A cool breeze blew through the streets of the town of Canterlot, and the sun shone brightly overhead, creating an overall pleasant afternoon. Now, his was a town where, on most days, people would expect it to be abuzz with activity. But that was not today. Today, there was barely anyone around. Very few shops were open and the few people about on the street were quiet and reserved. Gone was the usual energy of this town, replaced instead by a feeling of sobriety, of calmness. Silence was the noise of the day, and nowhere was this more evident than on the outskirts of town. There, in that place, lay no vast field for busy activity, nor was it a place of social gatherings. No, this place was solemn, melancholic. This place, was a graveyard. Now, most towns would have one, but Canterlot, being as bright and cheerful a place as it was, was usually considered too jovial for there to be such a place. And yet, there it was.

As one would expect in a location like this one, there were very few people about. There was the groundskeeper of course, making his way from spot to spot, making sure everything was in order. There were a few visitors to family tombstones, all looking as sombre as they should be, given the locale. And finally, near the far end of the place there was a lone girl. Applejack, of Canterlot High. The girl stood alone here, holding her famous Stetson in one hand, looking down at a very old headstone, which was engraved with the name “Apple”. Her expression was both one of familiarity and melancholy, as she gently placed her hand upon the thing. She said no words, merely letting out a deep sigh. Patting the stone somewhat, a smile crept onto her face as she gave a nod to it, after which she placed her hat upon her head before turning, ready to leave. However, as she made her way, she began to hear someone speaking some distance away.

“…and then, they grew wings! Can you believe it?! I swear, it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen!”

Those words piqued the farm girl’s interest immediately, and she began to scour the area for whoever had spoken. Her search did not take long, however, as she caught sight of a very familiar head of green hair not so far away. Lemon Zest, from Crystal Prep, was also here, standing beside a similar headstone. She was talking to it, as though its occupant was right there alongside her, bearing a look not of sadness, but of the kind of relaxed expression one hand when around friends or family. Curiosity starting to grip her, Applejack began to make her way over. She knew this was most likely a private moment, and yet, she felt the need to at least say “hello” while the girl was here. After walking for a few moments, she was close enough to Lemon, and so cleared her throat. Immediately, the sound caught her attention, and she turned, catching sight of Applejack instantly, leading to a wide smile on her face.

“Hey there, AJ! Wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Tipping her hat slightly, Applejack smiled, albeit in a smaller manner than Lemon, before speaking up again.

“Likewise, friend.”

Nodding, Lemon turned to the stone beside her.

“Where are my manners? AJ, this is my Great-Grandfather.”

Applejack looked from the stone, back to Lemon’s smiling face, and then back to the stone again, before letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Um…nice ta meet ya, Sir.”

Lemon giggled a little at that.

“I was just visiting him. How bout you? Got someone here?”

To that, Applejack’s smile faded a little, but she nevertheless nodded in response.

“Yeah.”

Turning, Applejack pointed off in the direction her own stone had been in.

“That there is mah Great-Grandpa. Usually its mah whole family comin, but they all got called away on other stuff, so it’s just me here this year.”

Lemon nodded at that before looking back to the nearby stone.

“Same here. Me and Gramps here talk every year. Well…technically only I talk, but you get the drift.”

A small chuckle escaped Applejack at that, and her expression softened somewhat.

“Yeah.”

However, in the silence that followed, Applejack watched as Lemon stared at the stone, looking upon it with a sweet smile upon her face. Minute after minute of this silence carried on, and all the while, a question formed in the mind of the farm girl. She knew what she wanted to ask, but was hesitant to do so. Thankfully for her, Lemon almost seemed to be able to read her mind on this, and turned to face her, her expression a touch more serious than it usually was.

“If you wanna know…it was the war.”

Applejack, though somewhat stunned by her forwardness, nevertheless shook herself out of it in time to give back a nod of acknowledgement, leading to Lemon continuing to speak.

“Yours?”

Looking back to her own stone, Applejack let out a sigh before looking back to Lemon.

“Same.”

