you think I could help with this? Wow girls, I don't know what to say."
"Just remember though, I already called dibs on campaign manager." Vinyl interrupted.
"And just how do you think you're qualified for that, Vinyl?" Octavia retorted.
Vinyl's horn suddenly started glowing and out from her front pocket came her record store name tag levitating in her aura. Vinyl smugly held the badge that read "Store manager" just underneath her name, catching Octavia by surprise.
"What the hell?" Octavia said. "Vinyl, since when did you get promoted there?"
"Since my boss was caught snorting blow off the records...that and we're pretty sure he was the one who kept screwing the Skatin' Bird records too."
"Okay look, we're getting a bit off topic here, Vinyl."
"My bad, Tavi."
"Girls, I'm really flattered that you'd ask me for help with this." Twilight said. "Here, let's have a seat and talk it over. Oh, and I got some Jab sodas if you want any."
"Sure, I'll have one." Vinyl said.
"I'd like one too." Octavia said. "Thanks, Twilight."
Twilight left her two guests in the reading area of the library as she went to the kitchen to retrieve some sodas to share with them. After pausing for a moment to gather a few other necessary things, she returned to Vinyl And Octavia carrying a large shipping crate full of the pink metal cans along with several pens and three note pads. She then took a seat of her own in one of the soft reclining chairs and levitated to Octavia and Vinyl each a can of soda, a pen and pad of their own.
"Okay, you two." Twilight began. "I'm not exactly sure on how we should start our planning but I'm willing to help out and give it my best shot."
"First and foremost." Octavia started. "Me and Vinyl owe you a big thanks for taking time out of your day for this. That's very kind of you."
"Yeah Twilight, That's real tubular." Vinyl confirmed.
"It's no trouble at all, girls." Twilight replied as she opened her first can of Jab. "So I guess we could start out by asking ourselves a few simple questions. Like how can we really reach out to the community? What does this town need? You know, stuff like that."
"Well, have you seen the local ambulances?" Octavia asked. "The newest one the hospital has is from the early seventies! Hell, the rest of them are old sixties clunkers and one of them I think is a '59 model! They're worn out and always break down! Yesterday I even saw Fluttershy driving one with an injured pony in the back just to have it conk out and spew motor oil all over the streets!"
"Oh, I heard about that! She almost lost her patient too! That's a good start, Octavia, I'll write this down!"
"Speaking of emergency services..." Vinyl began. "Here's a crazy idea. Bear with me, okay? What if we just take that closed down gas station on South Mane Street and make it into a special call center?"
"What do you mean by that, Vinyl?" Twilight asked, intrigued. "What kind of call center?"
"When Octavia had to go to the hospital the other week, I had to waste time flipping through the damn phone book looking for the hospital's number. Then when I got through to them, they had to transfer me to the ambulance department. What we need is a station with a three digit phone number that everypony can remember that can send a dispatch to whatever services you need all with one call to that one damn number!"
After finishing her short rant, Vinyl looked to Octavia and Twilight for their opinions on the idea. The room was silent as they just stared intently at the blue maned DJ with looks of utter disbelief on their faces. Receiving mixed signals from their reactions, Vinyl let out a disappointed sigh as she felt that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. That is, until the other two finally tossed in their own two bits.
"Vinyl, th-that's...incredible!" Octavia said.
"Ingenious!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Vinyl, just by having that idea, you could have just changed everything about first response as we know it!"
"It could save countless lives!"
"It can create more jobs!"
"And give a purpose to a vacant building!"
"I take it back Vinyl, you're going to be my CM!"
"Wow thanks, girls." Vinyl said. "I just think in this day and age, there should be a better way of operating this shit. See, I've never really liked cops a whole lot but as much as I hate to admit it, we need them sometimes. Or like, what if somepony had a heart attack or got hit by a truck? Even a few seconds could mean the difference between life and death. Or suppose a building caught fire? Just dialing one phone number and saving time could mean a better chance of ponies being dragged out alive during the fire instead of charred crispy afterwards."
"Yes! This is brilliant!" Twilight exclaimed after finishing her tenth soda. "I've got all of this written down!"
After several hours, a whole pack of cigarettes, dozens of cans of Jab and Celestia knows how many bathroom breaks for Twilight, The trio discussed many issues the town of Ponyville was facing that needed to be addressed. From the rickety old ambulances to the uneven distribution of tax revenue, it was brought up, picked apart and jotted down in the notebook. Even the smaller problems such as potholes that riddled certain parts of the town were not going unnoticed.
It was now nine o'clock in the evening and the caffeine from the soda was starting to wear off which would be causing their energy crashes any time now. With a full notebook and a myriad of great new ideas, Octavia and Vinyl said their goodbyes and took their leave. They could not wait too long before they made their way home as they were getting more and more exhausted by the minute. Soon the car was parked in their driveway and Vinyl wasted no time plopping herself on the couch to flip through all their channels. Octavia on the other hoof, decided to check their mailbox before she would relax in front of the television.
"Let's see..." Octavia said to herself as she flipped through the small stack of envelopes. "Electric bill...Ponies Magazine...car payment...Marezendo Power...Leggings are in weekly...Town Office?"
Octavia's attention was focused on a letter that was addressed to her sent by the town clerk. After tearing the envelope open, she began reading the letter as she trotted back inside the apartment.
Dear Miss Octavia:
We are pleased to announce that our pre-campaign banquet at the Town Hall will be taking place next Friday from five pm until nine pm. This has been a Ponyville tradition since 1915 as it is a great way to kickstart your campaign as well as that of your opponent. Not only that but it is also one of the best ways to introduce yourself to your fellow neighbors and even discuss with them your plans for this wonderful town! Feel free to prepare a speech as well. Be there or be square!
PS: Hey Octavia, this is Lyra! Remember we should like totally hang out! Bring Vinyl along and I'll tell you about those so called hands and fingers. Just don't be a narc
or I'll knock your fucking teeth out of your head and shove them up yourand we'll all have a hella good time! Like, see you there!