Neo-Confrontations
Mac waited with the cart, having cast his final bag of fertilizer and waiting for his sister to pact down her own. The day had moved both too quickly and too slowly at the same time. He'd made a proise to himself about what would happen when they got back, and he intended to keep it, regardless of how terrifying the confrontation was to him now.
He knew that he was better off in the long run. He'd had enough of Granny's passive aggressive attitude, it was going to end tonight for better or for worse.
"Phew! That's the last of it." AJ exhaled, removing some sweat from her brow. "Ah'd call that a day brother. How's about we head back fer dinner?"
"Eyup." he replied absently as the two began walking returning to the barn. AJ questioned why he hadn't said much the rest of the day and found acceptance to his decision to confront their gandmother. The two had spoken about the issue before, but Macintosh wanted her to drop the issue without him having to make her, lunch showed that hope was useless.
"Alrigh' Ah understand, jes... be careful wit' her Mac. She took it real hard when ya left. Harder than both me n' Applebloom." And he felt bad about that, but it wasn't an excuse.
As the two approached through the dusky Twilight, AJ splintered off and went to the farm house while her brother dropped off the wagon. When he'd finally unloaded the last empty bag, he turned to find the matriarchy of his family glaring at him in the redden dusk of light that spilled threw the boards of the barn.
"Applejack said ya wanted ta talk." It suited Mac well enough, better out here than where his younger sisters would see.
"Yea, the way you've been treatin' me. It's done, right now." He stared blankly and with absolution.
Granny chuckled, softly at first but it soon grew to a cackle that filled and echoed off of the wooden walls of the structure. "Oh? Is tha' how y'all think this works? Ya think yer tellin' me what to do? Colt have Ah got news fer you..."
Mac pulled his lip back, exposing his right teeth. "Ah'm not going tah argue over this with you. Ya were upset that Ah lef' n' Ah am sorry fer that, but Ah'm not puttin up with this no more."
Grinny chuckled and began to circle him. "Oh how disappointed yer ma n' pa would be if they heard ya talkin' to yer elders that way." She chuckled, though in the blink of an eye he chuckle caught in her throat as she stood looking into the furious green eyes of her grandson.
"You will NEVAH talk 'bout mah n pa tah me like that or so help me Celestia Ah will-"
"You'll do wha'?" Granny snapped, pushing her forehead against Mac's in challenge, just begging him to make a move. "Ya gonna hurt n' ol' mare? Smack me 'roun like ya did yer sister?"
Mac stepped away, anger fading to shock. She told her about that?
"Oh yea, ya think ya can pull one over on Granny Smith?" She chuckled beginning her circling again. "Colts never change, even back in my day, stallions thought they could step to mares and fillies cause they were stronger. Hitten em, beatin' em, leavin' when they were done ruttin'. Makes me sick." She spat, a slight copper ping echoed through the building as she did. "Ah tried mah best to raise you n' yer father tah be better, teach y'all the importance of family and stickin' together."
"Suppose yer pa learned. He never abandoned Blossom fer nothin', he was a fine stallion, unlike his son and his father before him."
The two stared eachother down, though Mac now had a bit of a clearer understanding of his grandmother. He'd never heard of her husband before, he had no memory of him neither. The family matriarch was always alone as far as he could recall, was it because her husband had left her? Was they why she was so hard on him? So he'd never become like that stallion?
"Y'all think yer in control, y'all want freedom to do as ya please. No consideration fer the mares you string along or impregnate." She spat again, her words tainted with disgust. Suddenly so many things made sense about her. It always made him mad how Applejack or Applebloom's punishments were far more lenient than his own, even for comparable offenses. While they had to scrub the floor or peel apple, he got the switch and hours of grueling work.
He always thought it was her way of toughening him up to help his pa in the fields, to build up his strength and discipline. He can see now the real reason, his grandmother resented him. No, she didn't really resent him, but she was... cautious of him. Just because of his sex.
"Now it all makes sense." They both turned to find Sin leaning against the barn door. "I was wondering why you made fun of colt cuddles so much. Guess you see that as stallions abandoning mares too."
"Stay outta this, Sin!" Mac barked, his patience already wearing thin. "This is Apple business."
Sin pushed off and approached the mare. "I'm just here to say my own piece and I'll be gone. You're not the only one with a grudge here."
Granny smirked. "Come fer round two, have ya?"
Mac was both confused and morbidly curious. He didn't know about those two having any conflicts.
"No, that would just be proving your point, the way you've already proven mine." He smirked as she quirked a brow. "You blame me for Mac leaving, you've admitted to that much. Yet, you still raised him, didn't you? You were right, stallions do want freedom, but so do mares. To condemn only one sex is still sexism, but I think you know that already. You just don't care."
"Jes' say what yer gettin' at colt, Ah gotta grandson tah put the beat down on." Granny snapped impatiently.
"You thought you were raising Mac to be the kind of stallion his father was. Yet he left, and it hurt you. Didn't it? It hurt you just like when Mac's grandfather left you-"
Mac recoiled from the smack that sent his friend to the ground. He was left in awe as Granny huffed and shook in anger, readying herself for another blow.
"I'm surprised I hadn't figured it out sooner." The Federalist coughed, rolling to his hooves and taking a few steps back. "Mac had told me all kinds of stories, I always just assumed you were a strict grandmother, now I can see what you really are. A bitter old spinster." He ducked as granny threw out another leg, just missing his head by an inch.
"SHUT YER MOUTH!" She yelled.
Mac wanted to help, but the emotional reaction his grandmother was giving made it all to apparent what Sin was saying was true. She did hold him beneath her because he was a male.
