Chapters Chapter 1: This is My Life
In the land of Equestria there was one group of equine that dominated the land. This group was known as the ponies. Now, they themselves were divided into three different groups --one being earth ponies. A group that tends to the soil, and are usually the most physically dominant of the three. Pegasi are the second group. These ponies dictate the weather as a job. Finally, we have the unicorns. With magic enabling them to do almost anything, it really isn’t a shock when they are referred to, by some, as “the master race”.
This story isn’t about any of them.
There are more than just those three groups in Equestria. Everything from buffalo to zebra, griffons to changeling, and many other different creatures occupy the continent. One kind in particular are overlooked often. Scratch that, they are referred to a lot. These references usually pertain to the subject being: stubborn, boring, lame, uncouth, or posses a general status of unworthiness. These equines are not ponies, but they do share some relationship with them. I am of course talking about . . .
The Mules.
‘Was I really expecting anything different?’ the lone male thought as he strolled down the streets of Ponyville, ignoring the biting cold from the surrounding snow .
‘They didn’t even reference me by name. Why did I think they even cared?’ he continued to think as his sour disposition was blatantly written on his face.
It felt like an eternity just getting through the introduction. Twilight Sparkle had insisted upon going through all of her notecards. The note cards had numbered, from what the stack implied, in the thousands.Twilight had to fill in because Mayor Mare fell ill the night before, and they needed someone to take over tonight's proceedings. It made sense why she was chosen, she was student of Celestia and the most professional substitute. The tediousness of the proceedings didn’t help the nerves of one particular audience member.
“Mule” as everyone called him, joined the meeting because of a specific legislative piece. The bill would dictate that non-pony residents could not lose consideration for a job because a pony competing for the same job has a cutie mark that demonstrates their profession in the field. To the outsider, this seems like a no brainer. However, it was a much different story for those on the inside.
For years non-pony citizens had been, reportedly, denied positions of employment.This was the case, according to the employers, because they didn’t exemplify the standards it took to be hired. While this would be understandable after most interviews; a result of in-depth research by a concerned citizen discredited this explanation. It turned out, that in most cases, the pony that was hired due to their possession of a cutie mark. Thus the issue had been brought up to the city, and is about to come up for a vote. The vote would decide whether or not this action would be punishable by law. Allowing the plaintiff to sue the employer for discrimination.
When the town found out about this, there definitely wasn’t a parade held for the historic legislation. Someponies were so brazen that they would call Mule a mooch. They believed that all he wanted was to take their bits without contributing anything. What they didn’t know is that he already had a job. Mule acted as a taxi service for elderly ponies that couldn’t get a around town. He really did enjoy his job, even if he didn’t get much recognition for it. The problem was that he made friends with a lot of his passengers.
The elderly ponies did grant Mule great company. They would talk to him as an equal and without a hint condescension. They gave him some light in his dim life, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t take it away. These ponies were elderly, and they were at the point where their bodies broke down to the point they couldn’t get around, that’s why they hired Mule. Needless to say the ponies predicament meant they didn’t have long left. So whenever he made a new friend, it was only for a little while. He honestly enjoyed the company, but the repeated drops of his clients took it’s toll. His heart just couldn’t take anymore hurt like that.
Shaking his head clear of those thoughts he returned his attention to the meeting. Mule was cautious about how his proposition would go. He did believe that ponies would listen to his grievances. Despite the tone of the contention of the legislation, he didn’t harbor hate for ponies. They were the only family he’s ever had. He didn’t want them to feel attacked, but they needed to be aware of the situation. If it was incredibly unpopular to begin with he was prepared with a written out speech in his saddle bag. He prepared years for this day, and he would be damned if he was going to make a mistake. That thought calmed him as the moment he waited for arrived. . .
“Now we move on to the motion of purposed by Mr. Mule.” Twilight Sparkle spoke professionally.
‘I have a name you know.’
“A bill to make the act of deciding employment based on cutie mark status is on the floor.” Twilight announced. “To begin, I ask that the Author of the bill ri. . .”
“I motion to lay the bill on the table.” a mare from the crowd said rather quickly.
‘What you’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t believe that they would try to postpone this! Can’t they at least her me out?' the mule thought as he physically flinched at the motion.
“Ok then. I ask for an ‘Aye’ vote in affirmative and negative when I call out for that specific vote. First, all in affirmative say ‘Aye’.”
“Aye.”
A resounding echo rang out through the town hall.
To say the mule was shocked would be incorrect. Along with the echo, he felt the negation of his goals resonate in his bones. He couldn’t fathom why this was happening. It was then that he got a good look at everyone in the hall. Most of them were business owners in town. He could tell because a lot of them had rejected his application before.
‘They must of heard about the bill being up for vote today.’ He thought as his head started to hang in depression. However he wouldn’t go down silently.
“All those in negation?”
“Aye!” he responded with resounding passion.
It was like a warrior’s battle cry. But unlike the warrior, the mule didn’t have a legion of troops behind him. His voice sounded off alone. He was all alone.
