Olivia looked up at the town clock and set her watch. Since her cell phone’s battery had died the first week she lived in Equestria, she had reverted to an older piece of technology for telling time, and she was constantly forgetting to wind it. She didn’t mind, though. It got her out into town.

“Morning, Olivia!”

She turned around to see who was addressing her. “Oh, Mayor Mare. I didn’t know that you knew my name.”

“Sure I do. A mayor’s got to know everyone in town. I have to keep getting elected, you know.” She smiled.

“But humans can’t vote in Ponyville.”

“Well, that’s only because they live in Humantown. Have you elected a mayor yet?”

“No,” said Olivia. “It’s probably something we should get to, but honestly we’ve been so busy we haven’t had the time to make a government, or to need one. When we have had disputes, it’s always been Bastian who mediated.”

“Perhaps I’d better issue a directive to the ponies to stay out of Humantown. I’d hate for them to see that working.” The mayor laughed at her own jest.

Another pony required the mayor’s attention, so Olivia walked off toward home.

From talking to Lisa she knew that more than one human was getting, if not disgruntled, overwhelmed by their new life, but she couldn’t feel it. There was just so much to do. After attending Applejack’s classes on farming, she had started up a few garden plots that needed attention, and they were yielding food for her table. She spent more time building and rebuilding furniture and fixtures with her magic to improve her house. But even that would take a back seat to any event that the ponies set up to entertain their new friends. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised that the mayor knew her. She went to everything.

Coming up the dirt road that led from Ponyville to Humantown, Olivia heard a clatter and saw a cloud of dust billowing up from the horizon. As it drew closer, she stepped off the road to observe. It was a cart speeding along with nopony pulling, but a magical brony riding in the back. She recognized Claude, who had been Twilight’s assistant at the first demonstration of the Gates.

“Woo-hoo!” he cried out as he saw her. “Just mastered come-to-life spells!”

Olivia wanted to say to be careful, remember how out of control that spell was during the Winter Wrap-up, but he would be out of earshot by the time she finished her sentence. Coming around the town line road of Ponyville, oblivious to the danger, was a pony pulling a cart of her own. Olivia saw her orange coat and the cart and made a guess that it was Applejack, but was more focused on trying to do the math on how two carts traveling at given speeds along certain vectors would miss each other. She wasn’t liking the answers she was getting.

She started running toward them even before the crash. “Look out!” she cried, but it was too late. Claude and Applejack’s carts collided and collapsed into a splintery mess of wood, hay, and bruised apples. The wheels of Claude’s cart, stuck in the air, were still magically spinning and showed no signs of losing momentum.

Olivia reached the scene of the accident and kneeled by Applejack. “Are you all right?” she asked. Applejack just groaned. She had hit her head.

“How about you?” Olivia asked Claude.

“Ow. I tore up my hands pretty good.”

She looked around, but didn’t see anypony. She had hoped that the sound would attract attention, but they were on the edge of town. It was unclear what Applejack was doing so far out, but there was no opportunity to ask.

“Can you walk?”

“Yeah, but I’m in pain here!”

Olivia stood up. “Go and get the nurse, then. Applejack’s hurt.”

“But I don’t know where she is.”

“Just go until you find somepony!” Olivia said, losing her patience. Claude ran off. Olivia had taken some first aid courses, but wasn’t sure how well they applied to pony physiology. She knew that the best thing for a head injury was to not move Applejack. Using her magic, she cleared away as much of the wreck as she could without disturbing her.

It was Nurse Coldheart who came the fastest, and she set to examining and aiding Applejack. Eventually she decided that it was all right to move her, and Olivia used her double-carry technique to do most of the lifting. When they got to the hospital, they laid Applejack in a bed, and Olivia could still hear Claude whining from down the hall. She washed her hands and left the hospital, thinking that it was at least over.

The next day, the knock on the door was unlike any that Olivia had heard, and she was surprised to see a pony on the other side. They very rarely came to Humantown. He said that he had come from the mayor, and that she would have to come back into Ponyville.

The mayor’s office was opulent for the town, and Olivia found it a pleasant change from the clinical government buildings she had seen on Earth.

“Good to see you again, Mayor Mare,” she said.

