Author's Note: I wanted to write a story in the style of the show's writing because this election was very polarizing and I've seen friendships be put in danger and even end over politics. I tried my best to be as balanced as possible in this story, but please yell at me if I screwed that up. For the purposes of the story, I had to choose two characters to be on different sides. Can you please keep reviews focused on story, not politics?
The sun rose on a crisp fall day in Ponyville, streaming through the windows of Fluttershy's tree cottage, which was red-orange and would soon shed its leaves. It reflected off two cups of warm apple cider sitting on the coffee table. The mutter of a radio could be heard from a side table. Applejack sat on the armchair, ears angled toward the sound. Fluttershy was wrapped in blankets on the couch, watching the radio as if she could see the numbers being called out. The votes were coming in.
Fluttershy had boldly marked the box next to Blue on the ballot without a second thought, and Applejack had done the same for Red. Most of the town was in the square, waiting together for the results to come in. Fluttershy, being an empath, knew that such an emotionally charged event would overwhelm her, so she invited calm, reasonable Applejack to listen to the election results with her.
"And the results are all in! The winner is... Red!"
Applejack sat up and cheered, then looked over to see that Fluttershy had retreated further into her blanket.
Fluttershy felt the cold grip of panic, familiar and dreaded, worse now than it ever was. She had faced dragons, cockatrices, gods of chaos, but nothing like this. This was not something she could fight. This was the law. She looked out at Applejack and saw the smug grin on her face. Anger broke through the panic, and she exploded out of the baby blue blanket, planting her front hooves on the side table. The radio crashed to the floor and silence filled the air.
"How could you?!" she shrieked.
The grin disappeared from Applejack's face, replaced with shock. Was Fluttershy expecting her to apologize for her own beliefs?! Should she be curled up on the floor crying right now like her friend?
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Fluttershy," Applejack said, defensiveness edging into her voice. "Voting ain't a crime. I think I made the right choice, and maybe Equestria can get back on its hooves. Maybe ponies will stop cryin' over every little thing and actually get some work done for once."
"You betrayed me! You, the Element of Honesty, voted for a liar! Have you seen the way he talks about mares? He wants to go to war with Yakyakistan! He wants to deport zebras! And you let him win!"
"And you voted for a pony who didn't even say nothin' about what she wanted to do when she was elected! How do you know she wouldn'ta done the same things?!"
Fluttershy saw her animals dart out of view all around the room. She jumped off the couch and advanced on Applejack, eyes burning with tears.
"Get. OUT!"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "You're being silly! Nothin's gonna happen to anypony! The world ain't gonna end just 'cause your candidate lost! I can't believe you of all ponies would fall for this crud!"
Fluttershy bared her teeth. "I thought you were my friend, but you're just a backwards hillbilly," she growled.
Applejack walked out the door. "And I thought you were smart enough to not be roped in by propaganda. Crybaby," she spat as she bucked the door closed, rattling the house and sending dust raining down on Fluttershy.
Applejack ran down the path, out of Fluttershy's yard and onto the road to town. Tears pricked her eyes. Just the wind, she thought. I'm certainly not upset at losin' a friend who can't see reason.
Fluttershy let the tears fall down her cheeks and drip onto the floor. Sobs of anger and sadness shook her thin frame. Angel crept up to her and put a comforting paw on her foreleg.
As Applejack ran, she passed by Pinkie Pie heading the opposite direction. The confused pink pony turned around and ran after her friend, keeping pace with her.
"What're we running from? Is this a race I wasn't told about?" Then she noticed her friend's tears. "Oh no! You were at Fluttershy's house! Is she okay?"
Applejack skidded to a halt and scuffed the dirt with her hooves, catching her breath before she could speak. "Fluttershy's fine," she said curtly, walking away. She felt drained, though she had run farther and faster before without issue.
"Are you sure? 'Cause you're not. C'mon, help me plan an Election Day afterparty! All the ponies around here are so... so..."
"Riled up?"
"Yes, that sounds about right. You always come up with the most creative words!" Pinkie Pie grinned, then her grin faded when she saw that Applejack was not convinced.
"Turn that frown upside down!" she tried. Her mane started to deflate.
"I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie. I don't need cheerin' up right now. I might help you later... if you don't invite Fluttershy." Applejack walked away, leaving Pinkie Pie to sit on the ground when shock made her legs give out. She shook her mane when she felt it deflating.
"I'm sure Fluttershy can tell me what's going on, and then I can fix it," she said. But despite the cheerful bounce in her voice, she walked to Fluttershy's cottage.
Pinkie Pie knocked on the door. Fluttershy cracked it open, her blue-green eye peeking out. "What," she snarled. Then her eye widened when she realized who had knocked.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were Applejack coming back to apologize or something.
"Apologize?" Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow. "I ran into her just-"
"If she sent you with a message, I don't want to hear it." Fluttershy slammed the door in her friend's face. Pinkie Pie could hear sobs through the door. She backed away, then turned and ran back into town.
"Oh, this is bad," she said to herself. "I gotta tell Twilight about this."
Pinkie Pie burst through the double doors of the castle, startling Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Rarity were wearing plain but pretty dresses; Twilight wore pink and Rarity wore baby blue. Rainbow Dash was reluctantly wearing a purple pantsuit at Rarity's insistence.
"Something happened between Applejack and Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie shouted, gasping for air from her run. She then promptly collapsed face-first into the floor with a thwack.
Twilight took a calming breath and walked up to Pinkie Pie.
"What is it?" she asked, trying to hide her anxiety.
Pinkie Pie picked herself up off the floor, tears streaming down her face in rivers. "I don't know. Something. Applejack was running and crying and Fluttershy slammed the door in my face and started crying and everybody's angry and sad and I don't know what to do they didn't want to hear any jokes or help plan a party or even be near each other!" She faceplanted the cold crystal tile of the castle floor again. Twilight helped her friend up and led her to a chair. She paced back and forth.
"I think I know what happened. Everybody was upset about the election, right? There was a lot of arguing. Some ponies even left the party."
Pinkie Pie sniffled agreement. Twilight handed her a tissue and she blew her nose in a loud honk. "I thought a Red and Blue party would be fun. I thought it would make ponies less anxious."
"It's okay, Pinkie. It's not your fault. Emotions were running very high in this election from both sides, otherwise, your party would have diffused the tension. I bet something similar happened at Fluttershy's cottage."
Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who had been listening but stayed silent, stepped forward.
Rarity spoke first. "I don't know if either of them would be in the mood for conversation today. Tomorrow, I'll take Fluttershy to the spa. Maybe I'll be able to talk her down. We're both upset about Blue's defeat. Maybe it would make her feel better to be able to vent."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "And I'll play some buckball with Applejack. She can take her anger out on the ball and then I'll try talking to her about what happened. Politics aren't my thing, so I don't care either way how either of them voted." Rarity glanced with shock at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged noncommittally.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, both of you."
"Let's change the subject for now and we can talk about this tomorrow. No sense in all of us going bonkers," Rarity suggested.
Twilight and Pinkie brightened up. Pinkie Pie raised a hoof like a school filly in class.
"Ooh, ooh, I have a topic!"
Everypony waited for her to speak. When it was clear that she was waiting to be called on, Rarity rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Okay, Pinkie Pie, what's your suggestion?"
"Let's talk about ice cream! Did you know that they're coming out with hayburger sundaes now in Manehattan?"
Rarity pulled a face. Twilight snorted with laughter. Rainbow Dash looked thoughtful, then nodded with approval.
"I'd eat that," declared the pegasus. Rarity made a disgusted noise.