Annie opened her eyes and lifted her head before yawning. She looked at the clock on the wall behind her to check the time. About two hours had passed. She sat up in bed with the framed picture still next to her. She picked it up and sighed. A nap might have been just the thing she needed to make her feel better. She didn’t completely have Granny Smith off her mind, but it helped. Perhaps it was now time to go downstairs. She already felt bad enough staying away from everyone else while they had company.
Annie then noticed the smell of apple pie. It smelled much like the pies Granny used to cook back when she was around. Although it reminded her of Granny, it felt good to remember the smell of something delicious she would cook. Maybe the others downstairs were cooking one in honor of her to cheer Annie up. A bit of a warm feeling came over her thinking about this, but it was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the stairs near the bedroom door accompanied by sniffling. The door opened and Chip walked in. Annie did not expect to see his face red and his cheeks wet with tears. He slammed the door behind him and started walking towards his bed but stopped halfway and hung his head. Annie began to wonder what on earth could have him so emotional. She rarely saw her brother cry like this.
“Chip? What happened?” Annie asked.
“You were right, Annie,” Chip told his sister, just barely managing to talk while crying. “I miss her too. All I did was look at a bunch of…pictures of her and now I think I’m realizing just how hard it is.”
“Why were you looking at the pictures?”
“Flurry thought we could all cheer you up by making a letter…and a collage…and baking one of Granny’s pies, but now I’m gonna need some cheering up.”
Chip paused for a few seconds and stopped to wipe some tears away, but his nose was starting to get very runny. Annie grabbed a tissue box on the desk next to her bed, hopped down, and set the tissues next to him. He took one of them and blew his nose.
“I could have seen her that last day,” he continued. “Remember when Mom and Dad took you to see her but I stayed home to do my homework? That was the last chance I had, but I didn’t go. Now I’ll never see her again.”
Annie walked over to join her brother. She had felt better until now when she saw him like this. She wanted to try and tell him that things would be okay and they had to move on, but that was what he told her before and now he couldn’t even take his own advice. Her arm was around him until she finally started crying too.
“It’s okay, Chip.”
They hugged and continued crying for almost a whole minute until someone knocked on the door. Startled by this, they immediately turned their heads and tried wiping away their tears.
“Uh…who is it?” Chip asked.
The door opened a crack and their father peaked in.
“Chip, Annie, can we come in?” he asked.
They slowly nodded their heads up and down, still sniffling and blowing their noses. Applejack and Tex walked in and sat next to their kids on the floor. Without a word, they put their arms around both of them.
“We saw Spike and the others walking out and he told us everything,” said Applejack.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Chip told her “I told Annie earlier we have to move on, but now I’m not even sure I can do it. It’s just so hard.”
“I know, buddy. It wasn’t easy for me either when I first dealt with this.”
“You mean with Grandpa Macintosh and Grandma Buttercup?”
“Yup. It was sudden, it came out of nowhere, and they were too young. It was rough on us all.”
“That’s right kids,” Tex added. “We all knew Granny’s time had come but Grandpa and Grandma on Mom’s side went too early. They weren’t my parents, but I remember how much it tore my dad apart to hear what had happened to his best friend.”
“I forgot Grandpa Oak was friends with Grandpa Mac. I guess it was a lot harder when Grandma and Grandpa went,” Chip sighed.
“Both of ya should be thankful Granny lasted as long as she did. She passed on at a very ripe age,” Applejack continued.
“Did you take it as hard as we did?” Annie asked her.
Applejack paused for a few seconds and thought hard before answering.
“I actually took it far worse. See, when I was little, I hated farming. I hated all the work I had to do and I kept tellin’ Mom and Dad I wanted to go to the city and live a more privileged lifestyle. After they died, I went there anyway cuz I couldn’t deal with the pain of what had just happened here. Granny was so mad at me when I told her I still wanted out of Sweet Apple Acres. I was a stubborn girl. I didn’t exactly have my mind in the right place when I was that young, but thankfully I learned, and I came back here. Gettin’ my cutie mark after I got home was even more proof that I needed to stay and help on the farm. Granny and Big Mac weren’t just gonna do it by themselves, and by the time Applebloom was old enough, they’d have probably lost the farm.”
