//------------------------------// // Part 2 // Story: Granny Smith's Departure // by Zoom zoom //------------------------------// When Granny Smith’s eyes refocused she found herself in a hospital room. Mr. Death stood over her but wasn’t looking at her. She tried to move around but couldn’t. She was just frozen in place as she slowly turned. Mr. Death’s voice echoed in her mind, “You’re in my memories Mrs. Smith. As such you’ll only be able to see what I see. I apologize in advance for what you are about to see, but it is the only way to show you what must be done tonight.” She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t move. All she could do was stand there and watch what Mr. Death watched and hear what was going on. The light breathing of a green mare with a white mane sleeping in her hospital bed, but her face was not so peaceful. It tensed it agony. At her bedside were two ponies. One was a grey stallion but had the look of someone getting very pale and sick from exhaustion and more. The other a newborn foal, looking just like Applejack did when she was born only with red hair. That’s when Granny realized it wasn’t the Applejack she was currently used to, it was her daughter. It was her own little girl still so small she could fit in one hoof no problem. The foal wasn’t crying, she was sleeping just like her mother. Hers was a peaceful sleep and a small smile could be seen on her face. Granny smiled at this, and then she realized she couldn’t move. Mr. Death was smiling down at the young foal. She could feel his own enjoyment at seeming such life in the child. The stallion however wasn’t in any good mood at all. When he looked up and saw Mr. Death smiling as he looked at the foal he got up and slapped her away. “Don’t you touch her!” He fell back from the motion and coughed loudly, a trail of blood oozing from his mouth. Mr. Death helped him up and he pulled away. “I’m sorry Mr. Smith. It is unavoidable. That infection is going to take your wife in a few hours, and in a week or so I will be coming for you as well. We decided to give you a week longer due to the obvious need to set your daughter’s life in order. There is nothing else I can do.” Weakly he rose. Granny finally saw his eyes, the eyes of her husband that had died shortly after their daughter’s birth. She had never seen him like this however, he was broken and weak. Anger fueled his every movement. “It isn’t fair,” he spat. “After so long we finally have a child and now you’re saying we have to leave her alone in the world? Let alone that my wife who hasn’t had a sick day in her life is suddenly going to leave this world because of me. Why do you have to do this?” “I’ve no choice in this matter Mr. Smith,” replied the black suited stallion. “Our scheduling does this all the time. I can do nothing for either of you.” “The nurse,” said the sickly stallion getting up, “The nurse was saying how if she got past the first few hours, then she could live past this infection with all the medication they gave her. Can’t you just delay it a little bit longer?” “Even if I did, which I cannot without a switch mind you Mr. Smith, we would then have the complication of when she would actually die again. An indefinite delay messes with the system a bit. It would mean switching her with someone else with an unknown death time. These things often make it harder on everyone anyway. I don’t know why I was told to show myself at all to you however considering you don’t really count.” “I do,” he said with a smile. “I asked Celestia to let you talk to me.” “I don’t work for her,” Mr. Death said simply. “But I suppose the higher ups would be interested if someone wished to see one of us. Why then did you call?” Granny sensed he already knew the answer. He had come only to confirm everything he suspected. “I called to offer you something besides her,” he said coughing again. “I called you so I could make this deal. I-I give you this sodden carcass of this aging weak idiot before you. Take me now and give my wife the time she needs to recover. Our daughter needs her far more than a sick stallion like myself.” He crawled and held Mr. Death’s suit tightly as he cried out. “Please, please take me and spare my wife. Please just don’t take her I beg you. Take me and be done with all this, just take me.” With that he collapsed again into unconsciousness. Mr. Death didn’t make a sound. He just leaned down and placed a hoof over the stallion. The foal started to cry as the life left the stallion’s body. Everything faded to white again as Granny heard nurses rushing into the room. Suddenly, they were back in the living room. Mr. Death stretched a bit from the magic he had just used. “So as you can see Mrs. Smith, your time was already extended via your husband’s plea. So you can’t possibly-“ “Oh no,” said the mare. Seeing what her husband had done had only given her more vigor. She wasn’t about to just let this guy take him if she wasn’t ready if her own love had to go for her. “Ah have no intention of going with you. Like I said my family needs me, especially Applebloom. Girl isn’t old enough to take care of herself.” “Her siblings are old enough to take care of her,” said Mr. Death simply. “Because of that I can’t file for you to get an extension again. You don’t seem to have gotten the point of my little flash back. Besides, you don’t have anything under the other two ways either that will qualify.” “What are those other two then?” Mr. Death sighed again, “You living ponies never give up do you? Very well the first is that you have a discovery that you need to finish.” He looked around and waved his hoof at the batter furniture and the outside farm. “I doubt you are inventing the latest innovations even among farming equipment. As for the other, that is if you have unfinished business of a sort. Raising your grandchild doesn’t count and I highly doubt you have one