“And all of those abstaining.”
Not a peep.
“Well, if that’s the case the bill has been tabled, next: The resolution is to . . .”
Twilight’s voice had trailed off in the mind of the defeated equine.
Mule hung his head and he turned around and made his way for the door. The audience was seemingly engrossed by the proceedings, so they paid him no attention. Turning his gaze to the garbage can, the saddened mule opened his saddle bag and dumped his speech in the trash. He knew that they wouldn’t vote on the bill at the end of the session. They only did so when there was very little on the docket and according to Twilight’s note cards, there was enough that was going to be discussed.
‘Everything I’ve worked for blowing up in my face. What’s the point anymore? It’s like the harder I push for change, the harder they push back to keep everything the same. Love, kindness, and harmony is what we’re all about. Yeah right, Celestia.’ Mule thought as he entered the night while mocking the tone of the sun goddess.
‘Bunch of no good rotten greedy business ponies. How was that vote even fair? All of ponies who were at fault got the majority vote! Years of hard work and convincing, down the drain without a struggle.’
The mule walked down the road, growing progressively angrier with each step. His only goal was to make it back to his house to calm down. He also figured it would be a good place to have a healthy sulk for a little while. Luckily, there was nothing that could stop him from doing that.
“Ugh, you’re as stubborn as a mule!” a voice said very close by.
‘Horseapples.’
“Oh, no offense.” The voice, who had been a mare, turned and said to the mule.
“None tak-” Before he could finish she turned back to the friend she was upset with.
‘Why bother?’
There was no way he could manage an angry response. Depressed enough as it is, the mule quickly trotted his way back home. Moonlight reflecting off the snow acted as the guide.
It took only five minutes to reach his destination, but it felt so much longer. He wasn’t tired by the run -- not by a longshot. His mule genetics granted him a few benefits. While he couldn’t get a pretty tattoo on his flank, he did have stronger natural muscles than any pony. Moreover, he would be able survive in harsh conditions longer than his pony counterparts.
‘I’m pretty sure that’s another way nature is kicking me in the flank.’ The mule thought cynically as he entered his humble abode.
It was not much to look at. A two room cottage made up of one old bed, a bathroom without the bath, a few bookshelves filled to the with fewer books, and a simple wooden table with an unlit candle on it . Mule moved his way over to the bookshelf and removed a textbook. Expertly moving his head, the mule launched the book and it landed perfectly on his bed.
“Nailed it!”
A tiny bit of happiness floated the mule over to the table so he could light his candle, and then to his bed. Lying down he opened the book to the middle. He fiddled with the page numbers until he was able to find where he had left off. The subject of the book dealt with Equestrian history, specifically he was on the chapter that had to do with his branch of the equine family tree. This information was not easy to come by though. Living in a society dominated by three groups of ponies, other races tended to get swept under the rug. And while he was more of an economics buff; history is worth the time to study.
Despite his efforts in retrieving the book, it seemed to be in vain. The book had a total of three pages dedicated to the history of mules. Even with the three pages, no new information was revealed. Under candlelight he read several reiterations of “They were created, they lived, and they’re mostly gone now”. The latter thought was the most depressing. He hadn’t even seen another mule until fairly recently.
Mulia Mild, a mule from a higher class family, decided to show off some of her new recipes in town. She didn’t receive any negative attention, in fact she was the talk of the town. Figuring he could make a connection with someone like him, Mule took his chances at a conversation.
It didn’t go as planned.
Apparently he was of too low class to be talked to. She had also thrown in comments about his appearance. Everything from his buck teeth to his heavier stature was touched upon in the one sided conversation. There is one thing that the ponies have over mules, at least they feigned compassion.
No longer being able to focus on his book, Mule fell into dark thoughts about his life.
He never had an immediate family. To his knowledge he was dropped off in Ponyville the day he was born. No one knew where he came from, but there was one interesting thing about him. You see, mules that are descendants of other mules have an overall shorter stature, about the size of a young mare. Also they tend to have a bit of a drawl. He had neither of these qualities.
This could only mean he was a first generation mule. These are created by a female pony and a male donkey reproducing. His mother could very well be any pony in Equestria. And it’s not like this is a secret around ponyville. His status was deduced by nurses and doctors that were easily able to decipher his genetics. As for the rest of the ponies, they were well versed. In fact, when he was in school . . .
‘Oh Celestia, * SCHOOL*!’ he thought frustrated by the very notion.
Long before the days of the benevolent Ms. Cheerilee, an old crone by the name Ms. Zeeloate ruled over the class. It’s not to be misunderstood though. She was a good teacher, to anyone who wasn’t “The Mule”. It was never found out why she dislike him so. Although he gathered hints when she would make incredibly subtle jabs about his looks.
His class wasn’t much help either. With no friends to lean on or defend him, the badgering was brutal. But the topping on the messed up cake was that the education system seemed to want to screw him over too. He was always last receiving textbooks (which were always in the worst condition) and obviously never received aid from the teacher or peers. He wasn’t able to participate in extracurricular activities, that mostly pertaining to his desire to be in school plays. Whoever happened to run the events would give Mule a myriad of different reasons as to why he can’t participate.
