"That should be enough photographic images." Peridot says with a smile as she packs the camera away. "When the locals see this calendar they'll have no choice but to vote for you!"

"Uhm... Peri... What do any of these pictures have to do with anything?" Lapis asks as she sets down the super-soaker and hands the plate of pancakes off to the 'unconscious' Purple Puma.

"The first 12 were to physically represent your positive traits that make you an ideal candidate for mayor. They're going to make up the calendar." Peridot says matter of factly as she begins tearing down the lighting equipment.

"Well... What about the other 24?" Lapis asks, puzzled.

"Well I'm not going to waste resources." Peridot dryly states as she rolls up the extension cord. When she gets towards the end of the cord, Garnet hands her the plug. "Thank you, Garnet."

"No problem." Garnet bluntly states. She leaves.

"Wait... So pictures 13 through 36 were..." Lapis begins.

"Absolutely pointless to your campaign." Peridot completes.

Lapis covers her eyes with her hands and groans in embarrassment. "...Peridot..."

Purple Puma shifts back into Amethyst and begins laughing at Lapis's expense.

"What!? You're the one who said I could benefit from practicing spontaneity!" Peridot defensively states. She then changes the subject. "... Amethyst, you can have the pancakes now. We're done with them."

"Sweet!" Amethyst says as she tackles a giant stack of pancakes and begins to devour them.

Lapis looks like she's about to say something but thinks better of it. She and Peridot stand there is silence for a few moments. Lapis begins to say something but Peridot's voice cuts her off. "Now that we're done with the photography, you should probably go to the Magistrate's Office."

Lapis blinks in confusion and looks blankly at Peridot. "... Why?"

"If you want to run for mayor then you have to fill out the paperwork. If you don't then you can't legally run."

"That makes sense." Lapis says. She then begins walking towards the boardwalk. She stops and turns around. "Aren't you coming? You are my campaign manager afterall."

"While that's true, I have other matters to attend to." Peridot says. Lapis looks at her with an 'explain yourself' glare. "... I have to return all of the photography equipment to Dad, get the photographs developed, and then gather the necessary components for the next stage in preparing you for the upcoming campaign... Plus, I don't have to be there all the time. I trust you."

Later, at the magistrate office. Lapis is at a desk talking to an older woman with triangular glasses. She is a small, wrinkly lady with shaky palms and smells like mint and mothballs.

"Name?" The Lady asks.

"Lapis Lazuli." Lapis says with a smile.

The old lady doesn't return the smile. Instead, she changes her focus to her computer monitor and slowly types in the information. She then coughs a strange yellowish liquid into a tissue. Lapis cringes.

"Age?" She asks.

"Uhm... Hmm... Lets see... Imprisoned for 5,000 years so... Over 9,000?" Lapis says with a giggle.

"I'll just put 8,000." The Lady says. "Sex?"

"What?" Lapis asks.

"Gender?" The Lady asks.

"What?" Lapis asks, really confused now.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" The Old Lady asks.

"Uhm... I'm a gem... Does that count?" Lapis asks.

"Let me see if it-" The Lady cuts herself off. "Oh... That is an option... Click. Next question. Political Affiliation?"

"... Uhm... Not Dewey?" Lapis says with uncertainty.

"Not Dewey." The Lady confirms. "That party hasn't had representation since prohibition... Ah... Youth..." The Lady goes into a daydream and Lapis just stands there.

"Am... I done?" Lapis eventually asks.

"Oh! Yes!" The Lady says as she snaps back into attention. "It will take awhile for the paperwork to be fully processed, but feel free to campaign in the meantime."

"Thank you." Lapis said with a smile The Lady doesn't return the smile but rather opens her mouth to pick something out from between her teeth. Lapis turns around disgusted and accidentally bumps into Pearl.

"Oof! Sorry..." Lapis says before she notices who it is. "Pearl!? What are you doing here?"

"I just finished submitting the paperwork for Mayor Dewey's re-election campaign." Pearl says as she points over to a computer terminal on the wall.

"Wait... I didn't have to deal with..." Lapis looks over her shoulder and sees the lady staring back. Lapis shudders. "... Wait... Dewey?"

"Yes. Well. I couldn't let you and Peridot have all the fun." Pearl said with a chuckle.

"Fun?... This isn't another competition between you and Peridot is it?" Lapis says with a sigh. While Lapis does like Pearl and Peridot's rivalry and intellectual headbutting, she can't help but feel a twinge of hurt at the thought of the campaign being used by them as another 'battleground.'

"No! No! No!" Pearl says quickly as a futile attempt to cover up her motives. "Mayor Dewey came to me for help, and in the spirit of fairness I agreed!"

Lapis bought the excuse and smiles. The two of them leave the magistrate office. Its past dinner time now. The two exchange idle chitchat as they walk down the boardwalk.

"So... How's the campaign going?" Pearl asks Lapis.

"We haven't really done any campaigning yet." Lapis says. "Peridot believes that we shouldn't start campaigning without a strategy and training, so we've spent the entire day planning and taking pictures."

"Pictures?" Pearl asks, her curiosity obviously getting the better of her.

"Yeah. Peridot has this idea of making a calendar to distribute to the voters as a way to show off my 'personability' and 'blah blah blah.'" Lapis sighs but weakly smiles. "I like that she's so willing to throw her efforts into helping me... But... I think she may be too excited."

"Well yeah." Pearl says with a laugh. "That's how she is. She gets a project and she's glued to it."

"Yeah... Its weird though..." Lapis admits. "Being the focus of her attention."

"Get used to it." Pearl says with a friendly smile. "You're running for mayor."

Meanwhile at the Dewey Mansion...

Mayor Dewey is sitting in a small personal theatre watching tapes of previous elections. City, State, federal. It doesn't matter. If he has it on film, he's watching it.

"Its always the same!" Dewey says to himself as he's scribbling notes down. "Be charismatic. Get the support of the people. Mention a pressing issue of the time. Don't elaborate, be elusive. Get sponsors..." Dewey lets out a frustrated groan and throws his notebook across the room. "I know all of this already! Its been done countless times! But why!"

Mayor Dewey's mind wanders back to the boardwalk yesterday when that Blue Girl called him out. He remembers it vividly. Her anger. The tone in her voice. Her eyes... Those eye. There was a fire in those eyes that he's never seen before. It made him question his standing. His security... His motives...

"I feel like I'm gonna hurl..." Dewey complains as he pulls his knees into his chest and hugs his legs.

Buck Dewey, who is looking in on his father through the open doorway smiles. He walks into the room and sits next to his father.

"Its scary. Isn't it?" Buck asks. Dewey just nods in a reply. The two sit in silence for awhile, watching a speech given by Ronald Reagan.

"Sometimes to make great art, you have to struggle." Buck says to his father. "The fear is real, but it'll open you up to yourself."

Dewey turns his attention to Buck. "I have no idea what you just said." Dewey says. He then hugs his son. "But thank you for your support!"

((Silly Buck! Using metaphors on Dewey! And you Peridot! What kind of pictures did you take!? I enjoyed this one. Originally I was going to have Lapis try and figure out how to submit the paperwork electronically. Then I realized that would consist of an entire chapter of Lapis yelling at a screen... She's got plenty of yelling to do later, so I went with a human instead... Also I just rewatched Monsters Inc. and that secretary slug lady amuses me.))