As the sun began to set towards the horizon, Granny Smith couldn't help but smile. It had been a busy day, but now she had a chance to relax. And relax she did, sitting quietly by herself upon the bench in her back yard, she stared warmly at the beautiful sky, enjoying the sounds of the birds tweeting their evening songs. In her hand was a simple cool glass of water, and she was sure to take several sips of it as soon as her mouth started getting dry. It was a calm, relaxing and, most importantly, quiet moment. But, sadly, that long quiet didn't last forever, as Granny's ears picked up the all-too familiar sound of a cat meowing. However, this was no bad thing to her, as a smile soon crept onto her lips, and she turned towards the direction of the sound. Sure enough, a woman about her age was there, smiling right back at her, and holding an adorable-looking cat in her arms. Silently, Granny scooted to one side, allowing the newcomer to take a seat beside her, and once the latter was down, the former finally spoke up.

"Glad ta see ya made it, cousin."

The other woman gave a brief chuckle.

"Oh, you know me, Granny, I never pass up a chance to enjoy a beautiful sunset."

Granny, still smiling, reached over to a nearby table beside the bench, picking up a second glass of water and handing it to her guest. The other woman accepted it, smiling wider as a result, before taking a nice and refreshing gulp of her drink. Granny herself, leaning back into her side of the bench, let out a long sigh, before once again speaking.

"Ya know, Golden...it's kinda funny."

Golden Delicious, after wiping away a few stray drops of water from her lips, looked to her relative with curiosity.

"Oh? What?"

Silence passed, and Granny appeared thoughtful for a time.

"When you, me an' the other girls were all young, we used ta say we were always the bees' knees. We'd get in trouble, cause all sorts o' ruckus about town..."

Another chuckle escaped her.

"It seemed like there'd never again be a group o' gals like us."

After taking in a deep breath, the old woman exhaled, sounding partly relaxed, but also, to a small extent, resigned to something.

"An' then...ah think o' mah granddaughter."

Golden raised an eyebrow.

"Applejack?"

Granny nodded in confirmation.

"Eyup. She an' her friends are always out an' about, gettin' themselves into scrapes an' japes an' adventures. They go way past anythin' we ever did."

Here, it was Golden's turn to laugh, and she reached over, giving her friend a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Oh, Smithy...you're not saying you're jealous of them, are you?"

Granny matched her laugh, and she waved her off, shaking her head slightly in the process.

"Nah...nah...but ah sometimes wonder... where did it all go?"

She leaned further into the bench, looking more and more thoughtful as time went on.

"The time? One minute, yer young, hoppin' about town feelin' invincible like yer life'd stretch out forever...an' the next? The next...yer out on a bench, with the most excitin' thing bein' the chance ta listen ta a few birds."

The birds in question, as though insulted by such words, turned up their beaks in their respective trees, before promptly flying away, much to Granny's slight amusement. Golden, by contrast, looked to her old friend with a raised eyebrow, leaning in closer and speaking with more than a little incredulity in her tone.

"Oh? Because I heard not so long ago of a supposedly retired bus lady taking a joy-ride with the girls and getting into all sorts of trouble."

Granny, hearing that, allowed the memory of that day to sink in, and a knowing smirk crept onto her face.

"Yeah...that was a good day. Ah tell ya, Golden, ah felt alive when ah was doin' that!"

Another chuckle was heard from her soon afterwards.

"It reminded me of mah old bus-drivin' days, ya know, when ah'd always get in trouble fer givin' the students a real shortcut ta school every mornin'?"

Again, Golden laughed.

"I remember. I still like to think back to the look on Principal Sombra's face whenever he had to give you a talking to."

She again placed her hand upon Granny's shoulder.

"His face became so red that it looked like a tomato!"

The two, understandably, shared a laugh to that memory, but when the laughter eventually died down, they both let out simultaneous sighs. While clearly feeling content in this moment, they soon elected to go for their respective glasses of water, enjoying the last few gulps of that cooling liquid before speaking up again.

"Ah don' know, Goldie...ah look ta AJ an' her friends...an' ah jus' miss those days. That was us, once upon a time."

Golden turned to her, raising her eyebrow slightly.

"Oh? I don't ever remember going around town fighting monsters and wielding magic powers. Either you're over-glorifying the past, or my memory is getting worse than I thought in my old age."

The two shared another laugh to that, creating yet more good feeling between them, but again, as the laughter stopped, Granny gave a slow nod of her head.

"Ah know, ah know, maybe we weren't quite as adventurous as the new girls."

Slowly, a smile crept further onto her lips.

"But maybe...maybe ah should be happier fer em."

Golden looked to her with curiosity, prompting Granny to elaborate.

"Ah mean...we thought we were spirited back then...but these girls? They go above an' beyond in a way we never did! Makes me glad the next generation ain't gettin' too peaceful, ya know?"

Understanding what her friend was getting at, Golden matched her smile, and with her still-empty glass in hand, she raised it. Granny, seeing this, smiled back to her, raising her own glass, and together, the two elderly ladies gently clinked them against one another.

"To the next generation. May they be ever crazy and wild."

Granny chuckled.

"Ah'll drink ta that!"

A pause.

"Well...as soon as ah get another drink that is."

Golden laughed, but then, took on a thoughtful look of her own.

"Do you ever wonder how things might have been if we ever had magic powers at their age?"

Granny snorted.

"Girl, don't kid yerself! If you an' me had powers back then, there'd be nothin' left o' Canterlot at all!"

Golden blinked, then shrugged her shoulders in a display of begrudging acknowledgement.

"Yeah...good point."