Founding Equestria: The Railroads
There is a song...
The Granny Smith title in the Apple Family is earned in your older ages as a mare. And only for mares. In this small story, Granny Smith was a little filly who hadn't even gotten her own cutie mark yet. Her name was, in fact, not Little smith, or even related. Her name was Lou Ann. Simple, well used name.
Now, in this time, she and her mother, and even grand mother, all worked in the house. Chores like cleaning up, cooking, the usual work done in that time.
But she loved the stories that her Granny Smith told them. Her and her brother.
It just so happened that one day, Little John had been a bad colt. Wanting to be lazy, he blew off the entire day. Well, Granny Smith didn't really believe in beating her children, and even stopped Anna Belle from bringing a switch to him. (Lou Ann's mother)
Instead, she sat him in front of her, next to the fire, and relaxed in her old chair, staring at the disrespectful little colt with stern eyes. Then she smiled and chuckled lowly.
"Lou Ann, come over here.", she called.
The little green filly hopped on over to the rug next to her brother, and Granny Smith sighed deeply.
"You're mother wants ta beat ya, son, wants to make sure you know better 'n ta disobey what you was told, an' even bein' as disrespectful as tellin ya pa that you don't have ta do any work unless ma tells ya. That's where you're wrong you little brat."
Lou Ann gasped, covering her mouth. Little John only hung his head in shame.
"But you lucky I stopped her. I've got somethin better. A beatin' don't always work. So, Ah'm gonna tell you a story. A life lesson will be learned. Lou Ann, I'm sorry you had to witness me scold yer brother, but...Ah know how much you two like a good story.", Granny Smith smiled.
Lou Ann and Little John both perked up, and smiled.
"Little John, do you know how we came up with your name?"
"Ma said you told her my name."
"That's right. I got that name from those old rail tracks just down the dirt road."
"You named me after that old railroad?", Little John asked.
"Well, then. Scooch on closer."
Little John and Lou Ann each sat a bit closer to Granny Smith.
"Son, every length of that there track. May it be the board that's under it, the heavy rail on top, or the bolts holdin' it together. One stallion laid that entire stretch. From Ponyville, to Canterlot...Through the plains...through the mountain..."
"One stallion did all that?", Little John asked.
"Oh yes, son! He laid it windin' 'round the ev'free, over them plains n' hills, an' even through the solid rock o' that mountain...All...By...Himself...."
Granny Smith paused and her face became solemn.
"And do you know what that stallion's name was? Why!", her face lit up as she flung her hooves up, " He would be singin' that old song when he hittin' them spikes in as 'e come down them tracks he was forced ta lay...Way back when the horn was the ruler...Way back when Pegasi were free, only cause they was cowards...Flyin to their homes fitty stories high in the sky..."
"That must've been a long time ago, granny...", Lou Ann said silently.
"Son...Do you wanna know what that stallion's name was?"
"What, Granny Smith? What was it?", Little John asked eagerly.
"Why, his name was John Henry...", she smiled.
Little John smiled and shifted where he sat.
"The day he was born...all the animals were smilin'. Why, even the sun was smilin'. Everyone was happy. It was just a happy day. His mama brought him to the porch, and he stood! The first day! It was like watching the impossible.
"Then he began to grow. And grow, and grow he did. Right until his head brust right through the porch roof! He was so tall, he had done just that!"
The two foals listening giggled.
"Well, his mama told him he was goin' ta fix that roof. An' fix it he did. He went down to the forest, chopped down a tree, and fixed that roof before the sun had reached it's highest point in the sky.
"That's when things began ta get complicated. He was full grown. He would have ta work soon. So, his aunt came up with an idea. Why not work the railroads? He agreed, and then the next day, he went off on his own. He quickly found one of those dusty settlements them unicorns set up, and they took 'im right in, an shipped em off to the railroads!"
"They shipped him?", Lou Ann asked.
"They didn't really ship him, Lou.", Little John figured, "They just sent him somewhere."
"Somewhere was right. They didn't send him to a nowhere town, they sent him somewhere. Where he earned his place in history.", Granny smith relaxed against her chair, staying silent a moment.
"They sent him to Manehatten first. Across the mountains. They was to make a railroad to Canterlot through the mountains. And what a tedious tasked that was...It was hard work, but John did it easily. Given two whale bone handled hammers, he was sent off to strike in the spikes! Some say that was the hardest job, given that it required a lot of muscles to pound one of those heavy bolts into that solid metal...But Henry...Oh Henry...Heh. He'd be walkin' down that railroad a singin'...
