Chapter 1: Recollections and Forgetting
Dusk sets in as the sun sets. The night is young and beautiful this lovely spring evening. Everypony closes their shutters to get ready for their wonderous slumber of mystical and whimsical dreams. The Apple family's house is still lit, however, cleaning the mess from their great banquet of a dinner, an Apple tradition after Winter Wrap-up for the shortages of the stored up food every Tuesday night. Their jobs are all done now and all can't wait to go to bed. Applejack and Big Macintosh are already in their beds, however, from a long day of harvesting. The stars become brighter and brighter, the sky full of wonder about to shine on the history about to be told. The room of Apple Blom is dimly lit with a scerene aura of light surrounding her bed. As the moths fly around the light of the lantern the sound of hooves proceed up the stairs with the creeking of the semi-loose floor boards. Along with the steady beat of the hoovesteps is a high pitch tone of a voice, so innocent and lovely, pleading with every kind hearted drop of sweetness.
"Oh Please GrannySmith!? Can't I have just one more piece? Oh please, oh please, oh please!?" begged sweet little Apple Bloom.
"I'm-a sorry deary, but you just can't have any more of Applejack's sweet caramelized zapapple pie. You didn't even fu'nsh 'ure dinner tonight either. Now we just can't fill you up with sweets now, can we." said little ol'e GannySmith.
"Oh come on. Just one more peice and I'll help with the harvest tommorow. Or I'll even paint the barn," she begged once more with an enticing voice, "Or I'll even do your chores tommorow."
"Now listen here now, li'l half pint, we in this family do not tempt. Now off to bed with you my little pony." ordered the old mare.
"But... -sigh- uhhh fine." said Apple Bloom smshe surcomes to her old grandmother's persistence. She does, however, still tries to get something good out of it; even the smallest morsel that can benefit her enjoyment to cheer her up from the loss of this battle of hers. So after a pause of silence, when the old apple-green pony is almost out the doorway, she asks of her in the near darkness of her room, "Can I have a bedtime story Granny?"
Trying not to give into temptation, GrannySmith tries to ignore the sound of her granddaughter's sweet voice. As time passed in its normal tempo, it went on for etrnities for her, trying to decide, trying to evade. Though because AppleBloom had indulged into her will, she thought it was best to delve into hers. So in a soft quiet voice as to not to startle her, she replies, "Well, alright now dearie," Apple Bloom's face brightens with excitement, "I remember one that I told to your mother when I was about her age. It was..."
Another pause had rose out of the blue again, this time, though,Vegas long. Very long for both ponies. At first, GrannSmith's face froze in matter of which she was speaking, but the slowly morphed into a pensive expression of concern. Just as her face morphs, so does the face of the filly still eagerly awaiting the telling of her grandmother's great tale. It to transforms to a concerned face but only for the fact that she does not know what goes on in the head of GrannySmith. This isn't abnormal but she could sense that this time is different, that this time she pauses for an ominous reason that she has yet figured out. Still as she tries to expose the true image behind this conundrum, time passes on; the stars still brighten more and more from Luna's great power of mystery.
It does come to the point where the filly could take it no longer. Apple Bloom cries out in a voice of distress facing a catastrophe approaching at an exponentially increasing rate, with the slightest crack in her speech, "GRANNYSMITH!!!!!!" Not even a second later did Applejack come Running ablaze through the doorway, asking in a somewhat tired voice, "what's goin' on in 'ere?" GrannySmith finally coming back to reality responds to the eldest granddaughter, "Er what? Oh it's nothing Applejack. Just had a little pause again. Happens with age, no need to worry." having miner thoughts of doubt, Applejack accepts her answer and leaves her sister's room. As GannySmith turns around, she, to Apple Bloom's surprise (and would be to the surprise of every other ony that knew GrannySmith), remembers by saying, "Oh yes! Ye'r bedtime story. Now it's called the little filly that could."
Apple Bloom's face calms down its tense figure, and once again turns to Hugh anticipations for her story as she takes off her bow, and lays comfortably in her bed. As she relaxes, her grandmother continues on.
