She was nervous. Nervous as she's ever been. Starlight could feel the few drops of sweat slowly making the way down her face. It was now or never, she could not chicken out now, too much was at stake. "'Twelve words" she thought to herself. All I have to do is say those twelve words & I'm in it. She hesitantly looked up from the podium & scanned the area for possible threats. She seemed safe, but in times like this you could never know. Looking around & seeing more and more cheering ponies in the crowd gave her a little confirmation, that it's all gonna be okay, that what she was getting herself involved in wouldn't destroy her completely. The moment she was gonna say those twevle words, she knew - it has to be them for her & her for them, that's the only way they all can succeed.
"I'm officially running..." Starlight started off, keeping the calm, yet firm attitude. Nobody knew how fast her heart was bumping at the moment, and perhaps it was for the best. "...for the president of the great nation of Equestria!"
As she smiled & saw the crowd go off in an extraordinarily loud cheer, she knew the next couple of months are gonna be something she's never experienced before.
"Bullshit!" screamed a pony with the strangest cutie mark, a hazy combination of bits & ponies. Nobody had quiteso managed to put their hoof on what it could symbol, the pony himself however, simply calling himself
The Bit Baron seemed to be quite knowing of his own talents, yet he never spoke of it, not even when asked.
In front of the pony was laying a newspaper, with a big title reading
"She's in it to win it"
"This pony must be the definition of
strange," mumbled the pony by himself.
"Starlight!" shouted Twilight, poking her head into every room of the castle. "Where are you?"
"Hey, Twilight, do you think this suite fits good enough? Or should I drop by Rarity's boutique & get a new one?" can she hear screaming from the other end of the hall.
"Starlight, what in Equestria are you doing?" asked Twilight, poking her head into the room.
"I'm picking a suit for the campaign trail, of course. After all, the looks make up half the first impression," Starlight falls into thought, "Y'know, you're right, screw this thing, I'm gonna go order a new one from Rarity come tomorrow."
Twilight quietly closes the door behind herself "Starlight, we need to talk."
"I'm all for talking, Twilight. I'm standing in front of you right now & I'm talking to you. So what do we need to talk about?"
"I don't...I don't know what it is you're doing, but you've been acting so strange lately..." Twilight pauses, "And now you're running for president, unannounced and..."
"Let me interrupt you right there Twilight, I'm not running unannounced, I just announced my campaign..."
"I mean to me! I mean to all of us! You never told any of us you were gonna do it, not before you got up on that stage & made it public! You didn't ask for any of our help."
"I didn't need your help, Twilight! I can do this on my own! I wanna, do this on my own!"
"You can't do something like this on your own & by hiding secrets from us, from me!"
Starlight can feel the anger rush through her veins, but she knows how important it is to keep a calm attitude now. One sign of being stressed out, one emotionally made sentence can flush everything.
"You're right Twilight...I need you with me. But I also need to do this my own way, I can't be restricted by some set up boundaries, not this early."
"Then lets do it...Lets let Starlight be Starlight."
"You see, I need Twilight with me, at least this early in the game. I know ties will start breaking & they will start breaking fast, but I need to set up a strong platform on what I have, before it all slips away. I know the time will come when two of us will be at odds, but I can't let this be now, I'm too dependent on her & what she can offer for me at the moment."
"It's a deal!"
"Oh, come in!" said Rarity in her always gracious voice.
"I thought about the dress or a suit that Twilight said you had wanted for the...campaign trail"
"...And?" asked Starlight calmly.
"This will be an absolutely phenomenal and extravagant opportunity for my boutique, darling!"
A bit confused from the statement, Starlight looks at Rarity, "I'm afraid I don't follow..."
"You'll be touring around all of Equestria! In the most prestige and upper-class corners of the world!"shouts Rarity in over-excitement .
"Heh, you're right on that..."
"Rarity is gonna be an important part of my plan and if she thinks her playing field is only limited to getting me a suit, she's hardly mistaken. As I mentioned before, there will come a time when me & Twilight will be at odds and the side she chooses will be of great importance. I have to get on her good side before that."
"It'll take me 3 days to get the s-"
"Rarity, how would you like to be my campaign manager?"
"I'mma...I've gotta...whaaa?" is Rarity in obvious sudden shock.
"You said the dress would be done in 3 days?" asks Starlight, "Ya can sleep on it. I'll expect the answer when I'll come & pick up the suit. Can we do that?"
"Yeah...I...I guess so" mumbles Rarity.
It had been a tiring day for Twilight. Starlight going rogue meant nothing good for her, as it resulted in only a large amount of questions. Most of them "Will you be officially endorsing Starlight?" or "How much influence did you have in Starlight's campaign?" It wasn't easy for Twilight, as Starlight had left her pretty much out of the deal. The useless keypoints given by Starlight weren't much of help either. But that's who Starlight had always been - less of a follower of a list & more of a chaos wielder. Twilight chuckled as she imagined the possibility of Discord as Starlight's running mate.
"What was that?" Twilight could swear she heard someone call out her name. Starlight hadn't come back yet, so it could've been her playing another dirty trick on Twilight or someone else entirely. Sure, Starlight was quite a mischief, but it didn't seem like her style to freak out Twilight like that.
"Twilight!"
And that was enough to send Twilight into out of control shock, waving her hoofs around like a crazy pony & teleporting herself from one end of the room to another.
"Would've expected more grace from a pony of your caliber..."
Twilight recognized that voice. Even though she had had a few actual encounters with him & more heard it from various magic channels.
"Bit Barron..." whispers Twilight quietly.