“I don’t know how good it will be. I understand that you saw the incident yesterday.”

“I did. Not up close, but I was the only one there.”

“Well, Applejack’s understandably upset, and so is Claude. I’d like to hear the whole story from you.”

Olivia recounted what she had seen as best she could. “Is there going to be trouble? Are you going to have to arrest him? Do we have to get Princess Celestia involved?”

“Oh, dear me, no. I wouldn’t be a good mayor if I had to call the Princess for every little dispute. But some ponies have been afraid that something like this would happen, and wanted a procedure in place to deal with it. I’ve been putting it off, hoping that we’d all get along, but now it’s happened. So I’ll have to have a talk with Applejack and with the human who hit her.”

“Yes. Is there anything else I need to do?”

Mayor Mare organized some papers on her desk. “Not for me, but I believe that nice human who runs Humantown—what was his name? Bastian?—wanted a word with you when you got home.”

Olivia left and sought out Bastian. He asked about her conversation with the mayor. She hesitated, but since it was never said to be confidential, she related the substance.

“The problem for me is Claude,” he said. “I’ve tried to explain to him that there doesn’t have to be a trial, that the ponies wouldn’t know what one is or how to conduct one the way we do, but he insists that I defend him. I’m not sure if he thinks he’s going to be accused of something or if he wants to accuse Applejack. If so, I don’t know what he thinks he can get.”

“You’ve just got to reassure him that everything’s going to be all right, and that the best thing to do is just forgive, forget, and move on.”

“Well, just between you and me, Claude’s a little stupid.”

Olivia laughed at the break in the mood.

“I shouldn’t say that,” Bastian continued. “He’s nice enough. Everyone is, here.”

“You know, being smart versus being stupid isn’t the same as being good or bad. I think we sometimes got those confused, which is one of the things that we should get away from here.”

“Interesting point. I haven’t thought of it that way. Anyway, since you’ll be there as the eyewitness, I’m just letting you know what to expect.”

Olivia started to go, but then thought of something else. “If you really don’t want to help him, you could always do the job half-heartedly or unseriously.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“How do you mean?”

Bastian looked out the window. His house had a good view. “I always liked running the convention. I enjoyed having the responsibility, even when it meant awkward times like having to tell someone to get moving and not be lazy. But what I liked most was how it was a project. I didn’t mind settling disputes between two departments that needed the same space or the same money, because it was worth it to make those two days special. It was like playing on a sports team that you know is going to the championship. And then after, there was always some time to unwind before the next con started planning. But here, it’s just an endless job that gets harder all the time.”

“Maybe you need to delegate some of the authority. Get a staff and some assistants.”

“Are you offering yourself up for the job?”

Olivia held up her hands. “Hey, I’m just a kid.”

“That doesn’t matter as much here.”

“Well, maybe eventually. Right now, I’m just enjoying myself. At least, until tomorrow.”

Bastian came early the next day to pick Olivia up and take her to the meeting in the mayor’s office. Applejack and the mayor were already there, and when Claude arrived a few minutes later, they wanted to start discussing things, but Claude would have none of it.

“This is supposed to be in public, so that anypony can see what’s going on and you can’t put anything over on me!”

“All right,” said Mayor Mare. “We’ll go outside.”

“Sure, it’s a nice day,” said Applejack.

They found a table in an outdoor café that would seat the five of them, and although Claude clearly wanted a bigger spectacle, Bastian told him not to press the point.

“Now,” the mayor said, “I think we’re all mostly clear as to what happened. Applejack, are you willing to forgive and forget it all?”

“Well, I’d say that that feller needs some driving lessons, but other than that, there wasn’t any permanent damage done, at least not to me. I’d appreciate some help fixing that wagon, though. Big Macintosh can do it, but he’s pressed for time as is.”

“I think that’s a reasonable request. Claude?”

“No! We need to get at the heart of what the problem is. Tell her, Bastian.”

“I can’t tell her unless I understand myself.” Bastian leaned in closer to Claude. “Is it something confidential?”

“I can’t believe you don’t recognize it yourself. Every human here is treated like a second-class citizen, and I for one am tired of it.”

Olivia spoke up. “You’re going to have to explain your position more thoroughly, because I for one don’t feel that way.”

