To Believe

Mayor Mare signed her signature on another sheet of paper lying on her large oak desk. She tiredly lifted the sheet up to a tall stacked pile next to her, which towered over its tiny ‘out’ box. She stretched her back before proceeding to push another ‘in’ stack in front of herself.

She lifted her head up from her work as a soft knock on her office door sounded through the room.

“Yes?” she asked.

The door cracked open, revealing the mayor’s assistant.

“Umm,” the pony’s eyes darted around before continuing, “There’s a mare out here who wants to see you,” she almost whispered.

Mayor Mare cocked her head in confusion, “I don’t have any appointments.”

The assistant quickly took a glance behind her and whispered to what Mayor Mare could only guess was the pony.

“Just tell whoever it is to make an appointment. I need to get back to signing some things.”

Her assistant turned back to her. She looked at the ground while she spoke, hopefully trying to avoid a disappointed stare, “S-she says she’s from Canterlot…”

Mayor Mare sighed as she pinched the bridge of her snout. “I don’t care where she’s from, you need an appointment to see me on my working ho-”

The mayor was cut off as her front door was forced open. Her assistant scurried away back to her desk, leaving a suited mare standing in the doorway.

“Hello there, Mayor Mare,” the annoyed mare spoke as she closed the door. Without another word, she began marching over to the chair in front of the mayor’s desk. A huge scowl was painted on her face as she trotted closer.

“Excuse me?” Mayor Mare rose from her seat with a frown firmly planted on her face, “You can’t just barge in here.”

“Oh, but I can.” The mare reached her destination and quickly sat down in the padded chair. “Now,” she spoke after getting comfortable, “I think we should talk about a few things.”

“No, we’re not talking about anything without an appointment.” Mayor Mare pointed at the front door. “Please leave.”

“The princess wouldn’t like it if I did, unfortunately.” She looked around the mayor’s office, ignoring Mayor Mare’s glare. “Trust me though, I would love to leave Ponyville as quickly as possible.”

“The princess sent you?” Mayor Mare slightly disarmed her glare as she lowered herself back into her seat. “W-what about?”

“Well, the princess didn’t send me personally, heck, I don’t think she even knows my name.” The mare leaned in closer from her chair, wearing a dead serious expression, “But trust me, if we don’t get this sorted out, she’s going to hear about it for sure.”

Mayor Mare sank back into her seat under the suited mare’s deadly glare. She swallowed heavily, “I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about...”

“Neither did your superior, Twilight Sparkle. I hope you ca-”

“My superior?!” The suited mare lifted a brow as the mayor almost jumped out of her seat. “She’s not that high up, I assure you!”

“Oh?”

“She’s nothing more than a figurehead, a mascot, if you will. I assure you that she’s not in charge of Ponyville in any sense of the word.”

“Really?” The mare folded her hooves. “Then why is she the princess of this town? I was told beforehoof that this was the case.”

“I’m not sure who you’re talking to!” Mayor Mare’s frown was long forgotten as it quickly turned into a beaming smile as she defended her position of power, “I’m at the top here, nopony else. If you need to talk about something concerning Ponyville, you talk to me.”

“Alright,” the suited mare said instantaneously after Mayor Mare was done speaking, “Then maybe you can help me with this, since you say you’re the right pony to talk to.” She reached into her suit pocket and pulled out a small notebook.

Placing it on the mayor’s desk, she motioned for her to take it. “As you can see, many ponies high up in Canterlot aren’t happy at all.”

Mayor Mare picked up the notebook with a hoof. She read the first page, then flipped it over to read the second. With every word that passed through her mind, a sinking feeling in her gut grew deeper and deeper. A bead of sweat rolled down her face as she felt the suited mare’s glare glooming over her.

“I-I…” Mayor Mare stammered, “I had no clue of this, I assure you.”

“Yeah,” the suited mare rolled her eyes, “I’ve been getting that a lot. Unfortunately, you said you’re in charge, though.”

“I don’t know anything about this,” Mayor Mare said quickly as placed the notebook back on the desk.

The suited mare grabbed the notebook and positioned it so it was facing her from the desk. In a fast motion, she reached for a quill resting in its pot next to the mayor. “I doubt that, Mayor,” she said as she signed the date at the top of one of her notebook’s blank pages.

Another bead of sweat slowly ran its way down Mayor Mare’s face before she wiped it clean. “Trust me, if an orphanage was getting shut down, I would be the first to stop it,” she said with a wavering smile. She looked over at the suited mare’s page, only to see that she was writing down exactly every word she just said.

“So, you’re saying you had no clue?” The suited mare wrote down her own question on the page.

“No clue.”

“You do know that orphanages are crown funded, yes?”