“Gosh,” Chip said as he looked away to think about everything he just heard. He had no idea his mother took her parents’ death this poorly. It made him feel lucky that he and his sister reacted the way they did to Granny’s passing.
“You still cared for Grandma and Grandpa after they died though, right?” Annie asked her mother.
“Oh, of course I did, I just didn’t handle it right, but I learned to be responsible and continue Mom and Dad’s work. In a way, you could say their death helped me to become a better pony.”
“That’s at least good to know. So, I guess me and Chip are all right then…”
Applejack stretched her arm out to pull in both of them closer to her. She snuggled them up to her and Tex walked in closer with his hoof still on Chip’s shoulder. After a brief moment of silence, Applejack continued and did her best job as a mother to be there for her kids.
“You two lost your great grandmother under very different circumstances, but it was a loss nonetheless. I know you’re both really upset about this, but we had a far worse time dealing with losin’ Mom and Dad. It’s sad. It really is. It can be the worst feelin’ ever. Thing is, we should be happy for Granny cuz she lived a good and healthy life and she’s proud of both of you. Don’t forget, she’s in a better place.”
Chip and Annie sighed and looked at each other. Tears were still coming from their eyes and their lips kept quivering, but they didn’t sob as badly as they did before. Chip slowly began to smile and eventually Annie smiled back.
“You’re right mom,” Chip said.
Chip and Annie put their arms around each other and Applejack and Tex wrapped theirs around until they were all in a group hug. Applejack had tears running down her face now and even Tex began to get misty-eyed. For a few moments, they did nothing but sit there and embrace one another until they heard a faint ringing sound coming from downstairs.
“That’s the apple pie,” Tex said.
“Oh, the pie!” Chip exclaimed.
“Did you guys make that pie in honor of Granny?” Annie asked.
“Well it was Pound and Pumpkin actually, but yeah, Flurry and the others downstairs wanted to make you one,” Chip told his sister.
“Thanks Chip,” Annie said, hugging her brother again as she sniffled a bit and began to dry her tears away. “It makes me feel a lot better now. Anyway, we’d better go find Flurry and the others. They probably feel like this is all their fault.”
“That’s the spirit, kid,” Tex told his daughter.
“Go on now you two,” Applejack said as they all began to walk out the door. “Go take that pie to your friends and we can say we gave Flurry a good first visit.”
“Thanks guys,” Chip said as he and Annie looked back at them with a tender smile before heading downstairs.
Over on a small hilltop in the orchard, Flurry and the others sat around, miserable over what happened earlier. Flurry was sitting on top of a stump while Stormy sat next to it and Pound and Pumpkin were on the table. Spike was next to Flurry and had his hand on top of her. He did the best he could to cheer them all up.
“Boy are we a bunch of failures,” Stormy said crossly.
“You said it,” Pound replied.
Pumpkin was lying down on top of the table with her head upside down and her legs spread out. She finally turned her head over to her brother.
“Ya think they’ll accept our apology if we go in now?” she asked.
“We’d better give them some more time, Pumpkin,” Spike advised. “They’ve both had a rough day.”
“I feel so bad,” Flurry said. “I just wanted to help them out. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d have known this would happen.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Flurry,” Spike said. “Your heart was in the right place.”
“Well I’m going to have to make it up to them somehow.”
“But how? We can’t say Granny Smith around them every again,” Stormy said.
“I think they’ll be all right if we mention her, Stormy,” Pound told him as he got up and flew down next to him. “We just don’t want to talk about it a whole lot.”
“Hey guys?” called Annie a few yards away.
Everyone looked to the side to see Annie walking in. Chip was right next to her, carrying a basket in his mouth. Flurry gasped and leaped down from the stump to go meet them both.
