Fragments of an Island

Dear Rare,

How's school going? I reckon it's mighty boring without me.

Today Pinkie Pie made a cake with hot sauce instead of milk. Don't ask how she did it, because I wouldn't know.

Love, Jackie

.....

Dear Jackie,

School is going just fine. Everyone is so well dressed! It's hard to keep up sometimes.

I've learned not to question Pinkie Pie. Miss you guys so much.

Love, Rare

Dear Rare,

I seriously hate your parents right now. I wish you could come home.

AJ

...

Dear Jackie,

I know, I do too. My father is extremely annoying, as well. I think they should get a divorce.

...

....

....

....

Applejack,

It's been awhile since you wrote back. Are you okay? How is everything going?

Please write back soon.

Rarity

...

Applejack,

Jackie? Are you okay? Why haven't you written me? If there's something I said or did, please tell me. I miss you. School is so boring without your letters.

Please respond,
Rare

...

3 months later

Rarity,

I am mighty sorry I didn't write to you sooner. I've been busy because Granny Smith is sick.

She's doing better, though. Walking and stuff, demanding us around the house. I think she'll get better.

Applejack

...

Dear beloved,

I am so glad to hear from you, darling. I am sorry to hear that Granny Smith is sick. Sending my best love.

Manehatten is really big. I miss Canterlot. And you. Mostly you.

Love, Rarity

...

Rare,

Granny Smith is sleeping a whole lot more than usual. Probably just building up her strength, LOL

I miss you more than I can say, Rare. You always seemed like a Manehatten pony, I'd admit.

We need all the love we can get,

Jackie

...

Jackie,

I'll never be a Manehatten pony! They are far too rambunctious.

I love you.

Rarity

...

...

...

Granny Smith died today.

...

Applejack,

Are you okay? Please tell me what I can do.

You're strong.

Rarity

Applejack stared at her computer, eyes unblinking as she scanned over the words in front of her again and again. She sighed, and gently closed the laptop as she stood up and went to her dresser. She stood in front of the mirror, adjusted her bowtie, and headed out the door.

It had been a hellish couple of weeks; first Granny Smith fell sick, getting weaker by the day. Applejack was reluctant to accept that her time had come, but Big Mac was more mature than her, less in denial than she was. Everything seemed to have paused: she hadn't left the house in weeks. All she did was lay in bed, and when she wasn't lying in bed she was helping Big Mac take care of Granny Smith. It was torture seeing her in the state she was in for Applejack. She preferred to hide out, and pretend nothing existed outside of her bedroom.

Applejack and Big Mac had to fight for a diagnosis for Granny Smith. All the doctors they saw at first just told them she was winding down, getting older, but that seemed to be a broad misinterpretation, so they kept searching. Eventually, they met a doctor named Dr. Phin, a self-proclaimed "new-age" doctor who claimed to take issues of dire health seriously. He ran a few tests, which other doctors failed to do, he took her blood, did an x-ray, among other things that Applejack couldn't understand. It turns out Granny Smith had a tumor in her brain, and the time they wasted before the diagnosis had left her with a short while to live.

Applejack ran down the stairs, fixing her hair in her extra nice red ribbon, tied into a ponytail. She saw Big Mac as she headed into the dining area, and he was wearing his best suit as well.

"Where's Applebloom?" Applejack asked, trying to ignore the elephant in the room, the one that daunted everyone in the Apple family on that day, and many days before that.

Big Mac shrugged, and suddenly a small girl came running down the stairs, wearing a black dress with long flowing sleeves, and she slipped on her flats at the bottom of the stairs. She then ran to Applejack and hugged her tightly.

"How's Rarity?" Applebloom asked her sister, also choosing to not address the circumstances they found themselves in, or perhaps she was just too innocent and childish to take it seriously.

"She's... I don't know," Applejack sighed. "I haven't talked to her in a while."

"Why?" Applebloom asked with her wide sunset colored eyes, looking up at Applejack as if she was utterly confused as to why Applejack wouldn't think of messaging Rarity right now.