“All right, fine. When I was a magical brony on Earth, everyone understood that I was special, had an ability that wasn’t normal. And because I tried to use it right, most people didn’t hate me for it. There were a few who did, but we saw what happened to them when Twilight took action. But now that I’m here, even Earth ponies and pegasi who can’t do magic aren’t impressed. Now, all that would be fine if we had the same houses and jobs that the ponies do, but we don’t.”

Mayor Mare interrupted. “In our defense, that’s not because we’re smarter or harder working. We were just here first.”

“That’s not a lot of comfort.”

“Ain’t nopony holding you here,” said Applejack. “I’ll run you down to the Gate right now if you want to go back to Earth.”

Claude’s demeanor changed from anger to embarrassment. “I’m not looking to leave. I’m just asking to be treated fairly, and that means letting me practice my magic in peace and make a decent living off of it.”

“All right, I’ve had about enough of this.” Everyone looked at Olivia. “The only reason we’re here in the first place is that you messed around with a spell that you knew was dangerous and that you had no business trying to test outside. And unless you’re the unluckiest person in Equestria, which, you know, you’re not, I’m sure it wasn’t the first time you’ve used it. You’re probably just too lazy to haul your own hay, and too reckless to think of others while you’re doing it. If you want to take shortcuts and get in everypony else’s way, go do it somewhere else. Because frankly, I have better things to do with my time than to sit here and listen to you whine, and I’m sure that the mayor, the farm pony who you hurt, and the de facto leader of the humans are busy too.”

A few ponies had noticed the discussion, particularly as Olivia’s voice grew in volume and forcefulness, but she cleared out before any of them could ask her what was going on. Mayor Mare and Bastian tried to explain as best as they could. Once the crowd had dispersed, the meeting resumed and the mayor laid down her decision.

“From what I can tell, Applejack was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But you, Claude, are forbidden to use come-to-life spells outside of your own home or under the supervision of a unicorn. Other than that, I’d like you to help out Big Macintosh with repairing the cart.”

“Couldn’t I just pay to have it done?”

“If you really insist on doing it that way, though I believe you would learn a better lesson if you did it yourself. And I warn you, if this is going to happen often, you’ll run out of bits sooner than you run out of ponies to injure.”

Claude said nothing, and he cleared out. Bastian started to leave as well.

“One moment, please,” Mayor Mare said. “I’d like to have a word with you. I mentioned this briefly to the young lady yesterday, but I think it’s important for Humantown to have a formal, structured government.”

“I agree with you. I was also talking to Olivia about how we need a panel of people to handle stuff like that. We’d appreciate any help that you can give us with that.”

“Well, perhaps it’s good that Applejack was involved here. Whenever we have balloting here, she and the Apples lend us the ranch to hold the election. It’s a good place for ponies to get in a queue without being too crowded.”

Applejack smiled at Bastian, but he shook his head. “It’s a kind offer, but it’s all the way across town. If we want to include everyone, it would be better to have it in Humantown itself.”

The ponies looked at each other knowingly. “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” said Applejack. “Sweet Apple Acres isn’t the most convenient place for Ponyvillians either. That’s part of the reason why we use it. If somepony’s the type who’s inclined to want to vote in place of working, he usually doesn’t want to trot all the way across town. You get better results when everyone’s allowed to vote, but not everyone’s encouraged.”

Bastian’s American spirit recoiled at such a suggestion. He decided to think more on it before deciding whether to use the ranch.

By the time he got back to town, the news of what had gone on at the meeting had spread. Claude had locked himself in his house and wasn’t talking to anyone. Olivia was being accosted by a crowd and was trying to get away.

“Honestly,” she was saying, “there was nothing juicy about it, no big story. We just talked it out.”

Bastian was glad to have a reason to address the crowd himself. He explained to them what Mayor Mare had said about formally electing a government.

“She suggested holding it at Sweet Apple Acres, but I know that’s rather far away—“

“No, that’s great!” said Olivia. “We’d all love an excuse to go back into Ponyville and get to talk to Applejack or Granny Smith or the rest, right?”

The crowd seemed to be in agreement. Bastian said, “All right, if you’re willing to take the hike, we’ll start planning it.”

