Yes I know I kind of did an experimental piece with my headcanon on donkeys and mules in MLP:FIM back in 2022 but I wanted to make another one with more varied designs
Long story short I've always disliked the designs of the donkeys and mules in MLP (like Cranky, Matilda, and Mulia Mild). Personally it's not fair that the ponies look round and cute while the donkeys/mules are portrayed as conventionally "ugly" and slightly more realistic.
And it makes even less ense that somehow even Zecora doesn't look hideously out of place even though zebras are more related to donkeys than they are to horses/ponies.
Real donkeys/mules are actually very cute, so my headcanon portrays them in a similar art style to the ponies
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Correct me if im wrong, but I do believe this is the only mule in the entire series. Mules are horse x donkey....WHY DID HE LOOK SO PREDOMINANTLY DONKEY??
And for that matter, why are donkeys and kirin the only pony-types without cutie marks? Like, Kirin you can make an argument for with the whole dragon thing. But the donkeys?? They 1000% should have cutie marks. And so should Cletus.
We see him near the apple farm if im remembering correctly, so I've given him an agricultural type cutie mark, he probably keeps to himself a lot, but he loves both sides of his family. Whoever they are 😂
ignore that last post. here are my design notes on how i draw + portray mules, plus some explantions/info/headcanons that didn't fit on the sheet under the cut
so the mules we have in canon arent all that great . they look identical to donkeys (and are always the punchline to a joke like our poor friend here)
so like a sane mlp fan i sunk 2 hours into designing a mule !
i used a random background mare and cranky doodle as refs bc mules are a male donkey and a female horse. i tried to pick a couple of the most notable traits from each.
then i put the donkey legs on the front bc of this quote i found on wikipedia while researching about mules (and hinnies, which are a female donkey + male horse)
i was a little conflicted on how the face would look but i decided to lean more pony like because i like the idea of a mule being able to pass as a pony from a distance. i suspect some mules do pass as ponies with if their coats are light enough and their snouts lean a little more ponylike...*cough cough wink wink*
on that note, smthn i also didnt get to mention is that a mule's mane tends to curl ! i based this on mulia and matilda's manes (even though matilda's mane is straight in her flashback but shh.)
as for naming conventions, i'd guess that there are a lot of second generation mules with names like miracle, serendipity, and blessing bc their births are a big deal. first gen mules seem to favor m sounds in canon (mulia). with most of the mothers of mules being earth ponies i can see ponylike names being quite popular for their babies
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Stuff happened irl that tripped me up with my goretober prompt pumpin machine -v-" I had to tke some time off. I have one halfway done for Decapitation, but I have to skip Acid and Skinning. Anyways, take a consolation prize in the form of my remade ponysona lol. Drew em while watching the new mlp movie.
