It was a hot midsummer afternoon, the air thick and humid, and there was no sound to disturb the peace of the Apple Family farmhouse except the buzzing of insects, the soft creak of a rocking chair, and the rasp of Granny Smith's snoring, until the sound of soft hoofsteps on the wooden porch steps stirred Granny out of her nap.
“Huh? Hoozat?” She mumbled, trying to make her bleary eyes focus on the approaching figure. From its height, she thought at first that it was her grandson, home early from the market, but Big McIntosh was much more heavily built than this tall, slender figure. He also didn't have a horn. That was a bit of a giveaway.
“Good day to you, Granny Smith,” Celestia said, with a polite inclination of her head.
“Princess? Well bless mah soul, this sure is a surprise! I figure you must be here lookin' for lil' Jackie and her friends? She's-”
“Actually, I came here to see you, Granny. If I'm not imposing, of course,” the Princess said.
“Shucks, Princess, you've always done right by us Apples. You're always welcome here!” The old mare tried to lift herself out of her rocking chair, but the Princess held out a hoof to stop her, and Granny let herself drop back down with a grateful wheeze.
“Please, don't disturb yourself on my account. I'm afraid I can't be here for long, and I certainly wouldn't want you to put yourself to any trouble.”
“Takin' care of a guest ain't no kind of trouble,” Granny insisted, “but thank you anyway. I'm a little under the weather today, so I ain't been movin' about too much.”
“You feel unwell?” Celestia asked, settling herself down on the floor beside Granny's chair.
“Aw, 'tain't nothin', Granny said, rubbing her left foreleg. “Aches an' pains, an' it's not like I'm ever short of them these days. It'll pass.”
“No,” Princess Celestia said quietly. “I'm afraid it won't.”
Granny Smith's old bones may have failed her from time to time, but her mind hadn't left her by any means, and she shot a keen look at the Princess.
“Today then?” She said. “Huh.” She sat lost in thought for a few minutes while the Princess sat patiently beside her. “Well, I guess it's been a long time coming, right? Can't say I didn't have a fair shake of it.”
“I'm sorry, Granny,” Celestia said, coving the old mare's hoof with her own.
“Tch, nothin' to be sorry about," Granny said. "It happens, an' it was always gonna happen. The sun's shinin' (thank you fer that) and mah chair's pretty comfy. Coulda come at a worse time, I reckon. How long've I got?”
“Hmm, not very, I'm afraid. A few more minutes perhaps. I wish I could've given you more warning, but I only found out myself a little while ago.”
“Found out? Ah was wonderin' about that. Ah didn't know you came around for this kinda thing. This somethin' you do fer everypony?” Granny asked.
“Actually, no,” Celestia said. “The end of things is not in my dominion. But I have a... a friend who deals in such matters, and sometimes, as a courtesy, she will give me notice when someone of significance approaches their time.”
“Significance? Hay, reckon you might've gotten the wrong pony then.” Granny grinned at the Princess. “That'd be pretty funny, right? If some old thing a couple of towns over keels over while we're here chattin', and I go right on kickin' for another twenty years?”
Celestia chuckled. “Well, not funny for the other old thing, I suppose,” she said. “But you're quite wrong, you know. About your significance.”
“Don't see how,” Granny sniffed. “AJ's the one who done saved the world all them times, not me.”
“And how did Applejack become the mare she is, hmm?” Celestia smiled. “One thing you learn when you live long enough is how to follow events back to their first causes. You founded Ponyville, Granny Smith. You learned the secrets of the zap apples, and because of your success ponies came from across Equestria to make this wonderful little town. And what kind of ponies were drawn here?
“I believe that like calls to like, that good neighbours breed good neighbours. What might Ponyville have become without your example? Without the warmth and open-heartedness of the Apple family as a guiding beacon to all those who settled here? Would it have become what it is? A place where a lonely young student could arrive and find, in the space of a single day, five courageous mares who would, for the sake of her friendship, follow her into the jaws of Tartarus? I rather doubt it. No, you mattered a great deal, Granny Smith, perhaps more than you will ever know.”
Granny blinked at the Princess. Her breathing, rarely easy these days, was becoming increasingly laboured. Her vision wavered and she struggled to focus. “The young'uns...” she whispered.
“I could give them a message, if you would like,” Celestia told her gently. Granny took a deep, shuddering breath and steadied herself.
“No,” she whispered. “I been tellin' them foals I love 'em one way or another every day since they were born. If they ain't figured it out by now they're dumber'n I think they are. Just.... are they gonna be okay?” The Princess leaned closer to her.
“I don't know the future, I'm afraid, but you have given the world three remarkable young ponies. I believe they will be much, much better than okay.” Celestia looked over Granny's shoulder at something behind her, and Granny struggled to turn her head. Her vision was fading by the second, but she thought she saw a tall, bone-white mare with a black mane, and her cutie mark was one of those funny cross thingies, an ankh was it? Granny wasn't sure, she tried to think, to...
“Take good care of this one, old friend,” Celestia said, “she's earned it.”
The old rocking chair creaked once and went still, and there was no other sound to disturb the peace except the buzzing of insects.