“This play is about pony history. It wouldn’t be fair to exclude a pony from it.”
“Can’t you just be happy for your classmates?”
“We already picked out a job for you to do backstage.”
“Your classmates say that you’re being mean to them. We cannot have that kind of attitude in the production.’”
‘That last one doesn’t even make sense! How can one mule pick on everypony by himself?’ the mule thought angrily.
Mule was so into his thoughts that he didn’t realize exactly how dark it was outside, after the moon had been obstructed by a thick blanket of clouds. Figuring he could calm down by getting some sleep, he put out the candle and started to drift off to sleep.
‘Got to be ready for the winter wrap-up tomorrow. Applejack is expecting me at her farm.’
Chapter 2: Winter Wrap Up
A cold morning breeze seeped past the thin walls, awakening Mule. His sweet dreamless sleep abruptly broken. With a pained yawn, he climbed out of bed. Stretching one limb, then another, and another, and another. Mules’ neck could've been mistaken for an old wooden floor, as he twisted it left, then right. Looking around, there wasn’t anything else needed to prep for the day, given that his house was mostly barren and he only needed his own body for the day. Without much more than a simple sigh, Mule made his way out of the house.
The day was warmer than usual, even it was the segway day between winter and spring. It turned out that the whole town was up an hour earlier getting cleanup started. It turns out, the pegasi ponies cleared up the sky, so there was more sunlight heating the area. It’s not surprising he wasn’t notified, he wasn’t exactly a big part of the effort. However, he still felt that a duty still needed to be attended to. Mule had to see Applejack and. . .
“Oh horseapples, Applejack!” Mule said remembering the job he was late for.
Bucking off the ground, the mule ran towards his destination. Adrenaline pumping in his body made sure that any morning aches were ignored. While he knew that he wasn’t essential to Winter-Wrap Up, that didn’t mean he wanted to slack. Mule verbally kicked himself in the flank for being so stupid. He just got done with saying that he was worthy of being treated like an equal, and then show up late to a job.
‘Great, just freaking great!’
It took about ten minutes for Mule to get over to the Apple farm, given the fact he lives on the opposite end of town. He was relieved to find out that the farm seemed to be largely uncleared. At least he could still do most of the work he was suppose to. The only problem now was finding Applejack. Finding her should have been easy, since she’s an orange mare, contrasted against an either green or white background. Today though she apparently wanted to play elusive, as she was nowhere in sight.
After about five minutes of searching around the farm, the task became daunting very quickly. The most confusing aspect was the fact that the stallions seemed to be clearing out the field with no direction. It was then, through strained eyes, that Mule spotted a small yellow figure jumping up and down on a stallion. He figured that it was the closest thing that could provide an answer, so he wasted no time in approaching it.
“Mush, mush, I said mush!” The little ball commanded.
“Um, excuse me?” The ball continued yelling, ignoring Mule.
“I said, excuse me.” Mule reiterated, with a louder voice.
“Mush!”
“Excuse me.”
“Mush!”
“EXCUSE ME!” Mule roared, silencing filly and the rest of the ponies. “Um, I would like to know where Applejack is, or what I can do to help here.”
“Oh, that’s right, Mule was suppose to help us today.” Apple Bloom muttered to herself.
Apple Bloom looked on at Mule with a thoughtful gaze. He grew concerned about the gaze, it seemed like she was trance. The silence drew itself out over the scene like a light breeze over a plain. It grew more and more uncomfortable, as Mule couldn’t figure out exactly what to do without coming across as rude. He did take a few steps closer, maybe the movement would shake her out of it.
The stallion she stood on seemed to be lost in thought, and Apple Bloom didn’t change her position one bit. Mule grew cautious about the lack of movement, but like a strike of lightning, Apple Bloom changed her facial expression. She leaned herself back with a mouth shaped like an “O”, quirked eyebrows, and then she moved in close to Mule’s face.
“WE. NEED. YOU. TO. HELP. CLEAR. THE. SNOW.” Apple Bloom spoke slowly and clearly.
“Yeah, I know. What specifically do you want me to do?”
“APPLEJACK. CAN. SHOW. YOU.”
“I was just asking for. . . Never mind, where can I find her?” Mule inquired, wondering about Apple Blooms antiques in the back of his mind.
‘If I didn’t know any better, I would say she thinks I’m an idiot.’
“SHE’S. IN. THE. BARN. . . BAAAAAARN.”
‘She thinks I’m an idiot.’
“THANK. YOU. I. UNDERSTAND. NOW.” Mule said mimicking the pony.
“GLAD. TO. HELP. . HEEEEELP.”
Before he could smack his head against a solid object, Mule left for the barn, just to save his sanity; Apple Bloom went back to “mushing” the stallion. Mule began musing to himself. Could he really be percieved as so stupid? It has to be a prank the filly was playing. Yeah, little fillies love joking around, and annoying people. That has to be it.
