Election in Ponyville 3: Destiny at Stake

by StormLuna

The General Debate

Evening had arrived in Ponyville and Sunny and the ENC crew were getting everything set up. She was looking forward to the debate and seeing Amethyst shine like always, one thing she was not looking forward to was the arrival of the pony that always moderated by her, Breaking News. She had always figured that he was somewhat racist against unicorns but given his behavior the last time, she knew he was very racist. She thought to herself, "Alright Sunny, he is just an overly emotional racist who is stuck in the past. Don't let him get to you."

A couple minutes later she saw a light gray unicorn with a purple mane headed her way. She was in a state of shock when she saw that the pony had a press badge on him. When he saw who she was he extended his hoof out and said, "Sunny Flames, it is so nice to meet you."

She extended her hoof out and asked, "It is nice to meet you...."

"Written Script," the unicorn replied, "I'm the chief political analyst for the Ponyville Express."

Sunny's eyes lit up when she heard this. She thought that maybe she would have somepony moderating alongside her who actually understood politics and thought with his brain and not his heart. She asked, "So are you the moderator the paper sent over?"

Written Script replied, "Yes. The paper decided that given how much the city has grown that they need a pony who actually understands politics and after the behavior of Breaking News in that last debate, they didn't think he was suitable to handle politics anymore."

Sunny was very curious as to what happened with him. She asked, "So what happened to him anyway? What he did was unprecedented and uncalled for but how was he disciplined?"

Written Script replied, "Well he was placed on administrative leave for three months and he has been demoted to simply handling news from Appaloosa and Dodge Junction since they are populated solely by earth ponies."

"That is likely for the best. That way he can not be agitated since he'll be working only with earth ponies and he won't be causing the network any problems." said Sunny.

Given their friendly conversation, the network's signal to her that it was time to begin came much sooner than it normally did. Once the cameras began rolling in Ponyville, Sunny began, "Good evening Equestria and welcome to the Ponyville debate. I'm Sunny Flames and moderating alongside me is the chief political analyst for The Ponyville Express, Written Script." She then turned to Written Script and asked, "Written Script, you are more familiar with politics here than I am. How have creatures reacted to Princess Twilight running for mayor?"

Written Script replied, "Well when I am out and about, there are some, especially business owners, who are concerned about what she said she wanted to do in her summer interview."

"I'm assuming that they don't like her ideas on capping growth?"

"They don't and it just isn't that. They have their concerns that she would determine what businesses get let in based on who owns them."

"I would have the same concerns." When the candidates got up on stage the cameras shifted towards them and Sunny continued, "And let's meet the candidates. We have incumbent and Reform Party candidate Amethyst Star and we have Princess Twilight Sparkle who is unaffiliated."

Written Script added, "And this year's debate is going to be a bit different. Unlike in the past where it would simply be a question and answer session involving us, we will be allowing the candidates to address one another over their responses as well."

Normally Sunny wanted to get a jump on starting the debate but given that her fellow moderator was a unicorn, she let him go first so she could get a feel for him. He decided to focus on the incumbent first, "Amethyst, as many ponies can see, the city is continuing to grow faster and faster. With the increasing population, do you think that it will be able to keep up with the educational needs, things such as more schools if necessary."

Amethyst had a feeling that such a question would come up and began to go through her papers. Once she found the right one she projected it for all to see and replied, "Certainly." She pointed to the revenue flowing in from the casinos and continued, "As you can see here, the revenue brought in from the taxes on casino winnings is steadily climbing as time goes by. All this revenue goes into the general education fund." She then grabbed a paper showing the money going into the fund to project and continued, "And for any who doubt where the revenue from taxes on casino winnings goes, you can see here that the growth in both is the same. With any luck, we will get more casinos coming in, get more tourists coming in and hopefully collect more taxes off of their winnings."

The crowd clapped their hooves over Amethyst's transparency involving the records. Written then turned to Twilight and asked, "Your response to this?"

This was another thing that Twilight was not completely prepared for, Amethyst's transparency. After a good twenty seconds of silence she began, "I see Amethyst projecting these records but how can we be completely sure that those records are in fact accurate or even correct. For all we know Amethyst could have just made these figures up!"

Given the rules of this debate Amethyst would be quick to silence her, "Princess Twilight, you know that falsifying data like this is against the law here in Equestria and besides, that is something I would never do. Not only do I believe in transparency but I also believe in honesty."