Applejack thought briefly. She hadn't messaged Rarity because taking care of Granny was so draining, and ultimately devastating as she slowly realized her efforts were futile, and Granny was only getting worse. Applejack was so grief-stricken after Granny Smith passed away, she couldn't bare to explain to Rarity why she hadn't been around. Doing much of anything seemed like such a task, something Applejack couldn't stand to do.

"I've been busy." Applejack shrugged and replied simply, and Applebloom raised her eyebrow at her sister.

"'Kay then," Applebloom responded, "when we gonna get headed?"

Big Mac checked his watch, and saw that it was 11:00, then nodded his head. He grabbed his suit jacket from the coat rack on his way out, which Applejack did as well. Applebloom grabbed a coat, one dark enough in color to be suitable for a funeral. The three siblings headed out, with grief-stricken hearts and a tendency to bury their emotions.

Big Mac got into the car first, in the driver seat. Applejack got into the passenger seat, and Applebloom in the back. The sight of the empty seat next to Applebloom seemed eery, like something was missing from reality; and something was. Granny Smith wasn't there, and she would never be there again. Applejack closed her eyes as the car drove off, out of Sweet Apple Acres, and onto the gravel road that led out of Sweet Apple Acres.

The ride to the place the funeral was held was short, but it felt like eternity for the three siblings riding in the car, feeling out of place, like this wasn't what was supposed to happen in the grand scheme of it all, like a mistake had been made in the lining of reality.

Big Mac pulled up into the parking lot of the cemetery, putting the car into park and sighing as he put his hands off the wheel and grasped the situation he was in, as so did Applejack and Applebloom.

The three sat in silence for a minute, before Big Mac burst into tears, sobbing as he covered his eyes with his hands and wiped his tears away roughly. Applejack looked over at him with sympathy, and she felt tears welling up in her own eyes, although she preferred to keep that kind of emotion held deep inside.

"Is this really the last time we gonna see Granny?" Applebloom asked from the back seat, looking at both her big brother and her big sister.

"Eeyup." Big Mac said simply, sniffling as he tried to put an end to his crying, to no avail.

"Granny's in heaven now, sugarcube." Applejack replied, saying more than Big Mac was able to on his own. "She's lookin' down on all of us right now, probably tellin' us to get it together."

Big Mac let out a sad chuckle, and nodded his head. Applebloom frowned. "I don't like that answer."

Applejack sighed and turned back to look at her sister and said, "It's the answer you get."

Applebloom made a disgruntled sound and began looking out the window. She saw a long, black car with tinted windows, and a larger than average trunk. She quickly examined it, and saw that it stopped a few meters away from them, and two men got out wearing all-black tuxedos, and went to the trunk. Inside was a large box with an Equestrian flag draped over it, and Applebloom wasn't sure what it was.

"Hey, guys, what's that big box?" Applebloom asked, and Applejack and Big Mac suddenly jerked their heads to the sight of the large casket and funeral car.

Applejack gasped looked away quickly, while Big Mac wore a sorrowful expression.

"What?" Applebloom asked innocently, irritated at her big brother and sister for how they were acting towards her, like she was a child.

"That's Granny." Applejack whispered, putting her hat over her face.

"Oh." Applebloom said, dumbfounded. The three siblings exited the car, and headed over to the place where Granny was to be buried and the service held.

They saw several other people there, including Applejack's friends, minus Rarity, members of the Apple-Smith family, among others.

Suddenly, Big Mac lit up, and Applejack looked to where he was looking to see what was up. A familiar pony was walking towards them: one with pink and purple hair, and dark skin.

"Sugarbelle! Mighty nice to see you here!" Applejack said, tipping her hat politely to Sugarbelle.

Sugarbelle smiled at Applejack and Applejack smiled back. She then turned to Big Mac and gave him a big kiss.

"How are you doing, my handsome man?" Sugarbelle hugged Big Mac close.

"Eeyup." Big Mac responded, nuzzling Sugarbelle gently.