‘I hope.’
Trotting up to the barn, Mule knocked on the door. When no response was heard, he repeated himself. Again, the same silence was reigning over the environment. With a huff, Mule beat on the door, yelling for the orange mare. Still there was no response. Exasperation kicked in at this point. There was no way she didn’t hear him, so she had to be ignoring him.
“Let’s see you ignore this.” Mule mumbled to himself as he turned around.
Mule positioned himself at the dead center of the double door barn. Tensing the muscles in his hind legs, Mule sent said legs flying at the door. Just then, they opened before he could make contact.
“What do ya wa-- AH!” Applejack yelled as her snout was smashed in by two hooves.
“Oh no! Applejack, I’m so sorry!” Mule said bending over the prone figure of AJ.
Her hooves remained in front of her face, but it was obvious what she was hiding, as a crimson river began to flow. Without a seconds hesitation, the mule moved AJ’s hooves away from face. Much to Applejack’s resistance, he inspected her snout to see if it was broken. Coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t, Mule made his way outside of the barn, seeming as though he left.
Applejack sat up dazed and confused. Her nose was still in poor condition, so she leaned forward and tried to hold it shut. Seeing as she was just kicked in the face, this task proved difficult since she couldn’t locate her nose. Applejack didn’t have to deal with the conundrum for long though, as her assailant came back with a mouthful of snow.
Before Applejack could speak, Mule pressed the snow up against her injured nose, and then closed the bleeding passageway himself. Minutes of silence went by, as the two sat perfectly still. Every so often he would release the grip to check on the bleeding. At first it was still bleeding profusely, however, after several checks over even more minutes, the bleeding had finally stopped. Mule backed away from Applejack, a blush on his face. He left the barn for a moment, an attempt at trying to cool his face with cool spring air. Mule walked back into the room awaited by Applejack just staring blankly at him.
“I’m so sorry for the booting you in the head thing, I honestly didn’t know you were behind me! Um, I guess that doesn’t make it any better does it? Well, all I can say is sorry, and at least you’re okay now right?” Mule hastily spoke. Applejack continued to stare, concerning Mule.
“If this is about me being late, I really didn’t mean to be. I just overslept, but I ran over here as quick as I could! I just want-- Applejack are you even there.”
Applejack continued to stare into space, as Mule stewed in the silence. Although something about this was seeming incredibly familiar. It was then that Applejack started to make an “O” shape with her mouth.
‘No.’
Applejack then leaned back, quirking her eybrows.
‘Don’t do it.’
She then leaned forward and was about to speak.
‘Don’t even think about it!’
“THANK. YOU. FOR. THE. HELP.”
‘Damnit.’
The work operation went off without much problem. Though it took some time for the Apples to explain the equipment, Mule still got his work and supplementary work done on the farm. It was about one hour of nonstop plowing of snow; Mule didn’t care though, he was use to the work. It was a little bit difficult, given that a certain purple unicorn wanted to help, but ended up creating a plow pile-up.
It finally came time to end of his shift, and it was welcomed. Granted there was still a lot to do on the farm, but Mule had completed a hard days work of plowing, and he really didn’t want to stick around ponies who thought he was lobotomized. Taking off the plow, Mule left waving a hoof at the Apples. They responded with a strained, perfectly enunciated, goodbye. Mule shook his head, but decided against retorting.
Mule’s path home was still covered in snow. An untainted white path into the woods. Every step crunched the snow under his hoof. The difficulty walking was very bothersome at first, but in the quiet a sound could be heard. The steps had formed into a rough musical pattern. Curious about what other sounds could be made, Mule began dancing in the snow, putting his hoofs down in a patterned beat.
A large smile made it’s way onto Mule’s face. Like a carefree child, all the worries and problems melted off of his body, and out of his mind. The sound of birds returning home, singing of their arrival, only served to lighten the mood further. A stiff breeze found itself pushing into the woods that Mule occupied. The half melted snow on the tree branches were no match for the breeze, as they fell down directly on top of Mule.
Who proceeded to laugh joyously.
The surrounding forest acted as added percussion. The trees, like drums, echoed a beat across all of the woods. Simple, yet elegant, the beat caught on to the woodland animals. Bears, beavers, badgers, and even bobcats got in on the act. It was then that a pegasus had to intervene at the ludicrous situation.
“What do you think you’re exactly?”
Looking up, Mule saw a rainbow colored mane and what appeared to be a chicken with a purple mane riding on the larger ones back? Oh, wait no, that was also a pegasus.
“I uh, just was having some fun?” The mule unsure about the accusation.
“It looks like you’re messing up the coordination effort for waking up the animals.”
Mule looked around and saw that while some of the animals were having fun with the instrumental, some looked perturbed at the sudden awakening.He looked down at the ground embarrassed by his sporadic actions.
“Sorry for that, I don’t know what I was doing.”
“Well that just figures doesn’t it.”
“What’s that suppose to mean?”
