Heart-Shaped Horseshoes

“Good morning, Mr. Waddle!” Apple Bloom chirping, jumping in front of the elder stallion.

“Well good morning to you too, Apple Buck!”

Apple Bloom giggled because the old pony could never remember her name. “Are you here to see Granny Smith, Mr. Waddle?”

“Well yes, I'm here for her exquisite apple pie! You know your grandma makes the best apple pie in all of Ponyville.”

Apple Bloom giggled some more while Mr. Waddle looked confused. He followed her back into the house where Applejack was tending to some plants.

“Morning Applejack.”

“Howdy Mr. Waddle, here for the pies as usual?”

“Sure, the pies,” Apple Bloom saying, wiggling her eyebrows. She quickly stopped when she noticed how stern Applejack looked.

Mr. Waddle still looked confused.

“I'll call Granny right away,” Applejack said, getting inside.

Mr. Waddle smiled at Apple Bloom and she regained her smiled.

“Hello there Woody!” Granny SMith said, coming outside along with Applejack

“Woody?” Apple Bloom asked, suppressing another giggle.

“Well hello there, Granny. I was merely in the neighborhood and thought about tasting some of your apple pies,” Mr. Waddle said, taking off his hat.

“In the neighborhood as in all the way from the retirement home back in town, Woody?” Granny SMith asked.

Mr. Waddle blushed and Apple Bloom didn't giggled until she saw Applejack smiling.

“Don't you try to play me like a fool, Woody. I was outsmarting timberwolves back when you still lacked a Cutie Mark. Now, get inside the kitchen and I'll get a couple of slices for you and those other geezers!” Granny Smith said and Mr. Waddle excused himself into the house.

“Left door, Granny,” Applejack said, noticing how her grandmother was entering a closet.

“I know my way in my own house! Kids these days, always talking back! When I was a little filly...” Mr. Waddle nodded along Granny SMith´s rant, following her into the kitchen.

Apple Bloom was still jumping and giggle so Applejack had to ask “What's gotten into you, squirt?”

“Isn't this so cute? Mr. Waddle is obviously in love with Granny! I wonder when he´s going to get the courage to ask her out in a date!”

“Now hold your horseshoes, didn't you already learn a lesson about not jumping into conclusions?”

“But Applejack, just look at them! They're perfect for eachother! They are friends, they are about the same age and...”

“And?” Applejack asked, noticing how Apple Bloom stopped moving all of a sudden.

“And they're both very lonely.”

Applejack patted her little sister in the head and looked at the kitchen. The sweet augher of Granny Smith, probably after hearing some story about the other old ponies of the town, was coming from it.

****

Applejack and Granny SMith were in the porch, watching as Celestia slowly lowered the sun. Granny was in her rocker and Applejack laid in her stomach, chewing a hay twig like her brother usually does.

“What's gotten into you, squirt?” Granny Smith asked her.

Applejack smiled and tilted her hat. “I was just wondering, you have known Mr. Waddles since a long time now, don't you?”

“Oh yes. Woody used to be your grandaddy bowling partner. You should have seen how ridiculous those two looked in those shirts,” Granny Smith laughed.

Applejack laughed too but she couldn't help but notice the sad glimmer in her grandmother´s eyes.

“You miss grandpa a lot, right Granny?” she asked.

“I miss a lot of ponies, kiddo. That´s what happens when you stick around too much. You eventually ran out of things to do except miss those that are already gone.”

Applejack walked next to her Granny and gave her a tight hug. Despite the warm of the gesture, Applejack could feel a tiny speck of coldness in between them. Applejack knew that was the part that time had taken from her grandma and that no matter how tigh she hugged her, she could never fill that part.

*****

Big Mac was used to the young mares in town getting flustered when he passed by, but seeing the elder mares in the retirement home having the exact same reaction was something new for him, and not something he found very pleasant.

He ignored them the best he could and moved next to Mr. Waddle who was having a chess match with another old stallion that had a golf club for a Cutie Mark.

“Well hello there Big Mcintosh, what can I do for you, young man?” Mr Waddle asked him.

Being the pony of few words that he was, Big Mac simply handled him a flier. Before he got the chance to read it, his partner took it from Mr. Waddle´s hooves.

“A bowling tournament at Sweet Apple Acres? A-ha! A perfect opportunity to finally shut up that noise apple pie flanked grandma of yours, kid!”

“WHy do you always have to be so competitive, Geri?” Mr. Waled asked his partner who replied with a simple “bah!”

Big Mac left the establishment before getting into an argument or being assaulted by the old mares.

****

The bowling tournament actually went smoothly, despite the old ponies being understandably out of shape and having some troubles moving the heavy balls from time to time. Alley Way and the rest of the league players happily helped the Apples settle the fields and the veteran ponies get their balls. Even the Crusaders had a fun time, dragging poor Strike around, trying to get a bowling Cutie Mark like he did.

Applejack smiled, happy to see the farm so full of life. While she adored the simple routine of the farm chores, she also loved the times when ponies, not just from the family, but friends and neighbors were around. She noticed Granny Smith talking to some old pegasus mare with a ball of yarn Cutie Mark and approached her.

“And how are things back at the Weather Factory? Hold on, something is poking my back. What do you want, Applejack? Granny SMith asked.

“I heard that old geezer with the golf club Mark braggin about how he'll beat you for real this year,” Applejack whispered to her.

“Don't talk that way about your elders!” Granny Smith scolded her, slightly hitting her nose. “Now, where's that old stubborn piece of log of Geri?”

Applejack pointed with one hoof while she rubbed her nose with the other.

“What´s this cocka-doo I kept hearing about you beating me for real, Geri?”

“This year, Smith; me and Waddle here are going to beat you, once and for all!” Geri announced, placing an arm over Mr. Waddle who just nervously smiled.

“As if! Come on Porcelain, let´s show this two how mares play baseball!” Granny SMith.

“We're playing bowling, Annie,” an old mare with a tea set for a Cutie Mark replied.

“Potato, tomato...”

Applejack smiled and went to the stands to see the match. Big Mac silently pleaded for her to sit next to him and save him from his elder fans but Applejack smiled and sit far away, getting a laugh at this expenses. Either way, they spend the afternoon cheering out loud for their grandmother.

****

“Well I´ll said, that was quite a match,” Mr. Waddles said, serving some tea.

“I ttry to warm this old doorknob but, does he listen? No sir,” Granny Smith said and Geri replied with a loud “Bah!”

“Oh relax, Geri. You two only lost for five points,” Porcelain said getting her cup of tea from Mr. Waddles.

Geri replied with another “Bah!” and the three of them laughed.

Applejack waved goodbye to the last guest, Matilda and Cranky, and turned back to the porch, where Granny Smith´s sweet laughter was coming from. Applejack noticed how Mr. Waddle blushed when Granny Smith offered a slice of apple but that could have just been his usual bashful self. Maybe she was looking only what she wanted like Apple Bloom, maybe she just wanted so much for her grandma to stop feeling so lonely that she was imagining things. But looking at her grandmother surrounded by so many good friends, Applejack thought that maybe she didn´t need “love” in her life because she already had plenty of love from family and friends.

Smiling, she picked the bowling pins with her teeths and moved next to her siblings and friends, who were dismounting the bowling field. Form the porch in Sweet Apple Acres, more joyful laughter could be heard.