Far From The Tree
I’d spent nearly half a day trying to get my head on straight. And while Dash might’ve laughed at that particular turn of phrase — circumstances being what they were — the fact remained that I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
I hadn’t expected there’d be a fuss, honest. We’re family, ain’t we? Apples to the core. And it’s not as if Rarity was some no-good golddigger or somesuch. Granny knew her! Why she’d been over to the homestead dozens of times. Granny knew she was a good sort, didn’t she? Then why did she…why would she…
I sighed. Walkin’ in circles like this, I was bound to wear a groove in the floor. Or in my own head, at least. The kitchen was empty. Rarity had gone home, of course, and Big Mac had gotten it into his head to take Applebloom out for ice cream with her friends. He didn’t say it in so many words, but I think he knew that Granny and I needed a chance to talk. And if it came to yellin’...well, there was no need for a filly to hear all that.
Maybe it was just a shock, I thought to myself again. That’s all. Granny’s just getting older and she’s not fit for surprises no more-
I stopped walking. But she wasn’t so shocked when Mac told us he was datin’ Sugar Belle, so…
I sighed. So maybe it was what I’d been suspecting from the first. Maybe Granny wasn’t keen on…well…certain things not found in the Scriptures.
It hurt my heart to think that. More than that, it hurt me to think of Rarity. I could see it with my mind’s eye. I’d told everypony that Rarity was coming by for brunch - Granny hadn’t had no problem with it! We served up apple cobbler and pie and some nice juicy corn with butter; the whole works. Rarity kept smilin’ at me all along, ‘cause she knew I was gonna announce it. But I was waiting for the right time, was all. I thought they’d all be pleased as peach to learn that I’d finally found somepony.
Oh, I knew I might get a ribbing. “Oh Rarity, did they run out of fancy ponies? Well, that’s a cryin’ shame.” But it’d all be in good fun, wouldn’t it? Truth is they’d be happy for me, because I was happy.
But when the moment came…when I’d taken Rarity’s hoof in mine and told them all that we were datin’...Granny Smith got really quiet like. Mac had smiled and said that’s what he’d been expectin’, while Applebloom started talking up a storm about how Sweetie Belle was gonna be her cousin soon enough (“Hold on, Sugarcube. We haven’t exactly picked a ring yet.”), but as time went on I couldn't help but notice Granny Smith just sitting there, real quiet like. She tried to smile once or twice, but…it didn’t look none too convincing.
And after a bit, everypony else got quiet too. In a moment we were all lookin’ at her, waitin’ for her to say something.
Rarity spoke up. “It’s, uh…good news, don’t you think? I mean honestly, I don’t know what she sees in me sometimes, but we’re really quite happy-”
“-I need to go.” Granny said, and then she slowly walked up the stairs to her room.
So here I was, half a day later, thinking to myself that I just couldn't stall any longer.
I walked up the stairs. I knocked on her door.
“Granny Smith?” I called. “I expect this’ll be a mite might difficult for ya, but we need to talk.”
Her voice was clipped and hoarse, as if she’d been crying. “Come in.”
I found her sitting on her bed, holding a picture frame in her hooves.
“Granny-” I started out. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, even now. “Granny, you made my marefriend right upset today at brunch. She didn’t do nothin’ to deserve that from you. She is the loveliest mare I ever laid eyes on, and you treated her like...like a field fulla weeds!”
She flinched at that remark, and I took a moment to breathe.
“Granny, I don’t want to be mad at you. But you hafta understand what this means to me, don’t ya? When Big Mac brought Sugar Belle home you were crowin’ like a rooster all over town about it. But when I bring home a mare-”
She slammed the picture onto the bedside table face-down, and turned her head to the side. Her breaths were coming in quick, and it looked like she was fixin’ to cry.
I lowered my voice again. “Granny…do you think that Rarity is a bad sort?”
She shook her head, still not lookin’ at me.
“Granny…is it the fact that she’s a mare? Is that it?”
She paused. She nodded.
I felt my blood slowly starting to boil. Of all the things on this green earth, I never thought my own kin would be so….
No. No shoutin’. Not yet, at least.
“You just…maybe you just don’t understand. I feel the same way about Rarity that you felt about Grandpa Crisp.”
“I don’t think so,” she whispered.
I staggered. “Yes, I do. Yes, I DO, Granny Smith! And if you think-”
She turned. “That’s not what I meant-”
“-that I’m gonna stand for-”
“Applejack, please, I didn’t mean-”
“This kind of-”
“I’M LIKE YOU!”