strong enough besides that to warrant an extension.” “No, no I do,” claimed the mare. “Just let me think about it for a moment.” She put a hoof to her chin in thought as she rubbed. “I never told my secret recipe to the Zap Apple Jam I make every year.” “I’m sorry Mrs. Smith,” the stallion said putting his note pad away in his suit pocket. “But you already shared with your grandchildren how to prepare for making them. And Applebloom already knows all the details. That will not be sufficient.” “Oh,” said the old mare in surprise. She wasn’t about to wish she never told her grandkids how to make the stuff. After all until today she figured there would be a time when they would need to know when she left them. As well as it was some of the best time she spent bonding with all three of them. Especially with Applebloom gaining a new respect for her despite the admittingly silly steps it took to make the Zap Apple Jam. She thought some more. Then it hit her. “Zap Apple Pie!” “Come again?” “Zap Apple Pie,” she repeated. “It’s so simple. I never did get everything right to make it as good as mah Zap Apple Jam.” Mr. Death noticed that desperate look in her eyes grasping for anything and looked away. “You’re really that determined?” Mr. Death said in a dull monotone. “Of course,” said the old mare. Then she smiled, “Ah didn’t hear a “no” in that last statement.” “I’m going to regret this,” he muttered. “But in light of this and the fact Applebloom is not old enough just yet I will take leniency and extend your time.” “Yeah hoo!” Granny was nearly over ecstatic over her this enough to jump. Her hip wasn’t hurting anymore either. “Not so fast Mrs. Smith,” he said with a smile. “It isn’t that simple. You will of course be expected to improve on your Zap Apple Pie until it is at least better than its current state every year, and Applebloom will not be young forever. You would do well to keep both in mind and make sure all your arrangements are set completely for my return.” “Your return?” said the mare now with a cocky attitude. “Beg pardon but I’ll not be expecting you till I’m far too weak to move around sonny. And that isn’t happening any time soon.” He blinked, “what did you just say Mrs. Smith?” “I said I’ll try but it isn’t reasonable I’ll ever improve it past what it is already at in for quite a few years. And at the way Applejack’s been flirting around I’m sure to get a great grandchild to help raise by her or Big Mac within the next year or so.” “So,” said Mr. Death his voice hardening, “you’re going to take advantage of my kindness.” His head dropped slightly but as he exhaled and continued. “There is nothing I can do for it now of course. But you do remember what I said about balancing out the souls to your husband correct? You may wish to reconsider.” “No way,” said Granny ushering him out of her house. “I’m good. Now run along and go find yourself some other soul while I go make some REGULAR apple pie.” “Mrs. Smith,” he said simply. “I must ask you one last time to reconsider our deal. I believe you don’t know the gravity of what you have just done by taking advantage of me.” “Look here sonny,” snapped the mare. She now got physical with the stallion poking her hoof into his chest. “I got the best of you fair and square. There is nothing you can do about it. You’ll have to sleep in your bed with the choice you made.” “That may be Mrs. Smith,” he said in his dull monotone. “But the same will be true of you. And since you are not coming with me I’m forced into getting an alternative.” As soon as he finished saying this there was a loud crashing sound that rang out all over the farm. “Wh-what just happened?” asked the mare. Mr. Death didn’t say anything. He remained quiet and emotionless and he trotted out of the open door and slowly moved into the direction of the sound until he was at the end of the porch in front of the house and just looked in its direction. Applebloom came thundering down the path crying out for a doctor. Mr. Death just stood there only blinking every now and then as Granny pushed past him. The doctor Applejack had bringing was finally coming up the trial to meet Applebloom. “What happened?” he asked looking over Applebloom and finding nothing. Granny could see even from this distance that Applebloom was crying. “I’m not sure. Scootaloo just fell out of the tree we were climbing and hit her head. She won’t get up! Please doctor she needs help!” The doctor nodded and followed Applebloom. Granny turned in shock to see Mr. Death. “You didn’t.” “Had to,” said Mr. Death again without a single hint of emotion in his voice. “I have to take somepony back with me at five after midnight. With you now put at an unknown time of departure I had to swap you with someone else instead of just a reasonable delay of a few months to a year as I intended.” “But,” argued Granny staring at the suited Stallion who was not trotting down her step, “she’s just a little filly.” “Indeed,” he replied coldly, “But a little filly that was to one day leave this plain in a terrible accident at some point in the next hundred years. I warned you Mrs. Smith. But you didn’t listen. Now I have some other business to take care of before coming for the child in the morning, if you’ll excuse me.” “Now wait there,” spat Granny, “Hold it, I didn’t say I’d agree to this. You can’t just go taking a little filly’s life away from her like that. I’ll go with you if you really want, just spare her. Yer hear me sonny? I’ll go if you want just don’t let her...” She trailed off at a loss for words looking at the cold features that had grown on the once pale but warm expressing stallion. Mr. Death didn’t say anything more as he continued to trot up the road, slow but at a pace Granny Smith could not follow. She watched him slowly move out of sight and into the horizon, and then like a whisper he was gone before he made it completely out of her sight.