I had feared this day for years. It was a day most mothers feared but most didn't have to go through. For the few unlucky ones it caused absolute pain that was hard to move past. I honestly thought I had more time, to convince her otherwise. But it came, and I knew that a part of me would die within these next few hours.
The day had started off fine, I awoke and rose the sun while my younger sister lowered her moon. I had breakfast and held court all while trying my best to entertain to foreign delegates. It was around three in the afternoon, just as I was finishing off a piece of marble cake I had snuck past my royal dietician that I got the letter. Funny, it wasn't even from her or her grandchildren. It was from my student, telling me that the report on the tree of harmony was going to be late and why. It arrived in the usual green smoke landing in front of me. Before I opened it I had assumed it WAS the report.
Instead what I found tore my soul out. I pretty much ran right out of my throne room, tears streaming down my eyes. It just couldn't be true. Nearby guards were startled to see one of their Princess's running like she was being chased by a ghost. I ran till I reached Luna's door. I knocked as hard as I could on the door, not stopping until my annoyed little sister threw open the door to give me death glares. "I need to go, you need to take over court" I said quickly. The anger quickly morphed in curiosity as my sister attempted to discern my expression.
"Is someth-" I shoved the crumpled letter in her hooves. She quickly unraveled it and read it over. Her face fell as it sunk in. "Tia, I'm sorry." I nodded in acknowledgement and allowed her to hug me despite it causing me to stiffen. Usually I was not one to deny sisterly hugs or any hugs for that matter but at this moment but now for some reason physical contact made me flinch.
"So you can you hold court?" My sister nodded and gave me a small smile and told me she would be in the throne room in a few minutes. We both said our goodbyes and then I made my way to my bedroom which was just a few doors down. I stopped and spoke to the nervous looking guard.
"I'm going out, I have business to intend in ponyville. Private business. Tell me steward where I am, but to everyone else who asks I'm looking into an important matter near the western border." With that I entered my room and then proceeded to my balcony. Unfurling my wings I flapped as hard as I could and within seconds I was flying through the air, headed towards the small village of Ponyville. My mind was set, hopefully it wouldn't be too late and I could finally convince her.
I reached the small town in record time. Usually I would stop and marvel at the sights of the small village but this time I headed straight towards my target. Sweet Apple Acres. I landed with a large thud outside the old worn farm house, my body covered in sweat and my breathing shallow. A nearby stallion with a deep red coat and an orange mane stared at me in bewilderment. Big Macintosh. He gaped open mouthed at me, most likely confused as to why the princess of sunlight was on his farm.
"How is she?" I asked, staring at him, hopeful that I still had time. It took him a few minutes to register what I meant and who I was talking about. The stallion stumbled over his words, trying his best to not to cry. I could see his eyes water and I wanted nothing more than to hug him.
"She's....she's fine for now but the doc say's she ain't gonna make it through the night" I nodded and gave a small smile before I replied.
"I hate to burden you and your family, but I am gonna need to speak to her alone for a bit. It's of the utmost importance." Big Macintosh nodded.
"I understand, she told me. She hasn't told anypony else, heck I don't even think Ma knew." I smiled once more at him and turned to the farm house. I quickly made my way inside.
In the living room situated off from the entryway AppleJack, little Applebloom and friends all sat together on the couches and on the floor, tears running down their face. The worst of course was AppleJack. The moment they set their eyes on me they looked confused. Twilight was the first to speak.
"Princess Cel-I need you all to get out" That took them all back by surprise. They stared at me with confusion, their tears momentarily disappearing.
"Excuse me Princess?" Spoke up the orange earth pony. I could see anger was appearing on her face. No doubt she was insulted that she was being told to leave when a member of her family was dying.
"I need you to leave, I need to speak with her. On a private matter that I wish to keep between ourselves" Before AppleJack could react, Macintosh who was behind me stepped in.
"Out, all y'all." AppleJack tried to protest as did the others but the firm glances from both me and the stallion had them hesitantly and angrily walking out the door. Once they were out, Big Mac gave me a nod and pointed me up the stairs. "I'll keep them occupied and try and make sure Princess Twilight doesn't use any of her fancy spells to listen in" he said. I smiled in appreciation before turning to the stairs.
The stairs creaked and shook as I walked up them. The stairway was much to small for me so I had to suck in to make sure I didn't get stuck between the walls of the stairwell. The upper part of the house was just as worn as the bottom part, but more family photos hung on the wall. I stopped in my quest briefly to glance at a picture. It was an old photo, judging from the ink quality and the coloring, probably from about the time colored photos became a thing. In the picture a young apple-green earth pony mare held a small orange coated filly. The mare had beautiful white hair and her little filly had a deep pink color. The mare smiled tiredly at the camera.
The picture brought tears to my eyes. Sniffling, I walked away and made my way to my destination. I stopped outside the door and felt my insides churn. I hesitantly opened the door with my magic and stepped inside, ducking as I did so. The room was a modestly sized room with a full set of worn and aged bedroom furniture. Drawings and photos littered the walls. On all of the nightstands and dressers there were dollies and large vases of fresh flowers.
In the center of the room, on the bed buried beneath blankets, an old frail woman laid glancing at me. Her white hair stuck up in a thousand different directions. Her once beautiful face was now marred by numerous wrinkles and lines. Her vibrant green coat had now faded. We stared at each other for a few minutes before she finally sighed and gestured to the chair next to her bed. It creaked and threatened to break as I sat on it. She was the first to speak.