Again Olivia spoke up. “How about this Sunday?”

“Well, that’s a little soon. We need time for those who want to run to register and campaign.”

“Nah, let’s just have everyone write in who they want so we get a good idea.”

Again the crowd seemed to assent. From the back, someone shouted, “The sooner, the better!”

Bastian shrugged and resigned himself. “All right, if you all feel that way, I’ll talk it over with Applejack and arrange the details.”

Now that the people of Humantown had something to discuss and plan for, the incident of the day before became, both literally and figuratively, yesterday’s news. They talked about voting, but mostly they talked about how nice it would be to get away from their daily drudgery and have an event together.

“I’m still not sure this isn’t too quick,” Bastian said, more to himself, but Olivia heard him.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a formality. Everyone will write your name down, except for a few jokers who’ll write their own. It’s better than a long campaign where malcontents like Claude can start rabble-rousing. In a few days, you’ll formally be mayor, and then everything will be settled.”

Bastian looked like he had swallowed castor oil, but he said nothing.

Sunday came around before everyone knew it, and they dressed in their best and most comfortable clothes. In Humantown, denim and cotton were formal wear, and there had been little occasion to wear fancier outfits. The more eager pegasus people flew straight to the Apples’ farm, only to find that they were put to work labeling ballot boxes, arranging places to line up, and cutting paper for ballots. No one minded, though.

The ponies had gathered too, happy to see their friends getting together in camaraderie. The whole thing had the atmosphere more akin to a carnival than an election. Even once the first votes were written and put into the box, the folks who wrote them stayed and talked with those still waiting.

They were having such a good time, in fact, that no one noticed when ballots stopped being cast. Applejack and her family took the boxes away and started the tally. But as they piled the slips of paper according to the chosen candidate, one pile grew steadily larger than all the others. When the count was finished, Applejack put her hoof in her mouth and blew a loud whistle.

“All right, you humans. I know you’re all having a good time and enjoying our apples, but listen up, because we got this here voting done, and you’ve got yourself a new mayor.”

A cheer went up from the crowd.

“With eighty-six percent of the vote too! A clear consensus. Congratulations, Olivia.”

Olivia heard her name and focused on Applejack, but was thrown off for a moment. The thought occurred to her that she was supposed to award the title to Bastian for some reason, but then realized what was said.

“Wait, what? No, it’s not me, it’s supposed to be—“

“You got all these votes,” said Applejack. “See for yourself.”

She knocked over the stack of paper and saw her name written hundreds of times. She turned back to the crowd, and saw nothing but smiling faces. In among the faces was Lisa, giving her a double thumbs-up. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“Well, I can’t speak for everyone,” said Bastian, “but since I voted for you I’ll say that I think you’re honest, forthright, and you’re willing to face a problem head on. I can’t think of any better qualities needed in a mayor.”

Olivia stumbled as people came over and slapped her on the back. She shook hands with everyone. The rest of the event was a blur as she was feted and congratulated so many times. All the while, the worries of what she would have to do for the job kept pestering her.

Early the next morning, she tidied her house as best she could, since she assumed that people would be coming to see her and do business. Once that was done, she started drafting a speech that would say, in essence, keep doing what you’re doing, keep being nice to each other, and don’t bother me! The first knock interrupted her when she was fifty words in.

It was Bastian, Mayor Mare, and Applejack. “Good morning, Madam Mayor,” said Applejack.

“Please don’t call me that. Just stick to Olivia.” She welcomed them all in and said, “I suppose I’ll never have cause to complain about being lonely. What can I do for you?”

“Just want to make sure you’re all right,” said Applejack. “We know it was kind of unexpected.”

“I’ll make it. I still don’t understand why everyone didn’t elect Bastian, though.”

“They could see I didn’t want the job,” he said. “I’d been doing it without recognition for long enough. But if you get frustrated or tired, don’t hesitate to ask for help.”

“Although right now we might be more of a hindrance,” Mayor Mare said. “You have another visitor.”

Olivia looked out the window and saw Claude coming up her path. “Go into the kitchen and listen. I’ll call you if I need help.”

As they walked away, Bastian said under his breath, “See, I told you she’d grow into the job. Thinks on her feet, she does.”