“It means that we aren’t surprised that you’re messing everything up!” Scootaloo chimed in from Rainbow Dashes back.
“I never knew chickens could talk.”
“Why you--” Scootaloo began to charge before she forgot that she couldn’t fly.
“It’s okay, I got this.” Rainbow Dash said cracking her neck, looking like she had a devious plan. “I was going to keep this a secret but if you’re going to make fun of my sister. . .”
Mule quirked an eyebrow, and Scootaloo eyes glimmered with joyful tears at the title.
“We know exactly what kind of animal you are, and we know you're not worth the time of day.”
“That’s not--”
“Yes, it is true! You know why they didn’t accept your bill at the last meeting? Everypony knows that you just want to be lazy and leech off of the rest of us. I mean, what do you even do? What have you ever done to help anypony else, nothing, that's what. If you want to do something useful, just go away!” Rainbow Dash accused Mule, pointing at him and never wavering from direct eye contact.
Mule’s knees grew week. His breath began to shudder. His brain began to rush with many of years . Was everything she said true? How could this be the true feelings of everypony he’s ever known? What did he do to deserve all of this disdain, all he ever wanted was to do was prove himself. He could believe that he wasn’t liked, hay it was believable that they thought less of him then other ponies. But the sheer amount of vitriol he could feel, was enough to break any spirit.
Dejected, Mule lowered his head and continued his walk home, a conquered equine. Rainbow Dash watched as Mule trudged on. Her confident smirk faded by the second as her words finally sunk in. After only a few seconds Rainbows eyes were opened in dismay; she already guessed the repercussions of her words, and she didn’t like them one bit. Before she could call out to Mule, Scootaloo began smothering her older “sister”.
“Aw, I love you too sis, you’re so cool! No one ever stands up for me like that! Rainbow Dash is the coolest pony ever! Um, you didn’t mean that thing about cutie marks though, right?”
“No! I mean, you’re just a little filly, you not having your cutie mark isn’t weird.”
“Tell that to Diamond Tiara.” Scootaloo muttered under her breath, but it was still heard by Rainbow Dash.
“Who’s that?”
“Just some jerk at school that makes fun of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and me about our blank flanks everyday. She even got the rest of our class in on making fun of us.” Scootaloo said with a depressed sigh.
Rainbow looked at the filly stunned. She wasn’t aware of any of that. Sure, it would come natural that there would be some mean fillies, but the entire class? That was enough to push Rainbow over the edge. Looking back to the spot where Mule was, she noticed that he was gone, only his footprints left behind.
‘One at a time Dash, one at a time.’
Dash looked over at her passenger, who was still upset by her own revelation. With a quick buck of the body, Rainbow shook Scootaloo out of her daze. A simple smile was the only warning the little filly got before both, her and her sister, went shooting off in the distance.
A beat severely slowed from it’s original form, encompassed the forest. Mules thoughts tossed around his emotions like paper in a tornado. He should hate them. What reason had they given him not to? Everyday, every kind gesture, was the biggest sham that Ponyville had ever seen. And Mule was the jackass in the middle. It was then that an angel started to sing.
“Piece, by piece, putting it together,” A melodic voice sang from far away.
She was enough to distract Mule from the pain heart, for the time being. Like a puppet, the mule obeyed the vocal strings of the puppeteer. He began to stray from the path back home. With every step the voice grew louder and louder. Soon single, deliberate steps became a quick and clumsy sprint. The sun’s rays became more intense as he neared the exit. He eventually broke through the barrier of wood, but the awaited sight wasn’t there.
Mule used his flexible ears to pinpoint the exact location. It was coming from the edge of town. Without restraint, Mule charged towards the sound, completely unforgiving to anything that was in his path. Several little piles of snow were completely demolished, and some ponies had to dive out of the way. It wasn’t long before Mules ears directed him to a certain boutique.
“Hm hmm hm hmm hm.” a beautiful hum replaced the signing.
The entranced equine turned the corner of the boutique, and froze, realizing who the voice belonged to. Rarity, the resident fashionista, was not exactly a good friend of Mule. The two have had a few run ins in the past, none of them ending well. While he couldn’t deny her gorgeous singing voice, he didn’t much care to be around her. If could just walk back, nice and slow. . .
“Who’s there?”
‘Horseapples.’
Mule knew he was caught, but he was confused because the voice came from behind him
“Why are you spying on my big sister?” Sweetie Belle asked out of genuine curiosity.
“Oh, I uh, well actually. . . You see, a funny story that--”
“Sweetie Belle, who are you talking to.” Rarity called out.
“One of those DSM’s you told me about!”
‘What in the world is a--’
In the blink of an eye Rarity was on the two. Without a single line of explanation, Rarity lifted her little sister with her magic, and demanded that she go and bathe. With just the two of them left, Rarity looked at Mule with anger and disgust.
“What do you want?”
“I-I-I’m sorry I just heard somepony singing and--”
“You wanted to see who was singing? I’m assuming because you liked it?”
“Actually yes, I thought it was really good.”