"Gonna try and convince me?" her voice was surprisingly still working perfectly and was filled with annoyance and anger. I nodded, which earned me a pillow in the face. Amazing that in this state she could still pack a punch. I threw the pillow to the floor and glared at her before my face melted into sorrow.
"Why?" I asked softly, reaching to grab her hoof. She jerked it away, holding it against her chest like a mother would a child.
"Because it ain't what I want! I already told you dagnammit! A million times! No!" Tears began to spill from my eyes and my vision blurred. The mare sighed and shook her head. "Why can't you understand this is what I want?" she said, her voice cracking slightly.
"You know why!" I snapped back, wiping my tears on my hoof. She shook her head again and turned away. "I don't want to be no damn alicorn!" she exclaimed. She gestured to the photos and pictures on the wall.
"I already outlived my daughter, you expect me to outlive my grandchildren? Do you know what it feels like to lose your ch-" she stopped and looked at me. My tears were now free flowing, sobs wracking my body. She grabbed my hoof between hers and gently rubbed it. "I just can't, besides what about them?" she said softly.
"I'd make them alicorns too" I said. She removed her hooves to wipe a tear away from the corner of her eyes.
"What will happen when they have babies? And then their babies have babies? You can't make them all alicorns" she said softly. Now both of us were crying, both of our emotions visible. I knew what she was saying was true, I couldn't make all of them alicorns. Still, I didn't care. I didn't want to lose her or any of them. She shaikly pulled me to her, putting her hoofs through my hair. "I'm sorry" we cried long and hard for a while before I left to get up. She stopped me as she did so. "Stay?" she asked softly.
"What about the children? Surely you want to be with them while you- No" That surprised me greatly. She shook her head and tears once more beginning to fall.
"I don't want my grandbabies to see me like this. I don't want them to watch me die" I bit my tongue to stop myself from breaking down completely. The mare moved over on her bed slowly, try to not further agitate her condition. It took a few minutes and after she was done she was panting from exertion. She patted the bed sagely. I quietly climbed into the large bed, taking up most of it. I wrapped my hooves around her and began petting her hair. I held her like that all through the night. As it wore on we talked, about her daughter, Sundance and about AppleJack and Big Macintosh and about Applebloom, about life in Canterlot and the old ghost stories I use to tell her. She struggled to stay awake during my tales but around the time I was in the midst of recanting how I had saved all of Equestria from a horde of Dragons, I knew from the look in her eyes it was only a matter of minutes. "Sing to me" Her voice was now completely gone, just barely a whisper. My tears would not stop falling.
"Till the moon rises once more,
and the day sings goodnight
we'll stay amongst these sands
And Forever I will remember as we
whisper our goodbyes
Deep in my heart, I shall hold you now
And forever I will speak of the words
you have sung
May the staars...hold our hearts
and the sea..our...tears
Until the stars fade away and
sun comes back 'round
will we greet each other again
May your dreams live on for eternity
and more, and may peace find you now
as you reach to greet the open sky like
you've done so many times before....."
"Ambrosia?!?!? AMBROSIA!!!!!"
-
I stumbled out the door and into the cool of the night. Around me voices spoke, though I could only hear the tones and not the words themselves. I was far away. My stomach emptied itself on to the ground, and my legs began to buckle under me. I didn't care that I was sobbing in front of my faithful student and my friends or that I looked like I had just been hit by a train.
"Princess, what happened?" I turned slowly towards the voice. AppleJack stared at me with uncertainty. My tears fell even faster as I spoke with trembling words.
"Ambrosia Smith is no more' I was well prepared for what was about to come next. The punch landed hard on my check, bruising it. I always forget about the strength of earth ponies.
"And you didn't bother to come get us? She is our granny! We should have been there! You had no right to take that away from us!" her tears were running as freely as mine. The other members of the group were shocked and most were also upset for not being able to see the mare within her last hours.
I turned away from them and unfurled my wings once more, ready to return to Canterlot. While I wanted nothing more to stay and comfort them, I knew I would only make things worse. Within time I would, but for now it was best if we grieved on our own terms. I flapped my wings and once more I was in the air. I paused briefly before I speed off into the night.
"She may have been your grandmother, my dear great-grandbaby, Jacqueline, but she was MY daughter."
Author's Note
I've had this idea in my head for a while. I don't know why I came up with the notion that Granny Smith is Celestia's kid. Still this was fun to right. Hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to provide CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and such.
Also if your wondering about how that would work as Granny was a kid when her family moved to what is now Ponyville: She lied during Family Appreciation Day and her family actually came seeking help and new land before Ambrosia was born. They had a brief fling in which Ambrosia was born. Being strict about having the image of a perfect family, and having never been able to foal a child, her step-mother agreed to the plan to raise Ambrosia as her own. Celestia did not want to raise her child in fear of her being kidnapped/tortured or killed by rebels or hostile leaders of other countries. Eventually the couple (Ambrosia's dad and stepmom) did repair their broken marriage and she considered Ambrosia to be her own daughter. Ambrosia of course knew who her biological mother was. When offered alicorn status when she reached adulthood, she refused. She then went on to get married and have a kid, whom she didn't allow Celestia to see. She still discovered Zap Apples, but that was AFTER she was born and was like eight to ten.
LOL. That's just my way of explaining the background behind the story. And no, I know this actually being true is slim to none. :P