"Lights, I don't want my mane slicked back!" Pipsqueak groaned, uselessly trying to push his husband's hooves away. The blue pony sat back on his haunches, pulling the most dejected face he could muster as he clutched a comb to his chest.

"But you look so pretty that way!" whined Lightning Flare, "C'mon, at least let me smooth it down a little, I don't want you going on stage looking all homeless."

"Oh come now, my mane does not make me look homeless."



"It kinda does, Pips," yawned Diamond Tiara, gazing into the mirror while lazily applying the final touches to her sparkling eyelids. "You've got this sort of... casual... business-pirate thing going on, not sure it's really appropriate for a chief of staff."

"'Business pirate'?" laughed Applebloom, as she quietly entered the room. Before she closed the door, excited murmuring and talk could be heard from outside. "What'd I just walk in on?"

"Not as interesting as it sounds," smiled Diamond, putting her hoof on Applebloom's cheek and pulling her in for a quick kiss. "Time for the speech?"

"Just about. Y'all ready?"



"Ready as we'll ever be... Bloom, I'm a little worried it's not going to go over well, everything we're gonna propose. Letting half-ponies into the schools... I'm worried that if the rest of Equestria hasn't followed Canterlot's example by now, they never will."

"Aw, Diamond... it's gonna go over fine, I betcha. Ponyville's more accepting than we give 'em credit for, these days! They just need a lil' push, and you as mayor can be that pushy," Applebloom said with a wink.



"She's right Diamond," Pipsqueak added, not noticing as Lightning Flare crept up behind him with a bottle of hair gel, "It's not the same place we grew up in anymore. If there's any time the idea going to go over well it's now, even in an old town like Ponyville!"

After a moment of reflection, Diamond Tiara smiled. Proudly she hopped out of her chair, standing up straight and nodding.

"You guys are right. This is a time of change, and we're going to be a part of it. C'mon Pip, it's speech time!"





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I have absolutely no idea what the duties of mayors are but I'm pretty sure they can't actually effect stuff like this, but HEY it's a magical world where they have princesses of friendship, so SCREW IT

Taking place a year after this. Mayor Diamond Tiara and chief of staff Pipsqueak were instrumental in getting half-ponies into the school system--previously, if you were half pony half dragon, half pony half griffon, etc., you were likely to be refused entrance into schools in small old towns like the one these fellows live in. Eventually you could seek an education somewhere like Canterlot or Manehatten, but if you lived in a less developed area like Ponyville or Appleoosa, well...* When Diamond found out that her best friend was fighting an uphill battle to get her daughter in school, she left her job (she had taken over her father's company) to pursue a career in politics, aiming to change the archaic laws keeping half-ponies as second class citizens.

Y'know, despite having a nextgen, I haven't put nearly enough thought into the canon characters' lives ten+ years into the future. I'm lucky these headcanons hit me!



*I made this headcanon based on ponies' general lack of knowledge (and aside from Twilight, lack of interest) in non-pony cultures, as well as the fact that Spike doesn't seem to be receiving any formal education, despite clearly having the intelligence of a pony.