The room turned deathly quiet. My eyes went wide. Granny was lookin’ away again, crying. She tapped the face-down picture with one hoof. “Look at it,” she sobbed.
I took the picture in my hooves and slowly turned it over. It was a mare I’d never seen before.
“See…” she mumbled, “I know you don’t feel the way about Rarity that I felt about your grandpa. ‘Cause if you did…” she looked at me. “If you did, you wouldn’t be dating her.”
“Granny…you don’t mean to tell me that…are you a…”
“Your grandpa was a good stallion, you hear? He did everything he could for me. There were just…certain things…he couldn’t do. I didn’t tell him for near 30 years. And by then she was long gone. Went off to Manehatten. One day my letters just start coming back, unopened. And what could I do? Start over? At my age?”
She looked me right in the eyes. “I wasn’t brave like you.”
I didn’t say a word. I just held her close while she cried.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I am. I’ll apologize to your marefriend. It’s just that…when I heard you was dating a mare, I -”
“It’s ok, Granny.”
“-I just…I just kept thinkin’ about Golden Dawn and all she’d meant to me…”
“I’m here, I’m here now.”
“We kissed in the orchard. She begged me not to marry him…”
“It’s alright, granny. It’s ok. You don’t have to hide. You don’t have to hide no more.”
After a long while of crying, she whispered to me again, her small frame still shaking with sobs.
“You have a beautiful marefriend, Applejack. I’m happy for you. I truly am. Just promise me you’ll give her all the love she deserves. Don’t hold back, ya hear? Don’t hold back.”
“I promise, Granny. I promise.”
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Sweet, sad story with a nice twist. Good subversion of expectations.
Poor Granny Smith. To know you wasted away your life in a loveless marriage and it's too late to start over. That's almost tragic.
Good story. Fav!
Real good the second time around too, a real punch in the heart.
There's so much to like about this story and I'd say you handled the subject masterfully.
Just wanna leave a note for Granny; it's never too late.
Wow, I wasn't expecting that. Bravo, you manged to hit where it hurts.
This hurt. Didn’t go where I expected it to. Impactful fic. The AN hurt. Because I’m in that exact position.
11308438
You're in Granny's position? That's so sad! =(
Ya know...I was thinking of writing a sequel called "It's never too late". I hope you can be free soon.
11308502
I can’t be freed :grim, cracked smile:
Of the AN. Granny’s would kill me. Tho I will be soon in hers. Ik
11308517
Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "the AN".
Why can't you be freed? =(
11308524
AN - end author note. Can’t cuz a) religion, which I’m not intent on leaving for this reason (I’ll get used to it tho it won’t feel natural to be attracted to the other sex in a normal, established married way). B) parents, cant tell em. They don’t know tho they prob suspect that I’m a bit different because I don’t have any irl male crushes (I’m an only child so they have no experience with this, religion is homophonic and they’ve spoken of people who’ve turned up in their family as such and LGBTQIA+ with disdain sooo).
11308530
I think a non-homophobic version of your religion would suit you much better. (Or just give up religion entirely.)
I wrote this post years ago. I wonder if it might be relevant to you: https://sonicsuns.tumblr.com/post/46511826842/i-think-i-might-be-a-homosexual-but-being-gay-is
It's possible that your parents will change their minds at some point. Of course, it's also possible that they won't. I know a guy who moved out, then came out, and his parents basically disowned him. But he's never regretted it.
Give it some thought.
11308535
Thing is for me. There’s no other version. And I’m not gonna give it up. It’s not that simple. I’m not Christian. You basically revoke your status (ye my parents would disown me) if you act upon your desires (i see male-female relationships as normal (if they actually are compatible), not for myself, though yes I find it unfair that they’re allowed to do everything and we can’t do anything). This fic isn’t the right place to discuss, maybe I could DM to continue but basically the desire isn’t the issue. The act is. And I won’t act on it even though I want it. (I read the post). And as controversial as this sounds, my god knows best so I will do what is ordained.
11308530
Speaking from personal experience, being with who/what you're attracted to really isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Sure it's nice and all. But nice only goes so far.
Relationships are far more complicated and more work than anyone wants to admit to them being.
