"Mayor Mare, I need your signature for these papers. They're for the 'HeavyHoof release'."

"Mayor Mare, the apple family needs your permission for that extra day of clear skies to grow their crops!"

"Mayor Mare, have you finished those tax returns yet?"

"Mayor Mare?"

"Mayor Mare!"

Papers flew from hoof to hoof, place to place, and table to table in what seemed like a hurricane of scribbled black and white, joined by a few manila folders as they entered the fray, alongside the occasional pen that flew across the room and into a nearby trashcan, having outlived its usefulness.

In the middle of this tempest of paperwork and flying writing implements however, was the very mare of subject, Mayor Mare. Among the blacks and whites of the typhoon, a mare of tan fur and a silvery gray mane and tail sat upon her figurative throne–Her office chair–, her vibrant blue eyes darting from paper to paper, magnified by her round and small pieces of eyewear, which laid themselves precariously atop the edge of her muzzle; Short from falling, but secure enough to keep from doing so.

Her neat white collar and lavish green cravat seemed to stand her out from the group of chaos causing workers with great professionalism, only amplified by the wrapped scroll that appeared on both of her flanks.

Just another day, she thought to herself, as yet another paper was read through and signed off for the appropriate worker and sect of the large office building she worked in; No, that she practically lived in, day in and day out.

She would often hear her employees, and even some other ponies, say that she was an 'incredible worker'. They ask one another how she wouldn't tire out after all the years she's spent in her position, working her hooves to the bone to keep everything under control, all while barely breaking a sweat. How she was practically unbreakable when it came to her work ethic.

"Oh, if they knew just how wrong they were." She mused to herself with a pitiful mental chuckle.

Sure, on the outside, she seemed to be completely and utterly placid, and at ease. On the inside however, she was a jumbled mess. A chipped and worn husk of her former, younger self.

The years really did wear on her, despite what everypony else had often said. To this day, she ends up working herself so hard that she can barely move from her bed in the morning–Assuming she makes it home, rather than just pass out from her exhaustion– from the aches and pains that plague her overworked joints.

She had considered a vacation several times over whenever she found herself in such a state, but each time, she would end up telling herself one simple thing, utterly discouraging herself from doing so. "If I'm not here to do all of this, then who will?"

It wasn't that other ponies weren't qualified for the job, she thought, but she would never want to put them through what she goes through almost everyday.

In fact, the closest that she had gotten to sharing this experience of hers with anypony else was a job listing that she had posted some time ago, seeking out aid in her office from an assistant. As it had turned out though, ponies knew just enough as to what Mayor Mare's job entailed to for the job to have been left unfilled for practically two years after she had first put it up...

At least, until recently.

She still found a sense of mild shock within her whenever she thought back to the day, no longer than a week and a half ago, that she had received a letter addressed to her, and not being in need of being signed or read over for once; How she had actually dropped her quill from surprise when she tore open the letter and found that it was a job application, of all things!

Even more so when she read it over, finding that a human had been the applicant.

Now, normally, humans tended to stay away from small places like Ponyville, and the like. They usually gravitated towards the more open and urban cities in Equestria, like Fillydelphia, Manehatten, or, at most, Seaddle. They preferred the busier and bigger streets of the cities over the cozy and dirt roads of the towns.

Though she didn't understand his reasoning for actually wanting to leave his own urban life in Las Pegasus, and move to a more 'rustic' and 'small' town like Ponyville, she certainly couldn't complain. Especially when she looked over his résumé.

"Over 5 years of work at the Las Pegasus political scene, former head chair of the office, and even a self-achieved political renown with the princesses themselves?!" If she hadn't already dropped her quill from just receiving the application, she certainly would have done so now.

Again, she internally questioned his reasonings for wanting to leave behind such a well-reputational life, but in the end, she couldn't have scrambled for that fallen quill any faster after her initial, and secondary, shock. Before she knew it, she had found her writing implement, written a reply, and sent out an employee to deliver the letter to the post office at a speed that would make even Rainbow Dash as green as her neckwear with envy.

His own reply had come only a few days afterwards, much to her silent relief, expressing his thankfulness–Though she felt it was her who needed to be grateful–for her having accepted his job request, and informing her that he would be arriving in Ponyville come the next week.

It had been six days since then. Six long, seemingly endless days, and things were resuming as they usually would in the office.

"Mayor Mare, there's another letter to you from the Cakes, regarding their yearly deposits."

"Mayor Mare, Miss Cherilee has requested that you send somepony over to speak to her class about the importance of their studies."

Just another day, Mayor Mare mentally repeated to herself in a sort of mantra, her hooves beginning to cramp once more as she signed what must have been her fiftieth paper this past hour.

"A day that can't seem to know when to finish."

Author's Note

Seriously, there is not enough love for these two!

... Or at least the mayor.

But, yeah, that's why I'm making this. ^~^

I've always felt that these two characters are often underrated, like a few certain others(Gilda, Zecora, so on), and I wanted to change that little fact. :)

So, without further ado, 'The assistant'!