“Annie, Chip! Guys, I’m so sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to make you cry, Chip. I just wanted to help. If I’d have known I’d make you sad too, I’d…I’d…”
“It’s okay, Flurry,” Chip said as he put the basket down. “We’re doing better now.”
“You are?”
“Yeah, we had a talk with Mom and Dad,” Annie added.
“We’re sorry we left you like that,” continued Chip. “Annie and I just needed some time off. I had no idea I’d be needing it.”
“Thanks for trying to cheer me up though. I know it didn’t work out so well, but I appreciate it.”
Everyone sighed in relief and smiled, knowing their troubles were all gone.
“I guess it’s a good time to give this to you then,” Spike said as he grabbed the letter they all wrote earlier and handed it to Annie who read it silently.
“Chip, you wrote this?” Annie asked her brother.
“Yeah, with a little help from Flurry, and we all signed it,” Chip said with his hoof behind his head.
“I love it, Chip!”
Annie hugged her brother lovingly. They then opened their arms up and welcomed in the other five to join the hug.
“Hey, is that the apple pie?” Pumpkin asked, sniffing the air.
“Yup, the pie finished baking. We can eat it now,” Chip said pointing to the basket.
Spike picked up the basket and they all followed him to the table. He set it down and Flurry used her magic to open it up and carefully place the pie on top.
“Alright guys, I think it’s only fair that Chip and Annie get the first slices,” she said as she began to slowly cut away at the pie. When she was finished, she placed two slices on top of Chip and Annie's hooves.
“To Granny Smith.” Chip said as he and Annie lifted their slices in the air and then took a bite of the delectable pie.
“Mmmm, you guys did great with this!” Annie told Pound and Pumpkin.
“Dawww,” Pumpkin said, blushing.
“Happy to help,” said Pound. “Granny really knew how to make a mean apple pie. Pumpkin and I haven’t seen a recipe like that in ages!”
“Well now it’s your guys’ turn,” Flurry said, giving everyone else a slice.
“Oooh, yummy!” said Stormy as he munched away.
Everyone else had the same reactions to tasting the pie. They continued to eat the rest of it and lick up what was left on their lips until there was only one slice left.
“Alright, who’ll eat the last piece? Annie?”
“Oh no thanks, I couldn’t,” Annie replied.
“Yeah, me too. Plus we don’t want to spoil dinner later,” Chip added.
“Well there’s only of us with a tummy big enough for two slices,” Pumpkin teased as she poked Spike in the belly.
“Hehe, if you guys insist,” Spike said as Flurry hovered the last slice over to him.
The kids all laughed as Spike gobbled up the apple pie and licked his lips while rubbing his belly. He looked at them and smiled, happy to know that Flurry finally found her perfect group of friends: five little ponies just like the ones Twilight once tagged along with to go on marvelous adventures and learn about friendship. Whatever happened next, it was definitely sure to be a good summer for Flurry Heart. Thinking quickly, he took out a quill and some parchment and Flurry began to write her friendship letter to Twilight.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I met the Apple Twins today and I learned a valuable lesson from them: losing someone dear to you can be the worst feeling, but it is always good to rejoice that they’re in a better place and lived a good life. We can’t stop death, but we can continue on and make our loved ones proud. I know for certain that Granny Smith is proud of her great grandchildren today.
Your niece,
Flurry Heart
She handed the scroll to Spike and he sent it away to Canterlot with his magic fire.
“Alright guys,” she said, “after we clean this up, you wanna take another walk around the orchard?”
“That sounds like a good idea, Flurry,” Chip replied.
Not far away, Applejack and Tex stood next to the gravestones for Bright Macintosh, Pear Butter, and Granny Smith. Tex stood next to his wife with his arm around her. Applejack was carrying a small photo of her younger self with her parents, her siblings and Granny. They both stared at the children and Spike as they began to clean up and make conversation. Applejack looked down at the photo and smiled as a happy tear formed in her eye.
“Thanks for everything, Granny,” she said
THE END