"I'm actually quite surprised at you. As much as I dislike you, I still pegged you for an intelligent sort. Why did you get pregnant by a stallion who wouldn't stick around?"
Granny gritted her teeth and lunged at him. This time, Sin's injuries were far less limiting and he clearly had the advantage compared to their last encounter. He jumped away from her assault and stood, waiting for her to raise again. "That was a legitimate question." He growled. "Why did you allow yourself to get-"
"AH SAID SHUT UP!" She leapt at him again, her front hoof just missing him again as he jumped away. Mac had enough and jumped to restrain his grandmother, demanding that his associate leave. "How dare ya? Let me go! Ah'm gonna make ya sorry ya ever crossed me!"
"Sin, leave!" He declared with finality.
The oaken stallion complied, sparing one last look at the marshmellow green mare before trotting off to the exist of the farm. It was probably a mistake, but he hoped that with his little stunt, Granny would give him the full blame for what Mac had done, or at least most of it. He'd exposed some very deep problems she had, and hopefully Mac could use that to reach some kind of reconcile.
It took all of his strength to hold his grandmother down, her bunned mane had fallen loose, giving her entire appearance a wild and dangerous edge as her mane flailed about that unsettled him. That mixed in with her barking for release and screaming, he'd almost thought his granny was a crazy mare.
A few minutes passed and her struggles subsided to half harted pulls and pushes against him. Finally, she'd calmed to the point she was ready to talk. "Was he righ'? Was that why you left?" She croaked in exhaustion.
Mac closed his eyes and pressed his lips. "Yes, it was."
Her emotions returned, though anger had taken a back seat to sadness this time. She was trying not to cry, but he could hear it all over her voice. "S- so Ah pushed another stallion outta mah life."
Pangs of guilt struck throughout all of Mac's body. It wasn't just her, it was his sisters too, but the blame with why they treated him so badly was all on the pony beneath him. She was responsible, no matter how bad he felt for her.
"Ah- Ah'm sorry, Mac. Ah-" She breathed sharply. "Ah never wanted ya ta leave, Ah jes- Ah wanted us ta stay a family..." Unable to stand it anymore, he switched positions and picked the not so frail elder up into an embrace. "Yer... yer grandpa, he left me. Walked out as soon as I told him ah was pregnant."
Mac shushed her, knowing that her memory must have been painful to relive, but she persisted anyways. "No, Macintosh, ya deserve to know why Ah've been so hard on you and yer father. Yer friend was righ, Ah knew he was trouble, but ah was jes so infatuated with 'em. He was a strong sort, tall and muscly like yerself. But he was a drifter, told me he'd never stay in one place fer long."
She chuckle cried. "Ah thought Ah could change 'em. Ah thought Ah could show him the good life o' settlin' down and havin' children; make him abandon the drifter life. He was a gentle heart, but full of fear and reservations, both Ah wanted so bad to go away. Ah though... Ah thought if Ah had his foal, he'd feel bound ta stay." She went quiet for a moment, as if to reminisce about such a time. "But that isn't what happened. He left the next day without so much as a goodbye."
Cringing at the thought, Mac cursed his grandfather's name. How could he do that? Up and leave a mare pregnant? It was a disgusting thing to do. Though, his grandmother disagreed, much to his most unfathomable bewilderment.
"He told me he didn't wanna stay, but Ah got pregnant in hopes o' tyin' him down." She shook her head. "I rutted him fer the sole sake of gettin pregnant, and as much fault as it was his, I was the one in the wrong fer tryin' tah manipulate him." She turned to face her grandson. "Jes like I was wrong fer tryin'a manipulate you."
"Ah, ah don't understand." Mac frowned.
Pushing herself gently from her kin, Granny stood upright and and stretched out her legs. "We mares know what happens durin' sex, we're not stupid. It's why we're so picky 'bout the stallions we rut. Sex leads to foals, don't ya know." She chuckled at her own joke. "Yer granpappy knew that too, and he told me he didn't want tah do it fer that reason. But Ah didn't care, Ah was irresponsible and instead of findin' a stallion who wanted foals with me, Ah took 'em fer myself anyways."
She shifted from light harted explanation to a more depressing one. "Guess Ah deserve what Ah got, in the end. But instead of just sufferin' mah self, ah brought yer pa down with me. It wadn't right o' me, n' Ah regretted it everyday." She took another breath before turning to face Macintosh. "Ah was never angry with you fer it, nor yer father. Ah was angry at myself fer the decision ah made that left ya'll wtihout a pa n' grandpappy. Ah was so hard on ya because ah didn't want ya to turn out like he did. Gettin' some mare pregnant n' takin' off on em." She chuckled at the irony of the situation, she'd spent so much time on Mac, yet, it was Applejack who was closer to her situation.
But it did make sense now, she was angry at herself for poor decisions made and took it out on Macintosh because she felt abandoned. What didn't make sense was her divisiveness with AJ.
"Oh don't y'all worry none, AJ got the dressing down of a lifetime when Ah saw her a few days ago." The peppy old mare he knew and loved was back, only her unkempt mane indicating her previous break down. "But Ah suppose Ah wanted to say Ah'm sorry and ask yer forgiveness for how Ah treated you. What happened wasn't yer fault n' Ah shouldn't have been so hard on ya."
Mac smiled and embraced her once again, feeling as if a three hundred pound yoke had been lifted from his shoulders. "Ah fergive you." He whispered.
It was over, he had his family back, no resentments, no passive aggressive bull crap and an understanding for the reasons that his treatment as a colt. It was over, it was finally over.