Chapter One
SOCIAL STANDARDS
By RadaVonVon
Chapter One
I can still remember the first time I had the slightest inkling that I might be different than everypony else. It was a silly thing. Cousin MacIntosh and Cousin Applejack had come to visit Appleoosa one summer. It was a really hot one, the kind of summer that makes you feel sticky all over, and want to jump into a pool of ice water. The kind of summer where you’d do anything to get some relief, whether that meant eating something cold, or going swimming, pouring cold water on your head. I’ve seen ponies do crazy things because of the heat.
The dusty streets of Appleoosa were unkind to the sinuses in the summer, and tourist ponies were prone to nosebleeds because of the dry air. One time, I got one. Even though it was one time, my mother panicked, she acted like I was dying or something of the sort. Blood dripped around the floor while she struggled to find a towel.
We were even more of a frontier town back then than we are now, but, for whatever reason, ponies insisted on coming and visiting, though they always seemed to regret their decision to come, and left straightaway. It seemed this was always the case, nopony ever was really truly happy. They always wanted something else, once they had gotten what they first wanted.
Where the initial appeal was, I had not a clue. Appleoosa was a good town to me, she was my home and I was proud of her. I wasn't afraid to show that. But, for some reason, some ponies just loved to show up, acting all excited to be in the frontier and see the orchards, but unless they were like AJ and Mac, they'd always leave after a day or two.
Now, Applejack, when she was younger, was always really wishy-washy about stuff. One minute, she liked the color blue, the next minute, she liked green, then she liked purple, then red. She just couldn’t make up her mind, which, I guess, is why she ran off with those Orange relatives of ours. I’d never met them, but they must have been real nice folks to let her stay there like that.
Applejack liked to argue. That never changed. Even if she knew she was wrong, she'd keep fighting and struggling. You liked green, she liked blue. You liked cake, she liked pie. She'd even go so far as to change her opinion for five minutes just to fight.
Big Mac didn’t really change in his base personality as he grew older. He was always a big, gentle giant. The guy was smarter than he let off. Other people’s opinions just weren’t all that important to him, I guess, which I think is better than always worrying what others think about you. When you asked him something, he'd think for a second, then answer with either 'eeyup' or 'nnnope', and that was that.
The two contrasted more than black and white. Applejack hotheaded and Big Mac was always so cool and collected, not wanting to rush into anything and making decisions after a lot of thought and consideration. Applejack, though, that filly was aggressive and acted only on her impulses.
The year that Mac and AJ came to Appleoosa, their Momma was still pregnant with Applebloom. That was a real tragedy. The two parents were great, and they raised some brilliant foals, but a few years after Applebloom was born, they got in this accident with their apple cart, and they didn't make it out.
That was the low point of our lives, I think. An eye-opener for all of us. Losing Uncle Johnny and Auntie Appleseed caused me to think more about my own life and my family. My father’s name was Green Delicious, and my mother was Apple Blossom. Auntie Appleseed and my mother were sisters, their mother being Granny Smith.
My pops was a nice guy, and that’s how I’d always like to remember him. He was an honest, hard-working stallion. Simple. He had a black mane and a grey coat. Half the time, he was so soaked with sweat that his coat even looked black. He was one of the original settlers of Appleoosa, as I got to hear about hundreds of times. Even if he was a nice guy, you could almost never make him mad. If you got him mad, though, he’d be the scariest damn thing to ever leap out of your nightmares. Screaming, hollering, shouting. You name it, my dad was doing it if he was mad enough.
My mom was a whole new story, though. Tiny little thing, but the most beautiful mare in all of Appleoosa. Long, gold mane that spilled across her ears and neck and shoulders like rivers, and the prettiest orange coat you’d ever see. I swear, it sparkled in the sunlight, sometimes.
In the morning, she’d always cook these pancakes with hunks of apples cooked right into the batter. Really thick, starchy things. You couldn’t even try to eat them without a glass of milk. They were dad’s favorites.
