Granny Smith stood anxiously by the phone. All she had to do was make the call and then Applejack could be on her way to the train station. But was this the right way to go about things? It’d been hectic the past week, and what she wanted to do was understandable given all that’d happened, but… She’s only a filly, no more than eight. She could get lost or…
Granny sighed. What am Ah ta do with that little filly? Oh, Bright, Sugarcube, why’d ya have ta…? She couldn’t finish the thought. The wound was still too fresh.
“Granny?” The old mare froze. Well, there she is. Blonde mane like her father’s coat, freckles like her mother, orange coat like her mother’s mane, and green eyes just like her daddy. The other two grandkids resemble one parent more than the other, but this one looks just like the both of them. Letting her back’s protests finally have their say, Granny sat down on the wood floors of the farm house as gently as she could and faced the filly.
“Yes, what is it, Sugarcube?” She said the words, but Granny already knew what this was about.
“Well, Ah’ve packed everythin’ Ah think Ah’m gonna need, but can ya look it over just ta make sure? Ah don’t wanna leave and realize Ah forgot somethin’.”
Sighing, Granny Smith fought her legs for the ability to stand and nodded to the filly. Ah haven’t raised foals in somethin’ like thirty years, Bright, this was supposed ta be yer job.
“Thanks Granny!” Applejack bolted for her room, not bothering to wait for the old mare.
At least she seems excited. Better than the last couple days, but Ah doubt all that excitement is real. She’s got a brave face, that one. Reminds me of my son. These creaky old halls are full of memories, pictures of family long past, and now… some of those memories were painful for the main branch of the family. Not all was lost, of course, there were three direct heirs to the farm, and even then, Granny Smith was still around to keep things running right. Mac was just old enough to start learning the business side before all this, so maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. Granny tried to smile. She tried her hardest, but her mouth just wouldn’t cooperate. She stopped her slow trot and leaned against the wall for support. The strength she thought she had started to drain out of her.
Oh, who am Ah kiddin’? That poor boy thought the world of his Pa, he’s said maybe two words in the last week. Little Apple Bloom doesn’t even know what’s goin’ on yet, and Ah get ta be the one ta… She took a deep breath and pushed herself off the wall and back onto her hooves. Anne Smith, ya’ve already been through this before! Pull yerself together! They can’t see ya like that. Be the stubborn old broad that fool stallion loved and buck up! They need ya.
“Granny?” Applejack’s call put the fire back in the old mare, and just as quickly as she’d fallen into the pit, she hopped right back out.
Granny smiled and made her way to the filly’s room. “Ah’m here child, Ah’m here. Go on, show me what’cha got.”
Applejack’s face lit up like a lightbulb and she went to her bed to explain everything she’d prepared. A toothbrush, bandanna, a coat since she was going up north, a hair brush, a picture frame of the family, and… Oh. That… probably shouldn’t leave the house. Granny felt her teeth start to grind together.
Ah can’t let her take that! Can Ah? It is hers, but… she shouldn’t be carryin’ somethin’ like that around alone on her way ta Manehattan! That’s liable ta get stolen, and then Applejack will try ta get it back, and nopony is ever gonna see her again! Damn it, why didn’t Ah say somepony needed ta come meet her? There’s still time Ah suppose, the tickets can be moved ta a later date when the Oranges are free ta pick her up, but… what do Ah do with her in the mean time?
Granny looked over the little filly. She’d slept recently, at least, so she seemed better. There weren’t any tear stains on her cheeks anymore, and… she’d even smiled a few times today. Damn it, Bright! Just because Ah’m yer mother doesn’t mean Ah want ta clean up after ya! A sudden wave of exhaustion overcame Granny and she took a seat on Applejack’s bed. She took the little gold ring in hoof and examined it.
“To my one and only.” That boy was quite the romantic, and he had a way of throwing words around that would just drive the mares crazy. Not that his son wasn’t the same way. That old buzzard was just the worst, wasn’t he? Holding the ring between her hooves, Granny turned her eyes on the child, who’d been relatively quiet.
“Applejack, did Ah ever tell ya the story about this ring?” she asked.
The filly in question shook her head. “No ma’am.”
Granny pushed some of Applejack’s things aside and patted the bed. Following the cue, Applejack came and sat beside her, staring at the ring. It was a little gold band, nothing really fancy, but it had a few gemstones in it. A ruby, an orange tourmaline, a topaz, an emerald, and a diamond, all in a little near-rainbow row. That old bastard saved up fer a year ta buy this fer me. Oh, how time flies…
“Once upon a time, this belonged ta yer grandpappy.”
Applejack’s little face twisted right. “It did?”
Granny nodded. “It did. He was… oh, sixteen the first time he asked? That sounds about right. Stubborn old mule, he was. All the apples got a stubborn streak in ‘em, but he wasn’t one of us. An outsider that had drifted inta town one day outta the blue, some fifty years ago. Ponyville was started up by my daddy as a frontier settlement since Equestria was startin’ ta expand south inta the desert back in those days.
