Granny's Gone, Old Man Anon

>Wiping the sweat from your forehead, you push your lawnmower back into the shed after another hard day's work
>You were getting too fucking old for this shit
>One of the few pride and joys you had in your senior years was your immaculately maintained property
>It was a lot of effort to keep up with nowadays when your joints were constantly aching and you had trouble breathing, but you didn't have anyone else to do it
>Paying one of the local kids to work for you only lasted a week or two before the little weak-willed chumps quit on you
>None of them could handle a little motivational yelling, apparently
>They screwed up enough to deserve it, but according to these pansy ponies you were too harsh a task-master
>You would get by on your own, though
>Just like you've done for over fifty years since you landed in this ridiculous horse world
>Grabbing your cooler, you start another time honoured tradition that you've done for decades
>Relaxing on your porch with a beer once your work is done
>When you got here the beer was absolute pisswater, but you taught a decent sized brewery how to make the good stuff and got a nice cut of the profits on top of it
>That and a few other ideas you sold had you sitting pretty for cash
>Sweet Apple Acres even bribed you with the bit of their land you built your house on to help them with their cider
>It was a pretty nice deal, but there was one annoying, wrinkly dark spot
>Here she comes now, waddling out to her own porch on the house nearby like clockwork
>You give Granny Smith your best scathing glare as she settles into her rocker
>"Howdy, Anon. Enjoying the view?" She shoots you a toothless grin as she speaks in her country twang
"Not likely. Your ass is just so gigantic that it's impossible to see anything else."
>She cackles before taking a sip of her own drink
>Probably the cider that the two of you spent hours perfecting back in the day

>As much as it might pain you to admit it, that was probably your best alcoholic recipe, in no small part thanks to the Apples
>"Ya seem grumpier than usual. I didn't think it was possible for you to frown any harder."
>You scoff and roll your eyes at her
"Youngsters today are no use at all. I have to damn near kill myself working on my house and yard because none of these wimpy kids can do it."
>Amusement and exasperation show in equal amounts on her expression
>"Maybe if ya didn't scare 'em off with yer hollerin', they'd stick around."
"Bah, little brats need to grow a spine."
>Looking at you in annoyance, she shakes her head
>"Yer a hard-headed, no sense havin' idjit. Ya know that?"
"And you're an ugly, decrepit old hag."
>Insults sufficiently traded, the two of you sit and drink in silence as you watch the late afternoon sun fall slowly toward the horizon
>Sometimes the younger Apples would pass into view while they worked on the orchard
>Ever since they were born you've been watching them grow up until they all became fine young adults
>Though you didn't spend much time with them, you did keep an eye on them when they were kids
>Since their parents had passed away when they were little, you had taken to being the one to set them straight when they got out of hand
>It was a shame such good folk had to die so young
>You think they'd be proud of how their children turned out, though, and you give yourself no small amount of credit for that
>The creak of a rocking chair interrupted your thoughts
>"Time to start dinner. Try not to keel over before one of the youngsters brings ya some, ya dusty old coot."
"If it'd get me away from your horrible nagging, I just might."
>Giving you one last cackling laugh she hauls herself up and goes inside
>"Don't make me any promises!" she hollers out just before the door swings closed behind her

>Left by yourself again, you drink away the last daylight hours of the day until you get that food brought to you
>Meals made by the Apples are always incredible
>You finish up your evening after you eat, doing not much of anything before it's finally late enough to call it a night
>As you're settling in to sleep, you're roused from your bed by a cluster of stomping around and yelling from the house next door
>Odd, since things are usually quiet at night
>Peeking out the window, you see the lights of the house on and figures of the ponies inside zipping back and forth
>Soon enough the door bursts open and by the light of the moon you can make out Applejack running down the dirt path as fast as she can
>Whatever it is you're sure they can deal with it
>Muttering to yourself in annoyance about getting up over nothing, you slip back into bed and quickly fall asleep
~*~
>You adjust your always present Stetson hat as you stand in solemn silence with Applebloom and Big Mac
>Everypony knew that it had to happen eventually, but Granny's heart finally giving out was still a shock
>It had taken a lot of work to organise the funeral since pretty much all of the Apple family and a lot of the townsfolk wanted to be there to say their goodbyes
>Even Princess Celestia had come by to say a few words
>Granny would have been happy to see so many people showing their love for her, you think
>Though it was odd that old Mr. Anon had been sitting on his porch and watching the service the whole time
>Him and Granny had been at each other's throats for as long as you could remember
>The only times they weren't fighting was when Mr. Anon came over to discipline one of us after Ma and Pa passed away
>It still made you cringe when you remembered the loud, angry, and very harsh talking down that you got whenever you stepped too far out of line and a stern talk from Granny wasn't enough

>You have to admit you don't know how much worse Applebloom's foalhood antics would have been without Mr. Anon setting her straight
>Just the threat of fetching him had become enough to scare you all back into behaving when you were young
>Shaking off the old memories, you take your place by the coffin and help carry it over to the grave right next to Ma and Pa
>Tears sting your eyes as you lower her down and watch somepony fill in the dirt over her
>Applebloom leans against Big Mac as she cries, and you do the same, the three of you holding each other up through the hurt
>Ponies all come by to give you their condolences and then they slowly start to file out until it's just you, Mac, and Applebloom left
>You can't help but think how this is exactly like when your parents died, with all of you left wondering how you're going to deal with the painful absence in your lives
>With how lost in thought you are, you don't notice Mr. Anon walking up until he's almost next to you
>He's carrying a small bouquet of Granny's favourite flower which he lays on the headstone
>The sight of cranky old Mr. Anon doing something so nice warms your heart
>Until he opens his mouth
>"Useless fat old hag. Couldn't even put enough effort in to stay alive, you lazy, senile lump."
>Shouldn't have expected him to change his stripes so easily
>You see Applebloom getting furious
>"Hey! You can't talk about mah granny like that! Not when she's..."
>She trails off and you notice her lip quiver as she looks down at the ground in misery
>"Yeah, she's dead. Just because she's rotting in the ground doesn't mean I'll change the way I talk about the annoying shrew."
>Applebloom sniffles at that
>You're not sure why Mr. Anon came by if he was only going to insult Granny
>"Who the hell am I going to yell at for being stupid now? None of these other wimpy ponies can take it. Damn her worthless ass."

>He was just upset that he didn't have someone to insult anymore?
>Glaring, you step forward
"Now see here-"
>Big Mac interrupts you as he reaches up to put a hoof on Mr. Anon's back
>"We're all gonna miss her."
>You notice Mr. Anon's hands are shaking and from his expression he seems just as lost as the rest of you
>It dawns on you that he was hurting as much as the rest of you
>Maybe him and Granny were closer than you realised, but they just showed it a different way
>Mr. Anon looks up at the sky
>"Hm. Looks like it's starting to rain."
>There isn't a cloud in the sky, and you're even more confused when Big Mac chimes in
>"Eeyup."
>When you glance back at Mr. Anon, you're shocked to see tears streaming silently down his face
>You don't remember ever seeing him cry before
>Wordlessly you move to his side and press against him, and Applebloom does the same on Big Mac's side
>All of you had each other to lean on, and if you had that, you knew everypony would be okay