We were all pretty close, mom and her sister and dad and Uncle Johnny, and me and AJ and Mac. Maybe that’s why when my Aunt and Uncle died, everypony changed so much. Applejack got all mature, and MacIntosh kinda just stopped talking altogether. So, after that, when they did come to visit, they were always so dull. Growing up too fast does that to anyone, I suppose.
This particular summer that my cousins would come to visit would be start of a string of seemingly random events that would ultimately lead up to where I stand now, but, I was just a foal. I didn’t know any better. Whether destiny exists or not, life sure is funny sometimes.
We had been discussing something trivial that foals often spoke about in order to try to sound more grown-up: Marriage. Now, obviously, foals don’t understand the implications of the topic, but spoke about it anyway. Applejack was insisting that she was going to marry MacIntosh because all the other boys were nasty and had cooties, anyway. MacIntosh was, unsurprisingly, complacent about the whole ordeal and shrugged it off.
“Hey!” I interrupted smugly, crossing my front hooves over my chest. “What if Ah wanna marry MacIntosh?” I protested. There was nothing wrong with that, right?
Applejack wrinkled her freckled nose. “Colts can’t marry other colts!” She insisted, rolling her eyes. “Everypony knows that.”
“Why not?” I cocked my head to the side in genuine confusion.
“’Cause that’s how it just is!” Applejack muttered. “Yeesh, Braeburn, how dopey can you get?” She groaned out exasperatedly, waving a hoof toward me.
I still didn’t quite get it, so I stood up and put a hoof on the golden doorknob leading from my room to the hallway. The ways were a muted, warm shade of red, the floor and molding made of dark, polished, waxed oak that ran horizontally, against the natural grain of the wood itself. Aromas drifted around from the smooth flooring, filling my nostrils as I turned right, into the kitchen. My mom and dad were out running errands, and my Aunt and Uncle had to stay at Sweet Apple Acres, back in Ponyville, leaving Granny Smith to watch us for the length of the afternoon.
“Granny Smith?” I called politely into the room. Granny Smith was family, but still deserved a lot of respect, if even just because of her age.
“Yes, dear?” The elderly green mare set down her knitting needles into her lap and stopped rocking for a moment, smiling at her grandson.
“Can colts marry other colts?” I asked. My curiosity had been piqued; there really was no turning back at this point.
Granny Smith paused, cocking an eyebrow at me and leaning in. “Why’re you askin’, Braeburn?”
“’B’cause Cousin Applejack was sayin’ she wanted to marry MacIntosh, but Ah asked what if Ah wanted to marry him, and-“ My sentence was cut off when a thump hit both of my ears. A stinging pain reverberated through each one, down into my inner ear, leaving them ringing loudly with a lingering pain.
“Now, ya listen here!” Granny Smith snapped. I felt a shockingly firm grip on my shoulder drag me closer. “Colts don’t go marryin’ other colts. Ah don’t wanna hear no more nonsense ‘bout this. Colts do not marry other colts. You understand me, boy?”
“Yes’m.” I whimpered, shrinking back and scuttling to my room down the hall where a smug-looking Applejack and exasperated MacIntosh stood, waiting.
“She boxed yer ears!” Applejack laughed. “Ah told you it was a stupid idea, Braeburn!” The orange earth pony stuck out her tongue, blowing a raspberry at me. I scowled, raking my hooves nervously against the floor.
“Ah don’t get it. Why can’t colts be with other colts?” I persisted to Applejack, I felt tears rising behind my eyes.
“It’s best ya don’t go ‘round askin’ those sorts of questions,” AJ informed me, as though she were speaking to someone far younger than she. “Granny Smith’s done it ta me, an’ she’s done it ta Mac, an’ she’s gonna do it ta Applebloom.”
“Aren’t Grannies supposed ta be nice?” I asked, recoiling slightly.
“Granny Smith is nice! Yer just a dodo!” Applejack rolled her eyes, then she evidently noticed the tears in my eyes and frowned. “Aww, Brae, Ah didn’t mean it. Yer not really a dodo.”
“Really?” I swallowed, staring at my hooves.
