species [Lore] Donkeys & Mules

[Bellosh]

Donkeys & Mules - Bastions of Perseverance

 

 

Surprisingly enough, some of Equestria’s most unique denizens happen to be some of the more seemingly dullish-looking. Like other equines, donkeys share the same common ancestor as ponies, but donkeys became evolutionally sundered from ponykind long ago in the mists of prehistoric time. Most donkeys don’t actually live in the Equestrian heartland, but they constitute a sizable minority in that realm, and are capable of achieving great prosperity there as well.

 

A donkey is a stout creature, on average slightly larger than a typical pony. Donkeys are distinguished from their pony brethren with duller and tougher coats, more pronounced snouts, and long stems for tails with hair only growing on the tips. While donkeys don’t possess any particular magic and are incapable of receiving cutie marks, their physical strength and endurance frequently rivals that of sturdy earth ponies. Finally, donkeys are naturally inclined to more solitary lifestyles than ponies; this doesn’t mean they are antisocial as a whole, but they don’t tend to herd up in large settlements like more communal species do. All of these adaptations help donkeys thrive in desert areas, where resources are scarce and conditions are harsh.

 

Even though donkeys are a distinct species, they are capable of producing foals with other ponies. Such an hybrid offspring is called a mule, which shares many physical characteristics with a donkey but is more predisposed to the herd-like behavior characteristic of ponies. On very rare occasions, a foal conceived by a donkey and pony is what’s known as a hinny; except for slightly longer ears, it is essentially a pony in every possible way, even down to having a cutie mark.

 

For generations now, most of Equestria’s donkeys live on homesteads scattered throughout the Roughrider Ridge and the overland routes between Equestria and Aquellia. As donkeys and mules can withstand the extreme temperatures of these areas better than even earth ponies can, they comprise a vital economic backbone of the entire western frontier. But even though these tough equines reap great rewards as they construct railroads through the desert or mine in the mountains outside Bareback Gulch, many donkeys these days are choosing more relaxed ways of life in the lush Heartland and Foothills of Equestria. Thus, donkeys and mules are swiftly losing their reputation as excessively stubborn folk as they intermingle more and more with ponykind.....

~Encyclopedia Equestria