"Ah got a rainbow... Ring! Ring! Tied around mah shoulders... Ring! Ring!
"He'd be pounded them spikes in, all the way, one hit, every swing. More than twice as fast as anypony else. But a single stallion with two heavy whale bone hammers in each hoof...a stallion like that gets noticed by the horn..."
"So, what happened when they noticed him then?", Lou Ann asked.
"Oh, shush now! I'm gettin' there, I'm gettin' there!", Granny Smith explained.
"With John working the rails like he was, some of the others could just walk alongside him, and he would drive them spikes in as fast as they would lay down the boards and rails. Then they had to stop, comin' to a dead end. Now, turnin' a railroad is hard work, and it takes a lot more work when you can't, and have to go through solid stone. So, Henry stopped drivin' in them spikes, and left the track to see why it was takin' so long for that trail ta be flattened.
"They told him they was goin as fast as they could, but they can't get passed it, because it was too hard of rock to blast away...Now, they was on the end of their rope. The warden was gettin' mad that they stopped altogether, and told em that if they waste that three hundred feet of track they laid into that riverbed, they was gonna get a cut from their pay...So Henry came up with a plan. He told em to lay every pound of dynamite they could in that one spot, and he told em blow it. They did, but not even a single crack was there.
"Oh, they was all scared now. They couldn't explain to the horned stallion that they couldn't blow away that solid rock...So Henry started hammerin' again. This time, breakin' away that stone. Every swing of his hammers, would send sparks flyin', and leave a good amount of rock turned to dust before him. Every hit, he'd bring his hammer up again, twirl it above his head, bring it down, and it would take away more rock than it did the last time!
"The path began to get dusty, an' you couldn't see ya hand in front of ya face. So he began singing...
"Ah got a rainbow... Ring! Ring! Tied around mah shoulders... Ring! Ring!
"with every hit, you'd see them sparks. But then you could see somethin else. Beyond the grey dust, beyond the grey color of everypony there, that one stallion, Henry, was hammerin away with a rainbow 'round his shoulders, lightin his way. It didn't take long after that, and he broke through the other side, havin made a straight path over the mountain.
"He finished that rail within the next day, an then he was grabbed up by the horned stallion. Taken with his hammers, he was brought to where we sit now. Here, Ponyville. Ponyville was to be a land mark. Where the train stopped in the middle of nowhere, where a statue in Celestia's name be raised for her. Well, they was goin two directions. One away, and one to Canterlot.
"With the new rails set out, they had Henry workin with the hornde Stallion. The unicorns. They quickly laid them rails and boards for him, and he pounded those spikes with enthusiasm, makin a game out of it! He'd have the track he was ringin on finished before them unicorns could lay the next track! It got done so quick, that by noon, they was nearin Canterlot mountain.
"Little was expected, those two inventors, Shim and Sham, the twin unicorn sisters, showed up with a machine that not only placed it's own tracks, but efficiently! Boaard board, board, rail, spike spike spike spike. That machine rivaled even Henry! As to make a game out of it, the twins set up loose boards and rails down the track, all the way to the mountain's foot. They'd be done within the hour, and there was a challenge afoot. Winner finishes the railroad. And if Henry lost, he would have to take up the railroad he pounded down himself."
"Did he win?", Lou Ann asked.
"Wait, Lou Ann. Now. Where was I...Ah...
"The challenge was brought to light to even Celestia herself, who spectate the race on a cloud in the sky, alogn with a few pegasi.
"The race began in minutes, and the two were off. Shim and Sham would run the train herself, keepign it going, while the unicorns laid the tracks for Henry. Well, halfway through, Celestia ntoiced that the unicorns layin them tracks wasn't doin it fast enough. In fact, they was doin it slower! So, she jumped down from her cloud and finished layin that track herself, from where they was, to the mountain. Her magic held the entire trackin in that long distance."
Both Lou ann and Little John wowed at the impressive display of magic.
"Heheh. John Henry went faster after that...He even caught up to that machine at the base of the mountain. Then they surprised him...
"Shim and Sham's machine bore a drill on the front he had never seen before. Immediately, they ebgan boring into the mountain, creating a path through it that was clean cut, and still laid their tracks jsut as fast. Now John henry had none of that. Oh, he brought his hammers to that hard adminium stone. If they could do it with a machine, that only says that they used somethin powerful...so, he tried on his own, and that stone gave way for him, easy as it did when he went over that mountain the first time.
