"Ow! Owch! Watch the leg! Oof!"
Applejack bounced on the old bed a few times as her weight evened out upon it. She hissed as she held her rear right leg in her hooves. The leg was encased in a white cast from flank to hoof.
"Sorry, sis," said big Macintosh, who was standing beside the bed.
Applejack took a break from her hissing to let out a tired sigh. "It's alright, Big Mac. It just hurts a bit is all."
The room filled with the sound of little hooves on wood as Applebloom came running to her sister's bed side. "Applejack! Applejack, are ya gonna be alright? We're really sorry ya got hurt and it's all our fault. We never should've been tryin' fer our lumberjack cutie marks in the apple fields and-"
"Now you hush up!" Applejack reprimanded. "Don't y'all be blamin' yerselves for what happened ta me. Ah should've been payin' better attention... and y'all did yell timber."
Applebloom looked up at her sister with a pouting expression. "But the tree we cut down fell on ya."
Applejack sighed. "Now what did Ah just get through tellin' ya? It wasn't y'all's fault," she said quietly.
Applebloom jumped onto the bed and hugged her big sister, sniffling as she did so.
"Now now, y'all git down stairs and let yer sister rest, ya hear," said Granny Smith as she entered the room.
Big Mac put a hoof of Applebloom's shoulder. "Come on, sis, you heard Granny."
Applebloom released Applejack and clambered off the bed, wiping her eyes from time to time as Big Mac led her out.
"How're ya feelin', youngin'?" asked Granny. She sat down on an old wooden chair next to the bed.
"I'll be alright." Applejack looked down at her injured leg. "Out of all four that dern tree just had ta fall on mah good leg."
"A few weeks a rest an you'll be righter than apple pie." One of Granny's eyes bugged out of her head as she said the next sentence. "And Ah don't wanna hear 'bout ya bein' outta this here bed 'till then, ya hear!"
Applejack sighed. "Ah know, Granny. Ah know... Ah just hope Macintosh can keep the farm goin' while I'm healin'."
Granny Smith's gaze softened and she laid a shaking hoof in Applejack's. "Now don't ya be worryin' 'bout us. You'll be better before ya know it. How 'bout Ah tell ya a story ta pass the time?"
Applejack smiled and nodded her head gently. "Sure, Granny, that'd be just fine."
"Good. Now, where ta start?" Granny Smith withdrew her hoof to tap her chin. "Hmmm... Oh! Now Ah remember!"
Granny Smith looked back to Applejack and placed a hoof in hers. "Many years ago, on this very farm, there was a young mare who used ta live here. She was a cowpony, just like you. Strong, beautiful, and stubborn as a mule! Hehehe!
"She was born here. Worked the orchards her whole life. She had a few friends but she never really was all that interested in the stallions in good ol' Ponyville. That is, till she met him.
"He had come from another town ta work as a farm hoof here at Sweet Apple Acres. Some ponies mightve' said he was handsome or charmin... he definitely wasn't rich.
"But that young mare fell in love with 'im the moment she saw 'im. And the same went fer that stallion. They worked side by side fer years, growin' together and lovin' each other more and more every day.
"The day they got married was the fourth happiest day of their lives! Almost as happy as the days they had three little foals.
"Years past as they raised em. One grew into a handsome stallion, the others into beautiful young mares... just like their mother. They were the happiest family I ever did see.
"But then one day, when their son and daughters where still just little foals and it had come time fer zap apple season, the papa was out rattlin' an' bangin' them pots an' pans with his son ta keep the tinberwolves away.
"But that year the timberwolves were feelin' extra hungry. They ran out the woods at the little colt, wantin' ta make a meal outta him. The papa told his son ta run and he fought them timberwolves till they went runnin' with their tails between their legs.
"But they had hurt him bad.
"The mamma came runnin' out ta look fer 'im when the timberwolves had gone. But when she found 'im, it was too late.
"He died there in her hooves that night.
"The mamma was sad, sadder than she'd ever been. It didn't take her long before the grief got her, and she died only a few months after. She just couldn't live on without her stallion.
"But their foals could. They lived on to become great ponies, the greatest I've ever seen, and it still amazes me some of the things they done."
Tears were in both Granny and Applejack's eyes as she finished her story. Granny Smith was staring blankly at the mattress, and Applejack watched her intently.
"Granny..." Applejack asked. "Who were those ponies, the ones who died?"
Granny looked up at Applejack, her eyes glazed and watery, but no sound came from her mouth.
Applejack closed her eyes and sobbed quietly as Granny Smith moved closer to the bed, wrapping her granddaughter in a warm embrace. "It's alright, Sugarcube."
They remained that way for several minuets, Applejack weeping quietly and Granny Smith offering silent comfort, until a knock on the door broke the cycle.
"You alright in there, Applejack?"
Applejack raised her head from her grandmother's shoulder.
"I'll be fine, Macintosh. Now you go get back ta work."