ages ago madilayn started a writing challenge thing on Tumblr … mine got sidetracked, but here it is (finally adding here too). Added a picture at the bottom that came from my headcannon just before that, and this "report" kinda sprung from that idea. Yes, there is a reason for the reporter name as I have a ficlet set around and possibly expanding the idea... well if I ever get it finished :D … hey, surely you all know me by now, I have soooo many WIPs at any one time something gets lost in the woods. ANYWAYS, My challenge was for a sports mag piece for Grandma Tracy.
2003 and a young, strawberry-blonde girl enters the ring for the first time. By the end of the day Ruth and her skewbald, Applejack, walked away with two thirds, a fourth, and a hunger for more.
The year is now 2060 and I have been lucky enough to catch a few minutes with Ruth Tracy on the ranch she owned with her late husband. A hive of activity is buzzing outside, with various people getting everything ready for tomorrows Annual Tracy Charity Rodeo. The Ranch is now run by management as, due to the tragic early demise of her daughter-in-law and the mysterious disappearance last year of her son, Jeff Tracy of Tracy Industries, 'Grandma' Tracy has had her hands full as the matriarch keeping a tight rein on the press regarding her five grandsons.
As we stroll though the stables you can sense the pure affinity for the animals has not left this diminutive, now grey-haired purple-clad woman. She knows every horse by name and by the time we get to the last stall I feel I know the personality of every creature in far greater detail than any expose has ever given about the Tracy brothers.
Finally we get to Mrs Tracy's own steed for tomorrow. 'Apple Bloom' is painted on the door. "She is the great-great-great granddaughter of my first pony. Yes, I did name them after those toy Ponies from my youth. She's the first filly ever produced by his line, and has already added to my haul of wins."
Yes you did read that correctly, Ruth Tracy is taking part as well. She may have several more moons under her belt since she first started to compete, but, as she herself stated with a grin of glee, "It's not my first rodeo!" As a septuagenarian she won't be the oldest to ever compete at this charity event… at least not yet, keep an eye on this space in a couple of years though, because I'm sure we'll be back for her to break that record.
She directs my attention to the battered old shoe box she has brought with her. I was given the privilege to look though the rosettes of every colour (the majority of them firsts), dozens of old photographs spanning 60 years. Every ribbon and picture has it's own accompanying story. Amazingly she even has physical photos from the last couple of decades because "You young ones have only lived digitally. There is just something about holding a real photograph that a hologram just can't match."
The times have changed slightly since the fresh-faced girl first stepped into the ring.
There are several more rosettes sure to be added to the shoebox in the wardrobe before this formidable woman hangs up her saddle, and I know who I'll be having a flutter on for the barrel race.
- Emeline Phillips