"Celestia was shocked about his determination and the twins' cheating, both. She made it to where no tracks were laid by either herself, or that machine. Yet the sisters didn't know. It dind't matter anywy. It became a challenge to see who would make the highway to Canterlot faster.
"John Henry couldn't see from the sparks that flew, well enough. But he knew the mountain couldn't handle two thing diggin through it so quickly, so roughly. He could feel the mountain shake, and the sisters were already ahead of him by a good distance.
"He twirled his hammers and put forth a new determination. Similar to the first time he had gone through the rock, he began to sing...
"Ah got a rainbow... Ring! Ring! Tied around mah shoulders... Ring! Ring!
"Every swing was faster than the last, hackin away more rock than the last ever could!
"That Rainbow helped him. He told it to go an wrap itself 'ound that mountain, an' keep it from fallin on him, and the sisters, both. All the while, he went faster. ventually makin it through that mountain at a runnin pace...That mountain shook like it was in an earthquake from both their diggin. In the end, John Henry burst through the other side of that mountain, comin to a screechin, smilin halt...
"The sisters' machine bore through that mountain too quckly, and the machine broke down just before it made it through completely...The sisters were trapped, and John felt sorry for them. So he went to where he knew they was supposd to come out, and broke through the stone again, confusin them rich folks there.
"As Shim and Sham struggled inside the hot machine, John made his way to it, and the drill fell off as he loosened the stone around it. Gettin to them was impossible, and that whistle climbin in pitch didn't sound too good either. He did what nopony though possible by anypony. He shoved his hooves into that metal, and tore it apart, letting the girls loose.
"He won! He Won! They shouted, they cheered as those pegasi, the princess, and even the unicorns and earch ponies that worked with him, came to the otehr side, through his tunnel. He had made it out jsut before the machine exploded, saved the girls, and even won the race. But at a cost...
"John henry, as he met with his family one last time, fell down, and couldn't get back up. The grip on the handles of his hammers loosened, and those hammers were never dropped by him until then..."
"What happened to him, Granny?", Little John asked.
"He worked so hard, surpassin what no other stallion lik him could do before...And his heart exploded from the strain...As his mother held him, that rainbow came down from the mountain and wrapped itself around his shoulders. Henry smiled and then passed on quickly, as his body could take no more...But that wasn't the end...no...Celestia finished that railroad herself, usin her magic to force that railroad to be done, and within the few days that the train had takin' ta be set on them tracks, they had a funeral for him, and a segment on that train, ready for his coffin.
"No one ever forgot that amazin stallion. He was famous among everypony for a whole decade...And there was even a legend about him and that railroad from Ponyville to Canterlot...They say you can still here him singin on through that tunnel that brings ya to Canterlot...
"Ah got a rainbow... Ring! Ring! Tied around mah shoulders... Ring! Ring!
"Do you understand what went on, Little John?", Granny msith asked.
"Ah don't know Granny..."
"He Inspired ponies...He got the pegasi to stop being such cowards, and they willingly went to help build the remainin railroads, helped build the cities, and even helped with expandin ta al corners o' Eqeustria...
"Little John, I told y'all this story so that you could learn a lesson...Can you tell what it is?"
"I think I do. From now on, I'll do all my work. And if I ever get the chance to take up a machine in a challenge, I'll be ready."
Granny Smith chuckled, "Close enough Little John..."
"Time ta eat!", their mother called from teh kitchen.
"Now, you two go upstairs and get cleaned up real quick, to eat."
"Yes ma'am, Granny Smith.", the two responded.
Thinking back to that old memory, Lou Ann sighed, looking off out to the road from her old rocking chair.
"Granny Smith.", Applejack got her attention, "You alright? You're cryin..."
"Oh, applejack...", Lou Ann sniffled, rubbing her eyes, "I'm not cryin cause ah'm sad..."
Applejack sat in front of Granny Smith, and half smiled, "Then what's got you all happy Granny?"
"Me and my big brother were once told the story of John Henry...the stallion who beat the machine...It's kinda hard to believe that Big John actually styed true to his words and beat the machine himself...It's jsut that...the day I last saw him walk down that dusty old trail, I didn't expect to get a letter a week later, tellin me that he passed away after beatin' those inventors, Tim and Tam's farmin machine..."
"You've never told us the story of John Henry...", Applejack said.
Granny smith looked down at the young orange filly before her through teary eyes.
"Would you like to hear it?"
Applejack smiled, "Yes ma'am, I would.