“Maybe I should see Fluttershy about some singing help.” Rarity said to herself quietly. “Now I think it’s time for you to leave. I wouldn’t want you to muddy up anymore of my boutique. I think that I should also wash up after coming in contact with a ‘Dirty Stinking Mule’.” Rarity mumbled the last line to herself. She never took into consideration Mule’s hearing skill.
“You know what, you are the dirty one!” Mule yelled at Rarity, who gawked at the accusation. “You and the other ponies are the dirty ones, treating somepony who you don’t know like crap!" Mule yelled storming away without so much as a look back.
It was the final straw. No more taking the abuse lying down. With reinvigorated bravado in his step, Mule marched into the town hall, ready to confront Mayor Mare on everything he has dealt with. Passing by the secretary who was trimming her hooves, Mule pushed open the double doors to the office.
Lucky for the mayor, she was out at that time monitoring Winter Wrap Up. The room was decorated head to toe with warm, and elegant decor. But there was one thing that stood out amongst everything in the whole room. A single folder sitting on the mayors desk, it read “Ponyville Finances”. A devious smile crept it’s way unto Mule’s face. Looking around to make sure that nopony else was around, Mule quickly slipped into the office.
Moving behind the desk, Mule sat in the mayor's chair and opened the folder. Inside contained all the economic decisions for the town of Ponyville, and the intricacies of every business, over the past couple years, and a few decisions yet to be implemented. And Mule was. . . Unimpressed. Allocation of assets seemed to all go away from the citizens, and to Canterlot businesses. However he couldn’t blame Mayor Mare for the poor decisions. From the records, it seems like Ponyville has been in debt to several Canterlot corporations since before she was in office. It’s more than likely she had to deal with more troubles than most ponies.
Not only that but it seemed that some of the businesses in town were less than couth, when it came to their money. It was on record that some of them received certain tax breaks, because of the threats of moving their businesses to competing towns. Also a lot of employee's had been unfairly paid, with varying wages based on arbitrary reasoning. But all of this could be fixed with a few brash edits. Thinking again of what Mayor Mare must put with, Mule felt a different kind of anger.
‘They can’t even let me be mad at them.’
With an exhausted sigh, Mule picked up a pen with his mouth, and began editing.
The rest of the day went on with a dull drag. The ponies had finished cleaning for spring, and Mule made his way home without anymore incidents. He merely went home, and read another one of his books, this being an economics textbook that he’s read a hundred times before. A dull reading was what lulled Mule off into sleep.
In the morning, the warm spring air awoke the inhabitant of the small house. Like every other morning he got out of bed and stretched. The creeks echoing throughout the establishment, but there was another sound that accompanied it, a knock at the door.
Perplexed by the foreign noise, Mule hesitantly moved towards his door. The slow movement only caused more anxiety, as the knocks grew louder and louder. Finally he made his way to the, attempting to open it slowly. This attempt failed however, because as the door was tentatively being opened, the outdoor party pushed it open the rest of the way. The bright light of the outdoors blurred his vision, but only partially. Mule knew who was at the door.
With a quick rush, the visitor wrapped her hooves around Mule, pulling him into a deep hug. Her words were mumbled against his neck, but he could tell what she was saying.
“Thank you.”
Chapter 3: Brought Into the Light
“Thank you, thank you so very, very, very much!” the cream colored mare repeatedly chanted into the neck of Mule, both her tears and his neck distorted the words.
“Um, exactly what did I do again?”
Mayor Mare returned to an upright position, wiping the tears off her muzzle. She stared at Mule for long silent seconds, without saying a word. At this time, Mule started to believe there was an awkward silence fairy that had a serious vendetta against him. He figured that there wasn’t any point in waiting for a response, so he invited her in. Mayor Mare accepted with a wide smile on her face. She trotted into the structure, her well trained eye scanning the surroundings.
The political pony was less than pleased with what she saw.
‘Such a dank home. How is it that somepony would choose to live like this?’
“So, my question. What exactly did I do again?” Mule asked again to Mayor Mare, who took a seat on his squeaky bed.
“To put it bluntly, you saved my life.” Mayor Mare said coughing in her hoof, speaking in her professional politician tone.
“And how did I do that exactly?”
“I think we both know the answer to that question.”
“I think you might be blowing this out of proportion.”
“No, not really. I’ve dealt with horrible businessponies for years. I’ve never had the courage to act against them, for fear of what they would do to our town.” she began with a slight frown that soon turned into a smile. “But then I reviewed your plan last night. At first I was skeptical, however, after many years of being told what to do, I felt particularly bold. And what do you know, this morning when the memo was sent to the affected parties, they immediately folded! Who would’ve guessed?”
Mule donned a small smile on his face. The mare in the room returned the gesture ten fold. Good feeling all around started to drift away as Mules' smile faded. His face began to contort and twist. Mayor Mare was about to ask what was wrong, but she was stopped by the disheveled equine opening his front door.
“That news is fantastic, you can leave now.” He said in monotone..
“Wow, I thought that you would be a little bit more happy about this.”
