Chapter 3: Talking To Myself

On his walk over to Sweet Apple Acres the next day, Quick Fix had time to think about what he had said to his boss the night before. He had really meant what he had said. Granny Smith certainly did remind him of his grandmother, almost eerily. As he walked his mind wandered back to when he would spend long afternoons with her.

The albums were her most prized possessions, and she dusted them often, ensuring they would last. When he came through the door, she would be there to meet him, a smile on her face. She would guide him to the living room and sit him down on the couch. She would come back in a moment later with some kind of snack she had made herself, like cookies or a new recipe she was trying. She would always ask how his week had been, what was new at school, and other such questions.

Quick Fix never really said much, he never really liked to talk, that was one thing that had changed. He would always answer questions quickly and compliment on the snack before asking to go through the albums. He had seen most of the pictures before, but would always seem to find something new whenever he opened them. As soon at the page would come into view, his little hoof would snap to a picture and he would ask for an explanation. Where was that? Who was that? What was that called? His grandmother would always tell him, even if she had told the story before.

Sometimes, thought Quick Fix, it seemed like she enjoyed telling the stories over and over, almost more than he enjoyed hearing them. He wasn't sure what he liked most about it. Maybe just the fact that he was spending time with her.

Before he knew it, Quick Fix was standing at the gates of Sweet Apple Acres, the sun hanging high in the sky, and the smell of freshly turned soil filling the air. For the past few days, the walk up to the old farm house had been one filled with annoyance and dread of the boring day ahead. He was never sure how he would pass the day with the less than enthusiastic mare on the couch. His head would be filled with ideas of how he would ask to help, and she would deny, and he would get angry. There would be times where he would arrive at the house angrier than he would be for the whole day. Quick Fix did not care, being angry, in his mind, was better than being bored.

Today was different, though. Today he knew exactly what to expect. He expected to walk through that door, and come face to face with and old mare who was just like him. Independent, hard headed, and completely non-compliant. He had a few ideas of what he could do to make his time spent a little better for himself, and maybe the old mare too.

“Mrs. Smith?” Quick Fix called as he had each day before, stepping into the house.

“Ahm in here.”

“Mrs. Smith.” Quick Fix tipped an imaginary hat to the old mare and stood courtly before her.

“Yes?” She looked up from a crossword she was writing.

Quick Fix sighed, “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I should not have pried into your personal matters, I hope we can at least try to work things out between us. We still have little over a week together, and I don't want to spend that time dreading every day.

Granny Smith took a moment to think over what Quick had just said. Then she nodded, “Thank you young'un.”

Quick Fix bowed his head slightly, acknowledging the acceptance. As he did, and awkward silence fell over the room. Perhaps more so for him, as he now stood in the middle of the room, looking for something to do yet again. As he was about to take a seat in the usual spot, Mrs. Smith spoke up.

“Ah should apologize too.”

“Pardon?” Quick Fix cocked his head.

“The way ah acted yesterday was rude. You were only trying to be helpful. It's just...” She sighed. “Nopony really knows about him. With Big Mac and Applejack running the farm, I don't get much time to tell my life's story. The only time they're ever around to listen is before family reunions, and then they only really want to know about the last family reunion.”

“I see. If you ever want to talk...”

“Y'all wouldn't want to hear an old mare's story,” Granny Smith stated dismissively, “It would just bore you.”

“Would it be any worse than just sitting here like I normally do?”

Granny Smith coughed. Or was it a laugh? If it was a laugh, it was the first time she had laughed with Quick Fix in the room. “Ah suppose not.”

“May I?” Quick Fix motioned to the chair.

“What you can do,” Granny nodded towards the bookshelf, “Is bring me the album on the far left.”

“Yes Mrs. Smith.” Fix nodded before doing as he was told. He found the album, an old, dusty book with yellowed pages. Yesterday, he would have been angry that the old mare was telling him what to do, but today was different. For some reason, he was thinking of her as more than a grouchy old crone. She was someone. She was his equal. Not just another pony, not just someone sitting on a couch and bossing him around.

Taking great care, Fix carried the album over to the couch and handed it over to the mare, taking his seat in the chair next to her and peering over at it. Granny Smith turned over the cover, and the first yellowed page came into view.

“Ah'm sure you've heard about the war.” Granny looked over at him, Quick Fix nodded. “Well, when ah was a filly, about your age, the war was just getting started. Everypony and their dog was signin' up for the corps'.” She pointed to a picture of a pretty young mare. “That's me, right there. The world was a pretty scary place, but despite what you think, not everyone was on edge about gettin' attacked. We still had some fun, especially on the farm. Life was pretty normal. News of the war was scary, but it didn't really affect us.

Occasionally, me and my mare friends would go into the city for a night out. We never really got the chance, so it was a big deal when it happened.” Granny turned to a picture of three mares in summer dresses. The photo was black and white, but Granny could easily tell which pony was which. “'At's Anna Belle, Tootsie, and me.” Her hoof touched the picture with an air of respect and love. “We were the best of friends. Most times, they came out to help me on the farm so we could go out on these trips.

Anyhow, it was a dull day in August, and we were allowed to go on one of our trips. The girls showed up early to help me get done mah work, and we got on our new dresses.” She pointed to the picture again. “We heard about this new dance club in the city, and were all too excited to go.”

“You never struck me as a dancer,” Quick Fix noted, offhandedly.

“Ah may not look it now,” Granny coughed, “But ah was quite the little dancer back then. It's not like it is now, with all the writhing on the dance floor, and the only thing you young'uns know how to do is 'slow dance', which is more like lazy waltzing.”

Quick Fix chuckled, reminded of something similar he had heard before.

“Anyway. We got all of our things together and took a taxi into the city. Daddy never liked us using the family cart for road trips. Besides, he would have only let us take it if mah cousin was driving it. He was a bit of a kill joy, always stressin' over whether or not we'd run off with some strange stallion.”

Quick Fix smirked. “Did you?”

Granny Smith looked over at him and returned the smirk. “Anyway... We were on one of our big trips to the city. We were all excited as usual. Anna Belle came by first, we were gonna finish mah chores and pick up Tootsie. She brought her dress with her, and mine from the cleaners. It was an easy day, so mah daddy let us go early. Why, we were so excited, I darn near tore mah dress putting it on!”

She chuckled to herself. “Daddy decided he wanted to get our picture when we were all ready to go. So after we picked up Tootsie, we swung back to the house. That's when this was taken.” Granny pointed to the same picture she had before of the three ponies in dresses. “The taxi showed up just a few minutes after this was taken. Daddy let me hold on to the camera for the trip. We hopped right in and headed off to town.”

Turning the page, Granny smiled at one of the pictures. “This,” she pointed at a picture of an old style dance club. There were bright lights on the front, forming the words 'Luna's Lighthouse.' There was a crescent moon sign just next to the word Luna. “This was the place to be. It was the biggest dance club in the city!” She looked over at Quick Fix. “You dance?”

“I used to,” Quick Fix nodded, “With...” He coughed to cut himself off.

“Ah see.” Granny nodded, either not catching his cover up, or simply respecting his privacy. “Well, this was where you could really strut your stuff.” She pointed to a picture of her and her friends with a group of stallions in uniforms. “There was a recruiting office nearby, so all of the gents in their uniforms would come by for a little fun before shipping off to basic training.”

As Granny Smith turned the page, Quick Fix recognized the stallion from the picture he had picked up the day before, except in a different picture. In this one, he was in the club standing next to a smiling, young Granny Smith.

“If I may ask,” Quick Fix began, “Who is that?”