Mayor Mare has had a long and successful career as Mayor of Ponyville. Under her administration it has grown from a small farming village of Earth Ponies to what will soon be one of the most important and diverse cities in all Equestria. She has a lot to be proud of about her years as mayor.
But time does not stand still. She is getting much older, and she doesn't have the energy to accomplish what she once could. The growth of Ponyville increases her duties and responsibilities, and those are outgrowing what she can keep up with in her old age.
Faced with a new, younger challenger for her position she knows her days as mayor are numbered. As the votes are counted she has one primary thought going through her head----who is she if she isn't Mayor Mare anymore?
Thanks to Cosmic Eclipse and Alias_the_J for edits.
Damn good on ya. Stupid thing made me feel feelings... >n>
A sweet ending to a sad story.
Is this Sugar Belle? Now I want a story about how Sugar Belle becomes matriarch of the Apples.
Is there something going on with Diamond Tiara and Spike?
Some ponies really, really like alliteration, I guess.
I think this is probably a typo, but it's great.
I wonder if many career politicians go through something like this? At least Diamond Tiara has a good head on her shoulders as she knows that she will need that experience to draw on.
8698548
That was a typo, thanks for catching that. Now fixed.
The feels are strong here...
This was such a sad story, but it had such an uplifting ending.
Dammit, someone let the onion ninjas into my house again.
This is superb. Moving, poignant and with a satisfying ending that suits all parties. What a great read. This is going straight onto my favourites list.
Once she is no longer Mayor... it's time to head for the glue factory. Krastos awaits!
8698704 It's rather why the Founders wrote that politics should not be a career. They intended for people to stay a term or two and then return to their REAL jobs. They'd just fought a war against a system of life-time rule, they certainly didn't intend to create another one with dozens of mini-kings and aristocrats who used their offices mainly as a self-enrichment tool for decades.
Had they any inkling of the present day situation, term limits would have been Article 1 of the Constitution, I'd wager.
I think the bigger question is: Who was she before?
She wasn't always the Mayor. What did she do in the years before being first elected?
Mayor Mare is an example of a token character, set in her place in the world without much reflection on a life history that would lead her to this place. It's common in literature and writing to create characters just to fill a role, and normally no one thinks twice about it because the backgrounds of such secondary or background characters isn't important; but in a world like FiM it stands out more starkly because of the Destiny Butt Tattoos they all have, and we're left to wonder how they ended up with the mark and what that meant to their early life and direction.
8700027
Now I wish time travel existed so we can fix this error.
8700045 I'll handle that! *Alondro destroys the universe* Hmmm... ok, I can fix this! With MORE time travel! *Alondro destroys the unverse twice* Uhm, third time's the charm?
8700035
In case you missed it in the story she became an aid to the old mayor right out of school and took over the position temporarily upon his death, and soon after was elected properly as mayor.
8700274 I was referring to the show and how the phenomenon of Cutie Marks makes stock characters rather out of place, since one naturally wonders how they ended up discovering their special talent and/or how they interpreted it to end up in their current position.
It's different than most other 'real' or fantasy settings, since life and direction in such general worlds is much more random.
This was a beautiful story. I can imagine Diamond Tiara being the next Mayor of Ponyville and having respect for Mayor Mare; she seems more of a possible mother figure for her than Spoiled Rich is. The ending was sad and sweet at the same time.
8698548
Even better, if her name had been changed to Mayor Mare, she's now Assistant Mayor Mayor Mare.
This got an upvote from me. Nice little story.
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And that's where the wonder of fanfic comes in!
Of course, the comics tell us that she went to high school in Canterlot and was good friends (maybe even Best Friends?) with Cheerilee, but that's semi-canon at best.
Issues 11 and 12 of the comics are super weird if you take into the overall chronology. We see Mayor Mare is about the same age, if not younger than Shining Armo, but we also see her as the mayor of Ponyville before Big McIntosh was even born in "The Perfect Pear".
Yet again, Perfect Pear also screws over the chronology of the series so really, it's your opinion whether or not which you consider the more "valid" one.
I quite enjoyed this story. I can relate to it, in a way. I'm in my fifties now, and I currently work at a job where a lot of the upper management is younger than me. Not that I ever aspired to the management track, but it helped me relate to the story.
very enjoyable.
Hadn't had the chance to give this a proper read up until today, really an enjoyable story, it has such a nice message to it!