“I know your house is probably built by now and you’ll want to check it out,” Lyra began, “but there’s something I need to bring to your attention first, Mayor.”

Chuck, who was currently seated in a black leather chair behind a desk, nodded. He had a small smile on his face; the typical look for him. He rarely, if ever, appeared angry or upset, and only for brief moments. However, the tone in Lyra’s voice had made him somewhat concerned, a fact that his smile could only do so much to hide.

The unicorn read over some papers as she spoke. “Because of new laws that the princesses passed, while you are still the mayor of Ponyville, you can’t really…do anything yet.” She frowned. “Until you have a town development permit, there’s not much you can do aside from sit behind a desk and look official.”

Her attempt at humour seemed to go unnoticed, as Chuck had put a hand (she had to remind herself frequently that they were hands, not hooves) to his chin and seemed to be thinking. She decided to press onward.

“In order to get a town development permit, you need approval from the citizens. Most smaller towns require a ninety or even one hundred percent approval rating, while a lot of larger cities - such as Stalliongrad or Manehatten - require only fifty to sixty percent. Here in Ponyville, the requirement is...at least an eighty percent approval rating.” Lyra scanned over the papers some more. “We take polls fairly regularly, so all you really have to do is...well, make friends, I suppose. The more the townsponies like you, the more of an approval rating you’ll get.”

Chuck tilted his head at her. She practically read his mind for the question he was silently asking. “At the moment, you’re sitting at roughly forty percent. A lot of the ponies in town either aren’t too sure about having a human as their mayor, or they just aren’t sure about a new mayor at all.”

With that, Lyra neatly stacked the papers and placed them on her desk to file away later. “I’m not sure how long the rain will last, but while it goes on, you could go see your new house and get the amount you owe from Iron Will. That’d give you something to work on for the day.” She offered a smile. “Don’t worry too much about the permit for now. Just talking with other ponies should do wonders, and we’ve got plenty of time.”

Chuck fully smiled again and nodded, standing up from his chair. As Lyra returned to her work, the mayor stepped out into the pouring rain.

The house was small, but large enough to hold the couple pieces of furniture Chuck had gotten as welcoming gifts from a few ponies. He had no idea why he was being given things like lamps and chairs as gifts, but elected not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After emptying his pockets, he left the house to examine it from the outside. Like several other nearby houses, it was made out of light-coloured brick and had a yellow straw roof. He had a feeling the roof wouldn’t be getting painted anytime soon. There was a bright red mailbox beside the front door, which currently held no mail. This made Chuck feel somewhat relieved; the first letter he got upon arriving had already been odd enough.

Taking out his umbrella, the mayor started making his way through the town to Iron Will’s Homes. The streets were, surprisingly, not as barren as he expected; even though most ponies were at work, in school, or choosing to stay indoors to escape the rain, a fair amount were electing to brave it in order to continue with whatever plans they had laid out for the day.

As he looked around, he found himself slightly irked by the looks he was receiving. While most ponies were offering a friendly smile and wave, or just continuing to walk by without a change in their demeanour, some would give him an odd or disgusted look. He wasn’t sure if they always acted this way, or if it was ‘special treatment’ for him on account of being a different species...but as much as he hoped it wasn’t the latter, he doubted it was the former.

He started to wonder how hard it was going to be to get that eighty percent approval rating.

“Lyra?”

“GAH!” The unicorn in question snapped her head up from where it lay on a pile of papers, her eyes wide and her mane a mess. “I wasn’t sleeping! I was just reading...really up close!”

“Lyra! Calm down!” A creamy yellow-coloured hoof landed in front of her, and she yelped. “What’s wrong?”

The mare blinked, her blurry vision suddenly becoming a lot clearer. She looked up to see the light yellow hoof leading to a same-coloured earth pony with a blue-and-pink mane, looking back down at her with a concerned gaze.

“Oh...hey, Bon Bon,” Lyra greeted, yawning as she spoke her roommate’s name. “Sorry...thought you were the mayor...”

Bon Bon smirked. “I like to think that I look better than that thing.”

The unicorn glared. “He’s not a ‘thing’. Just because he’s not a pony...” She sighed and rubbed her temple. “Didn’t we have this same issue with Zecora a while back?”

The cream-coloured mare sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “Right...sorry.” She looked out the window. “Hey, the rain’s slowing down. How about we go get lunch, and you can tell me about your new job?”

Lyra shook her head. “Sorry. I’ve got way too much to take care of...”

“Lyra, ever since Mayor What’s-His-Face got here, you’ve been sitting behind a desk! You didn’t even come home last night!”

“That’s not true!” the unicorn exclaimed, only to then visibly deflate. “...I came home...at five...in the morning...”

“And left at seven-thirty. The last time I saw you, you were in front of the whole town welcoming the mayor!” As annoyed as she sounded, there was worry evident in Bon Bon’s tone. “You need to take a break. The paperwork can wait a few hours, can’t it?”

Lyra sighed, looking down at her desk and everything she had left to do. Sheets to file, polls to tally, forms to fill out…she felt a headache coming on.

“...yeah...it can.” She stood up, a little shakily. “Lead the way.”