Twilight fell silent which allowed Sunny to ask her a question, "Princess Twilight, this is tied into the revenue generated from the casinos. During your interview in the summer, you brought up closing the casinos at ten because of ponies walking around town all night and keeping ponies awake. What time would you allow the casinos to open in the mornings?"

This was something that Twilight hadn't completely thought about but quickly came to a decision, "I think it would be good if the casinos operated from ten in the morning to ten at night. I think that a twelve hour day for them would still allow creatures to go and gamble and allow casino workers to still get a paycheck."

Sunny addressed Amethyst, "Your response?"

Amethyst gave the crowd a smile and replied, "Ok Twilight, so what you are wanting to do is cause casino workers to only get half of the hours that they currently get. It would either be cut their hours or some of them wind up losing their jobs because of reduced hours. I don't know about you but if I were in that position, I certainly would not want to have to face one of those two options because of what you want."

Amethyst paused for a moment before continuing, "Now while I am unsure how much traffic the casinos see during that time period, I am pretty sure that we'd likely lose at least 35% of the revenue that they generate if not more and of course that revenue goes into the education fund." She then turned to Twilight and added, "Princess Twilight, it is well known that you have always been big on education yet here you are wanting to cut into a source that provides funding for it."

Twilight let out a sigh of frustration knowing that so far she was not faring all that well in the debate. She would then face a question from Written Script, "Princess Twilight, during your interview with Sunny, you brought up not only wanting to restore things such as cold winters and bringing all the old traditions that came along with it back. You are already wanting to hurt casino workers by cutting casino hours but now you are wanting to wipe out three months of tourism as well. Why is that?"

Twilight knew that both moderators were targeting her over things she said in her interview and while she could hear Celestia's advice in her head, she felt that she needed to be honest. "I did bring those things up but Ponyville has grown so large that I am certain that there would be enough in the way of local residents going to the casinos to lessen the hit."

Before even being asked for her response, Amethyst began, "Princess Twilight, this is about a lot more than the casinos. A huge part of this involves the hotel workers as well. This was addressed four years ago, who in their right mind is going to go to a place that is cold for their vacation? I certainly wouldn't and unless the community has a ski area, no other creature would either. When it comes to the casinos, like it is in Las Pegasus, the tourists bring in a lot more revenue for them than the locals do."

Twilight tried to get a word in, "But....."

Amethyst continued, "And when it comes to the traditions that go along with winter. Creating winter was a royal pain and the cost of the snowflakes and icicles that Cloudsdale charged is outlandish. They were already pretty high back in 2016, which was the last year Ponyville did business with them, but I'm certain they are higher now and who is going to want to have to deal with it? I remember dealing with it and it was nothing more than a chore that was mandated by my predecessor." She paused for a second before continuing, "And you saw what a mess Winter Wrap Up was that first year you came here. It was a nightmare and I highly doubt that anycreature is going to want to go back to changing seasons the old fashioned way. It is difficult, it is a royal pain and it is downright ridiculous. Why use time consuming, antiquated and costly methods when you have mages to handle all that stuff?"

Twilight had a frustrated look on her face and the moderators decided that it was time to take back control. Written Script decided to question Amethyst, "Amethyst, during your summer interview with Sunny, you talked about the businesses that you are giving business permits to. From the way it sounds, it sounds like almost all of them were given to unicorn owned businesses. Is there a reason for that?"

This was something that Amethyst was hoping would be asked so she could silence anycreature who might think she had an objective, "Well here is the thing, it has been almost all unicorn owned businesses that have applied for business permits and I granted them. There were a couple of griffons who applied for permits and those were also granted. I have not had any permit applications from earth pony or pegasus owned businesses for quite some time. Basically, it is because it is unicorns that apply, it is that simple."

Sunny turned to Twilight, "Your response?"

Twilight began, "Alright, so it is primarily only unicorn owned businesses that have applied for permits but if I was to be elected, I would reach out to earth pony and pegasi owned businesses and see if they would be interested in coming here. A good mayor would not simply wait for permit applications to come in, a good mayor would reach out to a variety of businesses and entice them to come to Ponyville over some other location."

Written Script asked, "You say entice them. Could you elaborate on that?"