“I said that the news is fantastic, and now, you can go.”
“What’s with the sudden temper?”
“I’m not temperamental!” Mule shouted taking deep breathes .
“Your actions beg to differ.” The Mayor responded coldly.
“Just shut up! I’m too tired to deal with your kind!”
“. . .Is there something I should know about?”
“I mean, you just, AH!”
The mule slammed shut his door and walked over to a corner of his house. Miss Mare joined him and lent a comforting hoof to his upper back. To and fro her hoof moved creating a comfortable friction based heat. The air was silent and still, until curiosity got the best of the mare.
“So what’s really bothering you?” Mayor Mare said with a very soft voice.
“Like you care.” Mule responded, not changing the cynical tone.
“Is it such a stretch to say I do?
“Yes.”
“Well it shouldn’t be, because I’m all ears.” The mayor said plopping her flank down on the ground next to Mule.
“You aren’t going to leave anytime soon, are you?” He joked receiving a vigorous nod from his house guest.
A reluctant sigh escaped Mules’ lips. He looked at the mayor with a hesitant fear. That was never something to hold him back ever since he was a child; his story started the same time. Everything from his orphaned roots to his current career solution was.
Mule was sweating. All of the exhaustion pulsating from his jaw took it's toll. It was starting to go numb from all the motion. A weight from his mind was seemingly lifted, making him feel almost weightless. This weight did not just linger though. The force of gravity forced it back down, unto the head of the single audience member. He ended his lifes summation with a head nod, indicating he got all of the details.
“H-H-How, w-why?” Mayor Mare managed to mumble.
“What, the goat problem? Well it was a simple matter of electrical wiring and cheese.”
“No, I mean, I know every pony in this town, yet I wasn’t aware of any of this.”
“I guess I wasn’t high on the priorities list.” Mule shrugged. His comment horrified Mayor Mare.
“That’s not it at all! I didn’t know I swear, If I knew I’d-I’d-I’d.” she couldn’t speak past her sniffles and tears.
“It’s obvious that you didn’t know, so you don’t have to get upset. It wasn’t your fault, besides I fine with ok now--” the sympathetic tone of Mules voice was replaced by an enraged mares.
“IT’S NEVER OK TO TREAT SOMEPONY LIKE THAT! You never deserved such treatment. As the mayor I have to protect everpony in my town, and I didn’t.” she started to cry more.
“If it’s any consolation, it makes me feel better to see somepony actually care about me.” Mule whispered in the ear of the mayor, as he threw his arm over her body, pulling her close to him.
Such close proximity allowed for intimate sensations. A heartbeat, strong and steady, thumped gently against Mayor Mares cream colored ear. The heat being traded between the two was a greater than that of the air around them, creating mildly uncomfortable perspiration. Mayor Mare coughed quietly, hinting to Mule to release his grip on her.
“So um. . .” she began.
“With that being said. . .” Mule continued aimlessly.
“I think we both know what we have to do now.”
“What would that be?”
Mayor Mare wasted little time in lowering her muzzle behind Mule, much to his red faced embarrassment, and bite down on his tail. I quick yelp of pain ran out of the mules mouth, as he was be dragged out of his house. He frantically asked over and over where they were going. The mayors mouth was full however, and so her words were extremely muffled. But what he could make out, town hall, got Mule to madly claw at the ground. His attempts were in vain though, Mayor Mare might be a little pony, but their was a plethora of power in her small stature.
Mules reputation had fallen even further from what it was the day before. The gossip queen Rarity had decided to take it upon herself to tell her tale to everypony that would listen. She spoke about how Mule was stalking both her and Sweetie Belle. The rumors worsened when Rarity heard the Applejack’s and Rainbow Dashes stories.
Eventually the public image of him formed into: a violent, creepy, foal abusing, good-for-nothing, lazy, disturbed equine. So imagine the shock on everyponies face when they saw their mayor drag the pariah by it’s tail.
“Um, mayor, what are you doing?” a random pony from the accumulating crowd inquired.
“Oh, I’m glad you all are here. There’s going to be an impromptu meeting at Town Hall. Would you all tell everypony else to meet in half an hour?” Mayor Mare announced dropping the tail from her mouth. Before her prisoner could get away though, she stomped on his tail.
The Ponyvilleians smiled at the news, and raced off to tell their families of the news. Mayor Mare looked approvingly at the enthusiasm from the crowd. Mule looked longingly at his tail, imagining the days when it wasn’t in total agony.
“I’m sorry, did I hurt your tail?” The mare asked, just noticing the pain on Mules face. He only moaned in pain for a response. “Sorry about that. But we should get going to now.”
“What are you planning Miss Mare?” Mule asked concerned.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan. And I promise you, after the meeting, you won’t have to worry about anything from these ponies again.” She said with a grin.
“You don’t have to do anything rash on my behalf.”
“We aren’t going to go over this again.” Mayor Mare began, but quickly retracted her harsh tone. “I said that you are going to be treated like everypony else, and you’re going to be treated like everypony else.”