Lemon nodded, but still kept her smile as she did so.

“Well…we got that in common at least.”

Looking right at her, Applejack pondered on that point for a moment, studying Lemon’s smiling face carefully for a few moments before, finally, speaking up on something that had been bothering her for some time now.

“Lemon…ah just don’t get ya.”

Naturally, the Crystal Prep girl gained a look of confusion at that, prompting Applejack to explain herself.

“Ah mean…ya go to a place as stuffy as Crystal Prep, surrounded by a whole bunch of stuck up stick-in-the-muds, ya even visit places like this every year, and yet…yer still just as chipper as ever.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Ah mean no offense, but…how can ya be?”

Lemon stared at her in silence for a while, thinking over what had just been said to her. But, after a few moments of waiting, Applejack found, to her surprise, that Lemon actually started laughing, leading to a slight frown on Applejack’s part. Seeing this, Lemon shook her head a little.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to make fun of you or anything. It’s just…if I had to give a reason, it’s actually because of places like this that I am this way.”

Needless to say, Applejack didn’t look like she understood, and so, after another brief giggle from Lemon, she began to explain.

“It’s just…my Grandpa…well…this is his Dad laying here. Did I ever tell you about Grandpa?”

Seeing Applejack shake her head, Lemon continued.

“Well…trust me when I say that he’s probably the least serious guy you could ever meet. Always telling a joke, always pulling some kind of prank. And when I was a little girl, I asked him…Grandpa, why are you always like this?”

A nostalgic look crossed Lemon’s face as she carried on speaking.

“When I asked that…he stopped smiling for the first time in all the time I’d known him. He thought about it for a moment and got into his chair, asking me to sit on his knee.”

Turning, Lemon started to circle around the headstone as she continued.

“And he told me…Lemon…we only have one life. And because we only have one…we have to enjoy it. We have to live it. No matter what little things come along to try and make us sad or down…we can’t let that get to us.”

Looking back up to Applejack, Lemon’s smile faded a little.

“Then…he started talking about his Dad here. He went on about how brave he was, how selfless. And all of it…just to make sure other people, his family…could go on. He…and everyone else here…”

With one hand, she gestured to the rest of the graveyard around them, all the headstones standing in row upon row, like the soldiers they once were.

“…they fell because they fought to make sure we had this one life to live. They wanted us to have free lives…good lives…happy lives. They wouldn’t have wanted us to feel bad…even when standing in places like this.”

Lowering her arm, she looked right back at Applejack, still smiling.

“Grandpa Dissy told me then…always remember those brave people, Lemon. And always live your life to its fullest…because there are so many…who never came back to do the same.”

To say Applejack was stunned by those words would have been a great understatement, as she stood there now with her mouth gaping open, staring at Lemon as she finally stopped speaking. The green-haired girl looked down at her stone, placing a gentle hand upon it affectionately, as if she’d actually known and met the man buried below. But, after some time, Applejack shook herself out of this state, putting on a small smile of her own.

“Yer Grandpa sounds like a pretty wise fella.”

At that, Lemon let out a brief giggle.

“He’s a total doofus! But…he knows what he’s talking about. And that’s what really matters.”

Letting out a sigh, Lemon looked right up into Applejack’s eyes.

“I am the way I am because of people like my Great-Grandpa. Everything he did, and gave up…everything they all gave up…was so we could live our lives with smiles on our faces. And I will be damned if I don’t embrace that gift.”

A silence fell between them once more, but this time, it was one caused not by discomfort, but of simple surprise. The girl so often looked on by Applejack and others and being the most carefree, coming out and speaking like she had. It was a shock to say the least. But, in the end, she put on a smile once more, nodding in acknowledgement of what her companion had said. Lemon nodded back, and soon she was looking upon her Great-Grandfather’s stone yet again. After thinking over what had been said, Applejack, placing a single hand upon her hip, finally spoke up.

“What do ya think…a minute’s silence?”

Lemon looked to her, thinking that over for a moment, before breaking out into a smirk.

“What the Heck! Let’s give em five!”