“There wasn’t much ‘round these parts, save Sweet Apple Acres, Rich’s general store, and the rail had just been built. They found oil off south, so naturally we experienced a bit of a boom. Ponies came in from everywhere all at once, and the contractors had a hard time keepin’ up with demand. Town hall was slapped together in a week, we got city officials and a police force in record time, it really was astoundin’.”
The little face never untwisted itself, so now she just tilted her head to the other side. “Uh… Granny, what’s oil?”
The older mare groaned and sank back into the wall a bit. “It’s what powers the light’s ‘round the house, Sugarcube. Point is, it’s worth lots of bits, and bits bring ponies inta town.”
“Oh. Okay.”
There ain’t no way she gets it. “Anyways, with a bunch of ponies comes a bunch of problems our little town wasn’t used ta, and that included drifters. Usually bad ponies lookin’ ta make a quick bit by stealin’ or robbin’, nasty characters, all of ‘em. Sycamore was one of ‘em.”
“Pappy was!?” the filly asked in shock.
Granny nodded. “Oh yes, he certainly was. First time Ah ever met the crook was when he was stealin’ apples from the orchard. Not that Ah blame him, of course. He was half starved ta death, spent everythin’ he had on the trip out here and learned too late that all the cheap land had been bought up. He’d been pick-pocketin’ ponies fer about a week till somepony put his picture up on the wanted board, so he came and hid in the orchard.”
Again, confusion stuck the filly. “But… now hold on a minute, that don’t make no sense. If he was a bad pony, how did he get ta be Pappy? Y-you’re not a bad pony, are ya Granny?”
Granny couldn’t help but smile. She put a hoof around Applejack and pulled her in close. “Ah might be. Ya never know after all…” With nimble old hooves, the mare attacked the little orange belly ripe for tickling. In seconds she had Applejack crying and laughing for mercy. Applejack was only ticklish in one spot, and it was normally hard to reach. But because she was sitting up the way she was, it was easy. Satisfied, and her mane coming out of its bun, Granny stopped her assault and laid back on the bed with Applejack.
“Sugarcube, one day you’ll really learn, but every pony is a little bit of both. Good and bad, they come together. Like them little juice boxes y’all like. Ya can’t just buy one, ya gotta buy the whole pack ‘cause it’s a packaged deal. Sometimes it’s more bad than good, and other times it’s the opposite. But ain’t nopony free of one or the other. That’s just how life is. Ya always have both.”
Finally breathing softly again, Applejack looked up at Granny… well, while laying down anyways. “Does that mean Ah’m bad too? And Ma and Pa were…”
“Hold it right there missy!” Granny scooped up the filly as quickly as she could and grunted as she shifted her to her lap. “Now don’t ya go thinkin’ things like that. Ain’t none of yer family bad ponies, alright? This was fifty, fourty eight years ago. Sycamore was a bad apple when Ah met him, but he didn’t stay that way, ya hear?”
The filly nodded, and Granny nodded right back. “And don’t ya forget it. Now then…” She slid Applejack into her lap, and then brought her fore hooves around, the ring between them. “My daddy, Johnny Apple, beat the tar out of our little thief. He was caught, strung up, brought ta the sherrif, and then they made an agreement that he would pay the ponies he stole from back by workin’ at our orchard. There was no proper jail ta hold him in just yet, so he was condemned ta the barn and tied up at night. Pa made sure everythin’ was just so, and he watched that boy like a hawk.
“About a month went by and Sycamore just about paid off all his debts ta everypony. He was free ta go, but instead of doin’ that and goin’ back ta the slums of Canterlot, he decided ta stay and keep workin’. In time, we even trusted him enough ta let him sleep in the house. He worked hard, really, and he liked ta eat, so that was enough ta motivate him ta do a good job. If ya can help it, ya only starve once, after all.
“After a while, Ah suppose ya could say that Ah… got used ta havin’ him around. He was a little younger than me, but he didn’t look too bad, and he sure did have a gift fer bein’ a smooth talker, Ah tell ya what. His special talent was growin’ trees, but that never stopped him from chattin’ up any mare he came across. Workin’ the orchard made him strong too. He was frail and dyin’ back when we caught him, but he really did bulk up once he was healthy again.
“By the time Ah caught my self lookin’ at him, it was already too late. That dirty little trickster had wormed his way inta my heart, and Ah hated nothin’ more when the other mares would come by ta see him. Ah was downright hostile if Ah was in the same room with him and another mare. Course, Sycamore played the game, he knew all too well how a mare likes ta act, and Ah was no different. One day, with no warnin’ at all, he kneeled and proposed ta me. In the middle of work too.”