They went to find their seats, and Applejack and her siblings, plus Sugarbelle, sat at the front, where they slowly laid out Granny Smith's casket. Even though they had opened it, you couldn't see into it from the seated position that everyone was in. Applejack wondered if once she saw what laid inside the casket would be scary to look at, or otherwise world-breaking. She hadn't seen Granny Smith since she laid there lifelessly in her chair, and Big Mac found her, screaming for help. Applejack came running down the stairs and they called the hospital. It was too late. Granny Smith was announced dead.

A man, short in height, so the podium he sat in had to be adjusted to his height, sat up in front of the casket with a bible. He read from it, reciting each line with emotion and properness. Applejack tried to listen, but her ears blurred out the words. All she could think about was Granny.

Suddenly, the man said, "We would like to welcome our first and only speaker, Applejack Smith, granddaughter of Maria
"Granny" Smith." He then motioned for Applejack to come up, and Applejack seemed startled, but went up to the podium with confidence anyway.

"Um.." Applejack muttered, and the mic gave loud streaks of feedback as her nose hit the mic. She coughed awkwardly, which also feedbacked into the mic.

"I remember the day when I was a lil' filly, my parents had just died. Granny Smith pulled me to the side, and told me to be strong. Grief ain't get nobody nowhere, and happiness is something you work towards. As long as I worked every day on building my happiness, I could make my parents proud from down below." Applejack wiped tears from her eyes as they began to well up, and she silently cursed herself for crying.

"I wish I could apply that to this, but without Granny, there's just no light anymore... I feel like I've lost everyone."

Applejack sighed as she told this half-truth. She hadn't lost everyone: she still had Rarity, and she had been ignoring her. There were people in her life who could comfort her, and she pushed them aside so she could wallow in her self pity. Granny Smith always wanted to see Applejack happy with Rarity. If she lost Rarity because of Granny, how would that make her feel, she wondered to herself silently in front of everyone she knew and loved.

Applejack let out a few sobs, which translated through the mic awkwardly as tears rolled down her face. Big Mac came up onto the stage and offered her a tissue and helped her down the podium. As they were exiting the podium, Applejack caught glimpse of Granny Smith, laying there, lifeless. Her cries broke into sobs, and she ran over to Granny's casket.

"Granny..." Applejack cried at the side of Granny's casket, looking at her figure which was laid out on the cushioned box, her eyes closed and makeup done. "They did your makeup nice and pretty, just like when you were young..." Applejack wiped tears from her eyes, as they dripped down onto Granny's decorated corpse.

The rest was a blur, as tears filled Applejack's eyes and all she could do was sit on the floor in a ball and cry. Eventually, Big Mac picked her up and carried her to the car, as the service ended and everyone went home. Applejack stayed, wrapped in fetal position, as she sobbed her eyes out, not even bothering to keep them open as her eyes became red from tears.

Applejack could remember the sound of the car stopping, and them getting out of the car and being carried into the house, and from there up the stairs and into her bed. She sat there in bed, and cried herself to sleep, like a baby.

Applejack abruptly woke up at 3 AM, with only one thought on her mind. Rarity.

She quickly grabbed her laptop and brought it into bed with her, onto her lap, and opened it. She saw the message that Rarity had sent earlier, and quickly wrote a reply, dumping her heart out into the letter.

Dear Rarity,

I love you. Today was Granny Smith's funeral. I realized that Granny would want me to write you. I got so busy in my life, with everything that has happened... I hope you understand. I saw Granny for the last time today. I cried like a baby.

I hope I see you soon. Feel so empty without you.

Applejack

Applejack waited for a reply as she quietly began to sketch on her tablet, and within 30 minutes, she got a familiar ding from the messaging app. There was a new message, and she opened it with excitement.

My love, Applejack

I completely understand, you need time to heal. I love you too. Good to know that Granny liked me. I want to be there when you cry and hug you, plz.

I'll see you this summer my love, and get some sleep please.

Rarity

Applejack smiled as she finished reading the letter and shut her laptop gently. She put her computer up and rolled over onto her back, sighing as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.