Mayor Mare wiped her forehead clean before answering, “Yes, I know that.”

A moment passed as she wrote on her page again, flipped it to the other side, and continued writing. Mayor Mare felt her heart beating in her chest, and she fought the urge to wipe her face clean for fear the mare would catch her when she quickly glanced up from time to time.

“What’s the population of Ponyville?” the mare asked.

“It’s...” Mayor Mare hesitated, “It’s under two-hundred.”

The suited mare looked up with a raised brow, “Only two-hundred?”

“Yes…”

“So, the orphanage should have been receiving funding through the mail?” The mare began to write down her question before continuing, “With a population that’s under two-hundred, it must use the mail system to get their bits.”

Mayor Mare’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. This was her chance, this was her light at the end of the tunnel. This was her first escape that she could see for miles, and if she didn’t take it, she was sure she’d never see another.

“Oh?” Mare Mayor adjusted herself in her seat. Her lips morphed into a concerned smile, “I hope it didn’t get lost in the mail.”

“If it got lost in the mail, why didn’t they come talk to you or send a letter telling you about their situation?” The mare looked up expectantly.

Mayor Mare sighed, “Well, the line to my office has been rather backed up for the last few months,” she leaned in closer to the mare, lowering her voice, “And I’m not happy to report that the mail system has been the same way for years.”

“Years?”

“Oh, yes,” Mayor Mare shook her head, “Nothing can get anywhere. In fact, I think I sent a fruit basket to a friend outside of town about two months ago, and I just received news yesterday that it finally left Ponyville.”

The suited mare flipped to yet another page, taking her time to write down every word the mayor had to say. Once she was done, she asked, “Who is in charge of Ponyville’s mail system, then?”

“Well…” Mayor Mare rubbed the back of her head as a frown snaked its way onto her face. “I think it’s alright if I bring this up now, since it is a major problem that needs fixing...”

“And that is?”

“What I said about Twilight isn’t fully true. She does manage one or two things around Ponyville. I didn’t want to say anything about the mail system, but ever since I gave her charge of that sector, its been getting slowed down to a crawl. I’m trying to teach her how to run things, but it might take a while.”

After a long moment of writing, the mare glanced up at Mayor Mare, who was slowly shaking her head in disappointment.

“How long ago did she take over the mailing system?”

“Few months ago. It’s such a pity it had to come to this, really.” Mayor Mare stood up from her chair and gave the suited mare her best smile, “I assure you though, this will get sorted out.”

Before the suited mare could speak up to protest that she had more questions, Mayor Mare held one of her hooves out across the table, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Miss…?”

The mare knew the extended hoof was a signal that she was being kicked out. She had more questions, but she knew that the Mayor would most likely use the mail system as a means of defence.

With a frown, she scooped up her notebook and shoved it back into her suit pocket and dropped the quill onto the oak table, letting it leak ink. Reaching over to grab the mayor’s hoof, she leaned in closer to the mayor. “Send me a letter if you want my name,” she said as she shook her hoof, “I bet you’ll get your reply in a few years at this rate.”

Mayor Mare’s smile slightly faltered at the insult, but she found the courage to give out a slight chuckle under the mare’s glare. Not wanting to waste any time, Mayor Mare lead the mare to the front door in a hurry, not letting her speak as she thanked her over and over again for ‘bringing the situation to her attention’.

The suited mare couldn’t say anything, and before too long, she was standing outside of the mayor’s office, listening to a quick, “Goodbye!” from the mayor.

She let out a breath as the door shut itself in front of her. Grinding her teeth together, the mare stomped her way to the front door. As she pushed the door open with a hoof, a soft voice called from behind her, “Excuse me, but, umm, do you want one of the new Ponyville fliers?”

The mare turned around to see the assistant holding out a piece of folded paper with her magic. “Does it have a map?” She didn’t want to admit it, but she became lost a few more than four times on her way to see the mayor.

“Yes, one of the entire town… It’s even updated with all of the new shops in town.”

“Alright,” the mare said as she motioned for her to move the flier closer. Plucking it from the assistant’s magic, she said, “Thanks.” The assistant waved goodbye as the mare turned back to the door, looking down at her newfound guide across town.

The mare pushed the door open and walked out into the bright day. Her eyes wandered around the map as she tried to find her next destination, the Mail House.

“Really? You put the numbers on the map but don’t tell me what they are?” She sighed as she turned to the next page, but stopped dead in her tracks at what she saw.

A green saddlebag filled to the brim with mail was drawn on the flier. The mare moved her lips as she read the huge bolded words under it, “Best mail service in Equestria to date.” She instantly flip the flier back to the first page, where she found the date it was printed at the top.

Five days ago…