"Once upon a time, there a town in Equestria just upside of Manehattan, it was called Hooflyn. Hooflyn was where all the best ponies, mares and stallions alike, came from. It was truly the cream of the crop. Now there was once a colt named LightHooves. He was a particularly small lil' feller' who always got picked on by the big ponies. One day he decided to take a stand. He challenged the big ponies to a land race around Hooflyn. He said - well if your so great, then how about we race then! All the way from the Hooflyn Bridge to Pony Island! - and of cruise the big Ponies accepted his challenge. Now LightHooves didn't know what he was getting himself into. In fact pine was even nervous at first. But he just kept on thinking to himself - I think I can I think I can I think I can!- Then the race was here. All the neighborhood fillies and colts came to watch the race. Then the stater pony came up to the starten' line, held up his hoof, and said, - Everypony ready? Ready? Set, - and with a quick wave of his leg, he screamed, - GOOOO!!!- And they all ran as fast as the could, most of the big ponies took the lead while poor LightHooves took the rear. Though he was loosing, he didn't give up. He just kept on thinking, I think I can, until the very phrase came out of his mouth screaming, I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN!. Then he took off like no pony had ever did. He bursted with such speed. He took the lead and all the big ponies tried to catch up but just couldn't. He ran through the whole race without a drop of sweat down his face. When he came through the finish line, everyny yelled with joy. When the big ponies came 'round, LightHooves said - they don't call me LightHooves for nothing- and the crowd cheered som more. Then he lived happily ever after. The end."
"WOW! That was an incredible story Granny!" said young Apple Bloom.
"Yes we'll it was your mother's favorite. But do you know the moral of this story." said GannySmith.
"Uhhhmm. To never give up right?"
"Exactly li'l half pint." as she walked out the door, she had mumbled something softly like, "something I had to learn the hard way.
"What was that Ganny?"
"Oh it was nothing deary, now good night. I love you."
"Goodnight. Love you too."
Apple Bloom extinguished the small flame within her lantern. She went under her covers to sleep and dream about how one day, she'll earn her cutie mark. Her room now only illuminated by the very faint light of the moon shining through the picnic cloth pattern of her window curtain. as GannySmith watches her fall into her sweet slumber, shi thinks to herself, "such a sweet girl. Thank Celestia that she didnt have to suffer." She turns around and goes into her room 2 doors down the hall and to the right. She undoes her bun and lets her mane flow like a beautiful silver river of white light shining through with the light of the moon and stars from the bare window, her youth and beauty found again with her platinum blonde strands of hair. She lays down and she too goes to sleep.
The next morning, everyone awakens but are still very tired this morning. Everyone is eating moon lillys for breakfast I his morning. Everyone is silent as the morning proceeds with the bronze light of the sun shining bright over the orchards. GrannySmith's eyes proceed out the kitchen window, for nice in deep thought rather just staring into space and thinking about the most random thing a pony can find. Applejack clearly takes notice of this. She finds this to be very strange for her kind of behavior. So to ensure that all is well, she asks, "Uhh GannySmith, are you okay? ... GannySmith." She awakens again from her deep thoughts and says, "Everything is fine, why is it that all y'all gotta worry about me?" she angrily leaves the table. Applejack confirms her thoughts by saying, "This aint like her at all." "Nope." says Big Macintosh in agreance. "I think someone should go talk to her." Suggests little AppleBloom innocently listening to these adult like matters. Applejack fully realizes this and tells her sister, "Why don't you go outside today and see if your friend Twist wants to play?" "Okay." she says eagerly in reply.
After she leaves, the orange coated, blonde maned mare realizes, "maybe our li'l sis was right. Maybe you should talk to her." "Why me, can't you just talk to her" says Big Mac as his rebuttle. "She takes more of a liking to you when she's angry." insists Applejack. "Oh fine, you win. I'll go n' talk to her." says the brawny stallion. As he proceeds outside, he sees his grandmother sitting in her rocking chair outside the barn with a sort of sour face on her. He approaches her and asks, "Okay, what's really going on." The old mare gives up and says, "I just can't seem to hide anything for me. Ive been thinking of the olden times. How rough it was, how we almost weren't here, and how we almost weren't here at all." "What are you talking about Granny?" asks the burgundy colored stallion. The frail old pony replies with an emotional struggle in her voice, "What I'm talking about, Big Mac, is something I've tried to avoid talking about, for soo many years, the big apple famine of the year of 55'."