Claude walked in the door. “Hi, kid,” he said.

“The proper address is ‘Madam Mayor.’”

“Huh? Oh, if you insist. Anyway, apparently I’ve got to talk to you now if I want anything done. I gave some thought to emigrating back to Earth. I might want to do it, but I haven’t heard much news from there. Do you know if they’re welcoming us back?”

Olivia gave a bored wave of her hand. “I hadn’t heard. Why not just dive in and find out?”

“But what if it’s just like the convention and everyone still hates us?”

“Then don’t go.”

“But no one likes me here either!”

“First, that’s not true. Change your attitude a little and you’ll find lots of friends. But if you can’t find a home in either place, I don’t know what to tell you. Still, it would be a good idea to get some first-hand knowledge of what’s going on Earth-side. I’ll make a trip. You want to come with me?”

Claude shook his head and ended the interview swiftly. Happy to have something to do, Olivia packed a bag and went into the kitchen to explain to the others.

“If we’re going to have problems here, the easiest thing to do is ask the problematic people to leave. But we can’t do that without a place to send them. I’m going to go to Earth as an official representative and see if there are people willing to repatriate Equestrian humans. If there are, that’ll make my job a lot easier.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Mayor Mare asked. “You’re new to the job, and already taking leave?”

“So it’ll be just like it was before. I want people to get used to the fact that not a whole lot will change.”

She went to the Gate and told the others she would be back as soon as possible. Once on Earth, she decided that the easiest thing to find information would be at a newspaper office.

Olivia wasn’t used to poking her nose around and talking to strangers, but if she was going to be mayor, she’d have to learn, and reporters were supposed to be easy to talk to anyway. She found one in the lunch room of the Times building and sat down across from him. When he looked up from his sandwich, she explained to him that she’d been away for a while and needed to know the general picture.

“Where exactly have you been?” he asked.

Rather than answer, she pointed a glowing finger at his tray of food and magically refolded his napkin.

“I see.”

“What I want to know is, would there be a place for those of us who wanted to come back?”

“You mean, jobs and places to stay?”

“Yes,” Olivia said, then thought of something else. “Also protection. I don’t know what the level of opposition would be.”

“That’s the tricky part. The answer to your question is that there are plenty of places to stay—house and apartment prices have crashed again—but jobs might be a little trickier.”

“Unemployment is up too?”

The reporter smirked and sipped his drink. “No, we have full employment. Nominally. Only two percent of the workforce is currently seeking.”

“I don’t get the joke.”

“The workforce itself has shrunk by so much thanks to all of you leaving, that it’s really just a blip in the statistics. The people who were unemployed rushed to fill all the jobs that you left open, and the companies had no choice but to hire them. It’s questionable as to whether they’re qualified though.”

Olivia followed the line of reasoning. “So you think there’ll be another round of business failures and more unemployment.”

“Exactly. I’m just giving you the slant from the economic articles we’ve published. I’m not in that line myself. I do more human interest stories. But I think that gives me a different perspective on the cause of our current situation.”

“And what’s that?”

The reporter took a moment to gather his thoughts, but it was clear that he had an idea for an article that he was reciting. “An economy that loses five or ten percent of its people to emigration is already in trouble, but in theory it shouldn’t damage it that much. You could put part of the problem down to the fact that businesses were preparing to make use of your powers more, and now that you’re not around, they have to go back to doing things the old way. But beyond that, there’s something more.

“If bronies were the upper percentile of intelligence, we would point to that and call it a brain drain. That’s a well-known economic concept. But there are plenty of brains left. On the other hand, you’re definitely the top echelon of something. There’s some factor being taken out and not replaced, and the country doesn’t know how to correct for it.”

Olivia thanked him for the information and talked more about arranging a job for Claude. She was unsure what skillset he possessed, but if magical bronies were a factor that was missing, the paper would be glad to have one back.

She visited a few more places and the story was the same. In the streets, people kept their heads down and did not look at each other. Too many stores had their rolling gates down in the daytime and too many people were out during working hours. Back in Humantown, she settled into the mayor’s job with ease and no longer minded anyone grabbing her attention. Any time it seemed to be a strain, she cast her memory back to earth, and the cold, dead eyes of the people in the streets.