Applejack turned her head up. “Just like that? Ain’t it… Ah don’t know, supposed ta be special or somethin’?”
Granny nodded. “It is! Ah was furious! Ah was mad that he could read me like a book, mad at myself fer fallin’ fer that idiot, and mad that he was dumb enough ta propose on a random day in the middle of our shift! Course, Ah would later realize that it wasn’t just any day, but Ah responded as only my temper would allow.
“‘What kinda fool do ya think ya are? Marry you? You’re a goddess damned idiot is what ya are! Ask me again when you’re not livin’ off my Pa’s good will and ya have a ring fer goddess’ sake!’
“Ah turned tail and ran back ta my room after that because Ah couldn’t ever reveal my hoof. Sure, Ah was mad about the circumstance, but Ah wasn’t at all upset by the proposal. Couldn’t get the dumb smile off my face fer hours thinkin’ about it.
“The next year goes by, and Sycamore is his usual self, but he never mentions it again in that whole time. It was… well, crushin’. Ah told him no. Even though Ah would’ve said yes even without a ring if he’d been just a bit more romantic about it. Ah wanted it ta be special, and that wasn’t special at all. It was random. Felt like a thunderbolt on a clear blue sky.
“He kept talkin’ up other mares, and he talked ta me less and less, and Ah was beginnin’ ta think that he really was over me and he never cared. Ah got cold and bitter, and Ah was about ready ta get Pa ta kick him off the farm, but again, that day arrived.
“In the middle of our shift, in the middle of the day, three o’ clock ta be exact, in late July. He took me out ta the southern fields, kneeled, and proposed. In the exact same way he did last year, still empty hooved. Ah’ll never forget that conversation as long as Ah live.
“‘Alright, now what’s all this about?’ Ah asked.
“He gets up off the ground, dustin’ his knees and shakin’ his head. ‘Come on Annie, take the hint. Don’t ya know where we are?’
“Ah looked around and said, ‘We’re in the south fields. Why? The only thing special about this place is that this is where that stupid pear orchard borders our property.’
“He shook his head and lead me over ta one of the apple trees just past the little clearin’ we were in. ‘You know you’re gonna be pissed off if I have to explain it to you, right? Think back a little harder. Why would I ask you here? Why would I do it twice?’
“A little upset, a little relieved, a little confused, Ah thought back and tried my damnedest ta think of anythin’ significant about this place. Why would he bring me here? Eventually Ah gave up, impatience winnin’ out, so he turned ta me and said this,
“‘Well, I brought you here because this is where we first met.’
“Again, Ah was furious. But this time, it was just me Ah was mad at. If Ah’d realized that he remembered everythin’ down ta the time of day that we met the year before, Ah woulda said yes! All those worries, all those fears, all that time spent tossin’ and turnin at night were my fault! Ah wasn’t payin’ attention.
“Ah sighed and said, ‘Well, you’re right about that Sycamore. Ah am pissed off.’
“He kissed my forehead and then kneeled again, this time takin’ my hoof in his. ‘Well, third time’s the charm, right? Once more.’ But this time, he did somethin’ different. He used his free hoof ta reach inta his overall pocket, and he pulled out a black velvet box.
“‘I’ve never met anypony like you, Anne Smith. You’re a mare that fights at any given opportunity, a mare that doesn’t take lip from nopony, a mare that would see a thief, and ask her father to spare him. A mare that takes care of ponies, a mare that sees the best in them, even when they do wrong. After all my years wandering across Equestria, you are truly one of a kind. I’ve decided that it can’t be anypony else. You can turn me down again, and again, and again, but I’m afraid that I’ll never give up. So, miss Anne Smith Apple, will you marry me?’”
Outside the memory, tears came unbidden to the old mare’s eyes. She rubbed at her face and sniffed hard. “Damn it, that idiot is still main’ me cry all these years later.” She laughs, “Can’t even let me be sad now that he’s gone, the old coot. Brought me a ring this time. Took me someplace special and gave me what Ah wanted the first time.” She bit her lip and tried to hold it back, but the dam she’d built around her heart was beginning to crack.
“He wasn’t there, ta see your Pa get married. He wasn’t there ta see Bright’s first kiss, and he wasn’t there ta see his tenth birthday. R-right before…” Granny wiped at her eyes and took a sharp shallow breath. “Before we lost him, he asked me ta give it ta Bright when he needs one.” Granny swallowed and tightened her grip around Applejack. Shuddering, she pressed on. “He…” Ah chuckle found its way through the sobs, “He said his son shouldn’t have ta work on the farm fer a year after he gets rejected the first time. Ah hated him so much fer makin’ me laugh in that hospital room. He was just awful, he always was.” Granny patted Applejack’s mane and smoothed it out.
Years and years ago, decades even. Sycamore had been dead for so long that it was almost hard to remember life with him, yet… those sweet memories were all just so dear. No matter how grim things looked he always tried to make everypony smile. He hated to see mares cry.