“If you think so. I’ll put my trust in you.”
The entirety of Ponyville waited impatiently in the crowded room. Some ponies began visibly shifted their weight from hoof to hoof, as time created mental and physical pressure. The combined breaths of everypony significantly increased the temperature in the room. Air became an uncomfortable necessity, but the drive to experience the meeting overid it all.
The mane six had taken it upon themselves to sit in the front of the crowd. Rarity was still gossiping with every mare within earshot about yesterdays events. Her fellow elements were on the receiving end of most of it the night before. The constant talking about Mule lead to a consensus amongst the group; any disagreement was quickly weeded out with a barrage of counter arguments.
Mayor Mare graced the audience with her presence on the stage. She was greeted with roaring appreciation, which lasted far beyond her expectations. She stood behind the mayors podium, with the poise of a professional politician. The mayor’s hooves lifted to eye level motioning the audience to settle down. Mule remained backstage, per request of the mayor.
“Hello everypony, I’m so glad you could make it. What I wanted to talk about was--”
“The repeal of your economic reform?” a snooty voice interjected from the audience.
“Yes and no Mr. Rich, I was going to say that I wanted to thank the pony who allowed it to happen in the first place.” Miss Mare said turning her attention to Mule, and motioned him out to the stage.
Jaws fell to the floor and jeers were thrown with merciless force. The anger was palpable in the room. Ponies were screaming with rage. Mayor Mare was taken aback by the reaction. What she had heard from Mule didn’t manage to explain the amount of hate in the room. It seemed to be disorganized though, maybe there would be time to rethink her strategy. . .
Oh how glorious that reality would be.
“You must be mad! There's no way you would let something like that make such a big decision!” Filthy Rich shouted without reservation. His loud voice startled his daughter standing next to him.
“That’s the second thing I wanted to talk about. I’ve heard quite a lot about Mule here, and how he lives day to day in our fair town. I just wanted to know if it was true.” Mayor Mare spoke in a calm, quiet voice.
“If what was true?” Filthy asked with anger still present in his voice.
“If the daily harassment, bigotry, and unwarranted hatred is true.” she answered precisely. The crowd began to mutter to one another. Some ponies ‘whispered’ louder than the others, gaining the ire of the two subjects on stage.
“Mayor Mare, if I may be so bold, I believe you’re mistaken.” Twilight Sparkle began, effectively hushing the input hungry crowd. “Ever since I came to Ponyville, I’ve seen the prime example of kindness in all of Equestria. So my conjecture is that the claims you’ve heard are greatly exaggerated.”
“Miss Sparkle, do you think I’m a newborn foal?”
“Of course not! I just--”
“Then trust me when I say that I understand when my constituents are genuinely upset. And frankly, I’ve never heard such horrid treatment of another pony in this village.” the mayor said not stopping, despite hearing all the objections to her accusations. “I came here today to tell you all that I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed in all of you, for acting in such a horrible way. But I’m mostly disappointed in myself for not seeing it sooner. Because of that a poor soul suffered more than he should of.”
“Mayor, with all do respect, this thing isn’t as innocent as you think. He attacked my friend Applejack!” the element of generosity bellowed.
“It’s interesting that you bring that up--”
“He also insulted Scootaloo, a little filly.”
“Well now, about that--”
“I also have it on good authority to believe he’s stalking my sister and I!”
The crowd started up in a commotion. They had begun yelling their own questions at the overwhelmed mare. She was sweating profusely, her mind failing to comprehend the simultaneous input. Mayor mare tried to intervene but her voice was lost in the crowd.
“Miss Rarity I would. . . Now Mr. Rich I don’t. . . Bon-Bon, I didn’t know you had such a mouth!”
“Just let me handle this.” Mule said getting up on the podium next to Mayor Mare, taking up the other half of the stand. “For one, my ‘attack’ on Applejack wasn’t intentional. I was the one to stop the bleeding! The Scootaloo situation, I. . . kind of take credit for that. Although, I would ask the filly to keep in mind, if you act like an adult mare, you should be prepared to be treated like one. Finally, for you Rarity and your sister Sweetie Belle, no I am not stalking you. I heard singing and wanted to see who it was. I was slightly. . . embarrassed so I trying to sneak away without anypony noticing me, that’s when Sweetie Belle caught me.” the mule explained to an audience who blinked at him.
“See? There’s a reasonable explanation for everything.” Mayor Mare said with a sigh and a pleasant smile directed at Mule. A smile that was not missed by a certain business pony.
“I get it now.” Filthy Rich began with an evil grin. “Sweetie, take you and your friend back home, I’ll make sure to be there soon.”
Diamond Tiara looked at her closest friend, Silver Spoon, shrugged, and they walked out of the building. Other parents in the crowd took the cue and excused their children as well. A good portion of the parents left with their children. Mule and Mayor Mare looked at the business tycoon, wondering what stupendously stupid sentence was about to be spewed.
“As I was saying, I figured out why you are being so generous to your friend . . . He’s rutting you, isn’t he?”