Twilight wasn't completely sure how the audience would react to it but she figured she better be honest, "Well it would be something like giving them an exemption from business taxes for a few years. What I don't want to see is it reaching a point where it is only unicorn owned businesses moving in" she looked over to Amethyst before continuing, "and allowing her to achieve her ultimate objective. Correct me if I'm wrong but I have a feeling that Amethyst won't rest until Ponyville is populated solely by unicorns and this is how she is doing it! She has created a demographic that will only allow unicorn businesses to make a profit!"

It was all Amethyst could do to not break down laughing over Twilight's conspiracy theory. She turned to Twilight and began, "Twilight Sparkle, that is not how things work. It is up to the businesses to apply for permits in places where they know they will turn a profit. A mayor should not go and entice businesses to come to their community, especially if they are doing it based off of who owns the business. Given what you said in your interview this summer, you said you would do this for earth pony owned businesses. That is racism Twilight Sparkle, showing favoritism for them over other business owners."

The moderators wanted to try and take control again but Amethyst wanted to keep her opponent on the defensive and continued, "As I listen to your conspiracy theories regarding my agenda when it comes to what business I let in, I almost can't help but wonder if you even understand that much about what being a mayor entails. Yes you are the Princess of Friendship but that does not entail any kind of governing, it is basically a ceremonial position while it is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna who actually run the country."

Twilight was not thrilled with her comment, "Hey, I......"

Amethyst decided it was time to go in for the kill and guarantee victory, "Twilight, I know how close you are to the traditionalists. One part of me almost wonders if you didn't even run because you thought you could improve the town. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if you didn't run because somepony else begged you to." She paused for a second before emphasizing, "Somepony such as Applejack?"

Twilight froze when Amethyst said this. Things became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The moderators were patiently awaiting Twilight's response to the accusation while the crowd was shocked that chances were Twilight actually did just run for her friend. After a whole minute of Twilight's silence, Amethyst commented, "I think that is a yes."

Twilight continued to be in a state of shock over the accusation for another twenty seconds until Sunny said, "Alright Equestria, this debate is about to come to a close but we will give the candidates one final chance to state why they should receive your vote." The cameras shifted directly on Twilight and Sunny asked, "Princess Twilight, why should creatures vote for you?"

Twilight was still a bit shocked and was having trouble coming up with something. Finally she replied, "I believe that I am deserving of your vote because I will not allow Ponyville to grow too big. My opponent has let it be known that she will never cap growth, she will simply wait for business permit applications to come in and she will not restore any old traditions. All my opponent cares about is economic growth. She doesn't care if local farms have to sell out to big corporations, she doesn't care if the Everfree Forest is leveled and she certainly doesn't care about us being a close-knit community like we once were. As long as the economy is booming, she will be happy.

I however will bring back our old, long held and beloved traditions. I will scrap the weather mages, I will restore real winters, I will bring back things like The Running of the Leaves, I will have us create winter again, I will make the Hearth's Warming pageant special again with snowy weather and I will bring back Winter-Wrap Up. Ponyville will wind up being bigger but we will be a large community full of tradition, not a community with artificially warm winters and privately funded festivals."

Outside of a few ponies cheering, it was quiet. After those few ponies finished cheering, Sunny asked, "And why should everycreature vote for you Amethyst."

Amethyst stood tall and began, "I believe that I am deserving of your votes because under me, Ponyville has prospered. Back when I took office, we were a community drowning in debt and we had absolutely nothing that would cause ponies to come here from across Equestria and beyond to spend their bits. Thanks to my policies, that has all changed.

Because of my policies, we now have a very diverse population and we have had many more businesses move in. Because of my policies, everycreature is doing much better off and if I am re-elected, things will only continue to get better. Unlike my opponent, you won't have to worry about having three months of your year wiped out. For the hotel workers, you'll still have year round demand for your services and thus, won't go without a paycheck. Also, the casino workers won't have to worry about maybe losing their jobs because of restricted hours on their places of employment.

With me, more employment opportunities will come along as my business friendly environment will allow even more businesses to move in. With me, no business will be given preferential treatment solely because of who owns it. Unlike my opponent, I won't discriminate nor will I involve the city government in persuading certain businesses to come here, businesses that may not turn a profit here.

With me, revenue for the schools will not decline because face it, there will be demand for more schools as the city continues to grow. There will be no cap on growth and thus, no cap on Ponyville's prosperity. Vote for me and everyone will continue to do better. We are already an economic powerhouse and with me, Ponyville will become by far the most prosperous community in all of Equestria!" She became more enthusiastic and added, "Who knows, maybe one day we'll be the place where the stock exchange is located, not Manehattan!"