‘It’s a stallion’s job, to make sure you keep that pretty smile on your face. There’s really nothing more lovely than that, you know?’
Granny laughed again and then wiped her face off. Ya old coot. Relentless, even in death. She shifted Applejack around and wiped her face clean too. It hurt, but she still smiled. “Things are gonna get better one day, Ah promise they will. Your grandpappy was one of the dumbest idiots ta walk the planet, but even he always knew when ta smile. Tears are… lost time. Little ponies like us, we just… never have enough of that, so we can’t waste it on tears.”
The little orange filly tried her best to keep it in, but she broke in a matter of seconds and fell wailing into her grandmother’s barrel. They sat there together until she’d calmed down, and then finally, Granny noticed the time. The train would leave for Manehattan in half an hour, and if they didn’t leave soon, she’d miss it. Sitting Applejack up straight, she looked her in the eyes and asked, “Sugarcube… Are ya sure about this?”
Applejack’s sad little face morphed into a frown that almost bordered on angry. “Well, course Ah’m sure! Ah… Ah wanna go visit Manehattan and Aunt and Uncle Orange! Ah can… Ah can be some kinda… Ah’ll… There, Ah can…” Her lips fought for something to say, but Granny could see the fire behind those little green eyes fade out like a candle at the end of its wick. She was looking for something, anything, she could say that would make sense of why she had to go. The real reason was so obvious, but if she admitted it, she might never leave the house again. If she didn’t leave, that would be the end of it, and she might never recover.
Sighing, Granny said, “Ya know, they’re not farmers like we are, don’t’cha?”
Broken out of the storm clouds of her head, Applejack looked back up at her, confused once again. “They ain’t?”
Granny shook her head. “Nope, they’re not. Blossom’s father, my cousin, yer great uncle, was the farmer. He ended up buyin’ a bunch of land real cheap and found that ownin’ and rentin’ out the land up there was more profitable than actually runnin’ any kind of orchard. Became a real-estate tycoon and joined the Manehattan elite in a hurry. They’ve kept a hold on the southern market up there ever since. They don’t farm, Sugarcube, they just have more bits than they know what ta do with.”
Applejack’s brow deepened. The Oranges had offered to let anypony come up there that wanted to at the service a few days ago. They were still feeling the sting of Apple Peel’s passing just in the last few years, so they knew what it was like. Generous bunch, even if they’ve usually got sticks up their rears. Sycamore always hated when they came ta visit. Always said they wouldn’t know a joke if it bit ‘em. Ah wonder if he’s still right…
“So… if they don’t farm, what do they do?” Applejack asked.
Stroking the filly’s mane again, Granny said, “Applejack, that ain’t somethin’ Ah could explain ta ya. It’s a different world up there, and if ya go ya might find out. Learn somethin’, maybe find a passion or a hint toward yer cutie mark, but… it ain’t gonna be anythin’ like it is in Ponyville.”
The filly was silent for a bit, but then she’d made up her mind. “Well… Ah still wanna go. Ah… maybe Ah’ll find my cutie mark up there, like ya said. Ponies my age already got theirs, so… so… maybe mine just ain’t here?”
Granny picked Applejack up and set her on the floor, then started packing all of her things into her bag, the ring included. “Alright Applejack, Ah won’t stop ya. But Ah want that ring ta stay hidden, alright? Keep it ta yerself, don’t show it ta nopony, and do not lose it.”
Her fire back, the filly stomped a hoof in defiance. “Ah ain’t gonna lose it! How could Ah!? It… it was theirs, Ah… Ah’ll keep it forever.”
Granny patted the filly’s mane and brought her close for a hug. Applejack started to sniff and swallow again, so Granny let go.
‘Please, Anne. You know I hate it when you frown like that. Put on a smile for me, won’t you?’
Old words echoed in her head and the corners of her lips curled up against her will. A deep breath, and Granny asked, “And you’re sure, right? Ya really wanna go?”
Applejack wiped at her eyes and nodded without looking. “Mmhmm.”
One last sigh, one last weighted breath, Granny grunted and got off the bed. “Okay. Ah’ll go make the call. Ah’d ride with ya, but Ah can’t just leave yer brother ta take care of Apple Bloom. Make sure ya call the farm as soon as ya get situated, understood?”
Still trying to stop her eyes, Applejack nodded. “Y-yes Granny.”
“Good.” She took a step out the bedroom door, but stopped just short. “Don’t forget how ta smile, Applejack. There’s nothin’ yer grandpappy hated more… than ta see a mare cry.” She took one last glance at the filly, then exited her room and shut the door behind her. She needs time. The distance will make her heal a little faster too, Ah bet. If that filly is anythin’ like either of her parents, she’ll come back stronger than when she leaves. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all.