11308617
Yes. That’s precisely another one of my reasons. Ik I can’t really say anything cuz I’ve never dated or had a bf/gf. But (again) only allowed to marry someone (can’t date, experiment, have sex before marriage—so what knowledge do I have to say who I’m attracted to. For all I know it could fade. And I hope it does when I marry (I could always choose not to, but a) I want to and b) parents would (not exactly forcefully, but strongly) want me to). It’s just a dream. It’s something you (I mean me) strongly desire but know it wouldn’t work out. Relationships effort either way. (The compatible part of the og comment meant as if they both put effort into the relationship)
This subverted my expectations in a really good way. Nice job. Short, but still good.
This was short, but damn it hit me in the feels. Well done.
Okay this was actually amazing, I really hope to see more from you in the future.
11308920
Thank you! =)
Ouch! Right in the feels.
Somehow this story, as short as it is, conveyed so much.
That's a real good story. Really tears at the heart strings and gets ya when you least expect it.
Saw that one coming. Unfortunate, but you reap what you sow
And may there be no more who are not allowed to love who they wish to love.
Thanks for this masterpiece. The brevity of the story is more than enough to convey the tragedy spawned from ancient conventions, a story too long to be told with a million words but short enough to be written within a thousand.
Good job, Sonicsuns. Keep it up.
That A/N... it hits hard since I'm in the same position. Amazing job, and I hope to see more from you in the future.
11309307
Thank you for the compliment, but I'm sad to hear that you're in the same position! What's holding you back? Family? Religion? The laws where you live? (DM me if you prefer.)
I'm glad you found the bronies, at least. And I hope you can be free soon!
Broken my heart, take the upvote, I wish I could give more.
Wholesome in a sad way
11309415
I'm American and live in America, but my parents are conservative Indian Hindus. Most of my family is also in India. Even though there's nothing in Hinduism that states that homosexuality or being trans is a sin (in fact, there a pair of lesbian warriors and a trans one along with many others), colonialism brought that mindset to India and therefore my parents both despise queer people. They found out I was queer once, it didn't end well.
Very well written.
11310407
I'm sorry to hear that it didn't end well =(
Would it be possible for you to pursue your chosen relationships even without your parents' consent?
11310428
I'm only in middle school, I'm not too concerned about relationships yet. It's more about my gender.
And hey, like you said I've got MLP and the internet. I can wait a couple more years.
11310437
Ah, so you don't fit with the gender and/or gender role you've been assigned to? What in particular doesn't work for you? What do you think you might prefer?
I encourage you to experiment if you can, and take your time as you figure out what works for you. Try not to shame yourself.
Man for what it is it's well written with a good emotional punch at the end
A good story. It did feel a bit rushed. Could have drawn out the tension a bit more.
I've finally recorded reading this for an audiobook version. I did make a bit of an attempt to find voice actors, but couldn't, this this will just be me reading it and imitating Applejack imitating Granny Smith, hopefully passably.
11309424
*hugs*
11360565
Hey, thanks for this! Sorry it took so long to thank you.
11539375
Wow! Thanks for the link! =)
The further into the story I got, the more I started to hope you were gonna do the thing.
And then you did the thing. :D
11589792
I'm glad you liked it! =)
11308535
It's a big misconception that Christianity is homophobic. Homosexuals are accepted the same way the rest of the human race is. The problem is that most people don't know how to read the Bible or don't read the whole thing. We're all already sinners at birth, so how does being gay change anything? The only question is if homosexuality is a conscious choice or not.
11593667
There are many denominations of Christianity, and only some of them accept homosexuality. Try asking a Catholic priest to preside over the wedding of two women and see what he says.
>The problem is that most people don't know how to read the Bible or don't read the whole thing.
What part of the Bible says "It's ok for two women to marry each other"?
>We're all already sinners at birth, so how does being gay change anything?
The question is not "are you a sinner?". The question is "Is it sinful to do gay things?"
The BIble says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god. The Bible also condemns specific activities as sinful, such as murder. What does the Bible have to say about homosexual activities?
Could’ve sworn I read this. Apparently I didn’t.
All I can say is that wow that A/N hurt. I’m lucky, there hasn’t been much active resistance against me from the people who know I’m trans, but that’s just it. The people who know. It’s really as simple as being unable to wear a skirt when seeing my grandparents. It’s still rough. There are people in history who are like Granny Smith was in this story, Cole Porter (my Indiana rep) was one of them, and it sucks learning that people, ponies, had to do this.
It’s a little easier to break out of this situation now, but only a little. We still have quite a while to go.
11657544
We do have a ways to go =(
I'm glad you've been lucky. Thanks for reading. *hugs*
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!