The crowd roared loud for Amethyst. She stood up on the stage smiling at what appeared to be an adoring crowd. While she had generally never had thoughts like this, she said to herself, "Just wait until election day, those traditionalists will realize even the Princess of Friendship can't save them!"

---

Post-Debate Discussions

After the debate the cameras shifted to where they were focused on the two moderators. Unlike every other debate she had taken care of in Ponyville, Sunny knew that this post-debate discussion would be civil. She turned to Written Script and asked, "Written Script, you're more familiar with the politics here. Who do you think won?"

Written Script had a smile on his face and replied, "I think that Amethyst Star hit the ball out of the park here. Not only did she expose Twilight's weaknesses but this new debate format aided her significantly. She took a no-nonsense approach and did not let Twilight's royal status affect her. She took everything Twilight said in her summer interview and tore her to shreds with it. So who do you think won?"

Sunny replied, "I too think Amethyst won this easily. I will say this, I have never seen a more dominant debate performance in my life. I swear, Amethyst Star's political savvy completely destroyed an opponent who it looks like only ran as a favor for a friend. Twilight Sparkle may be a princess but this right here is proof that a pony being part of the royal system guarantees nothing."

Hard News had been listening in and couldn't help but chime in, "Sunny, Written Script, I have to agree with you. I know that we are supposed to be fair and balanced but judging by the candidates' performances and the crowd reaction, Amethyst could win almost all of the vote. I don't see creatures voting for a candidate who basically openly admitted that she was doing this as a favor for a friend."

Written Script replied, "I have to agree. Such a thing would not be well received in any community in Equestria. Whether it be a small community such as Appaloosa or a metropolis such as Manehattan, no one is going to stand for that. To be honest, I think this will easily be the most lopsided election in Equestrian history."

Sunny added, "I do agree with Written Script. I also think that this will mark a major change in elections here in Ponyville. I have a feeling that starting with the next election, there will be no traditionalists in play anymore. The differences in the candidates will be much less and both will be very prepared."

Hard News got a notification from the network, "Well everyone, that marks the end of our debate coverage in Ponyville. Up next is the debate in Las Pegasus and after that, the debate in Vanhoover."

The cameras went black in Ponyville and the two moderators couldn't help but brag up Amethyst. Sunny exclaimed, "You know Written Script, I am so excited to see how this election turns out. It isn't a matter of whether Amethyst wins or not, it is a matter of will it be the biggest rout in Equestrian election history? Oh I hope it is, I hope she wins over 99% of the vote!"

Written Script too was excited, "You know something, I think this will finally put those traditionalists to bed. After this, they will know that nocreature is going to vote for them and that Ponyville has moved forward. They will have to go off of who has the best interests of the city in mind, not who wants to destroy the city."

Sunny replied, "I do have a feeling though that in the future, we will have much closer elections here in Ponyville. I have a feeling BOTH candidates will bring out good points. It won't just be a matter of how much will Amethyst win by."

Written agreed, "I think that will be the case but for now, I need to get going. I need to get something written up for the paper."

Sunny replied, "Yeah and I had likely better get going too. My crew and I need to get things packed up and ready to catch the train to Manehattan. You have a good one."

"You as well."

The two pared ways and Sunny couldn't help but feel a sense of elation. She knew that Amethyst would likely win the debate but she never once imagined how she would dominate it so much that even she would have a hard time keeping control of it. She thought to herself, "Oh this election day is going to be sweet! I bet Twilight won't even get one percent of the vote!"

Comments

[neobyzantium]

Amethyst Star utterly incinerated Twilight in this debate! Twilight needs to stop living in the past and move forward plus she needs to stop listening to conspiracy theories put forth by Breaking News and Applejack. Besides, Twlight's a Unicorn turned Ailcorn so she should be on Amethyst's side and would likely be in secret if not for Applejack's influence.

By the way, what's Mayor Mare up to these days now that she's no longer the mayor? I hope she's doing ok as I like her and felt that she did a good job as mayor despite her glaring flaws in her policies.

[StormLuna]

10512062

Sorry for the late response but regarding the conspiracy theories, those are not Applejack's. This is Twilight being paranoid on a level that makes the situation with the friendship letter and Pinkie ruining her three-peat with the trivia trot look like small potatoes.