Applejack nodded. “Really! An’ ya can marry me, ‘s okay, Mac’s gonna marry Granny Smith.”
“Okay.” I mumbled, still not sure I wanted to marry Applejack.
The rest of their trip, I said nothing of what had transpired. I kept my head low. When asked a question, I answered. I played with MacIntosh and Applejack like I always did, but the question still nagged at the back of my mind. Why couldn’t two colts get married? Could two mares get married? I let the question stew for a few months, until I decided to try something.
I grabbed the box of old coloring utensils that we kept by the icebox, and an old, yellowed piece of paper. It was crinkly around the edges, and evidently very old, but that didn’t matter to me, as my objective was clear. I looked down at my hooves and tried to discern the color closest to my own fur.
Yellow. Definitely yellow. I grabbed the crayon and began to scribble a waxy layer of yellow shapes on the thick sheet of paper, stopping only once to peel back the paper on the crayon itself. I frowned with the realization that I didn’t know my own eye color. I looked around for a mirror something, and took note of the window I was sitting beside. That would do. I leaned in, trying to see the reflection rather than through the glass.
Green. Bright, bright, piercing green. I’d never seen colors this bright before. Brighter than any apples I’d ever seen, let alone eyes. I took the opportunity to examine my mane as well. Orange, with several golden highlights. It travelled down my neck and ended there in a series of wavy, very loose curls. Part of it obstructed my forehead. Turning my head to my tail, I noticed they were the same color.
With this newfound information, I got to work. Light orange, dark orange, and green. I scribbled two orbs with the green on the face of the stick figure pony I had drawn, and began to scrabble on a mane. For good measure, I added the highlights as well with lighter orange. It wasn’t gold, but it would do.
I leaned out to examine my handiwork. It was a childish caricature of myself, but to me, it was my spitting image. Knowing the other pony I would draw, I grabbed dark brown, light brown, and blue. I began to sketch out what was roughly the shape of another pony and then scribbled another mane, much shorter than mine, and a tail, before adding two blue eyes.
It was Caramel, one of the other colts that lived in Appleoosa. His parents were friends with mine, and I had developed something of a crush on him in the past several weeks. He was prettier than any of the fillies were, to me. I liked fillies, but I like friends. For some reason, I got the idea I didn’t really feel like marrying one or having a girlfriend. I wondered if it was okay to have a boyfriend, if you were a colt, even if you couldn’t get married.
Proud of myself, I packed the crayons back into their rusty tin container and set them back into their position beside the sink. I still had to reach somewhat, being short. I hopped up into my chair and grabbed my drawing of me and Caramel, sneaking into the den. Maybe my dad would understand it. It was a stallion thing, I thought.
Now my father was generally a gentle, kind man. He was known for being a hard-flank, though, and could be one of the most stubborn ponies in all of Equestria if it weren’t for my mother, often cold argue until the sun came up.
I trotted up to him and held up my drawing. “Dad?”
“Eeyup?” He acknowledged, not looking up from his newspaper and coffee. He sat, stoic, in the middle of the den.
“Can colts marry other colts? Or have coltfriends?” I cocked my head at him, and watched him look up slowly, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Why you askin’, son?”
“Because cousin AJ said that Ah couldn’t marry another colt, but Ah think Ah like Caramel an’ so I was wonderin’ because yer always right ‘bout these sorts of things.”
My father was silent for several seconds. He folded his paper slowly, setting it in his lap, and took a sip of his coffee, swallowing audibly. He seemed thoughtful for several moments, tapping his hooves together. “Braeburn,” He finally addressed, looking up.
“Yes, sir?” I asked. Yes! Someone was going to give me an answer.
He snapped his eyes open, and I could tell by his shuddering voice, rather than by his face, that he was angry. “Ah want you to never mention any of this nonsense ever again.” He snapped, his voice growing in volume as he spoke. “Colts do not go together with other colts, that isn’t how we were intended to be. Ah never want to hear nothin’ ‘bout this ever again. You understand me, son?” He was glaring at me by this point, and I frowned.
“Uh, yessir.”
“Go to yer room.”
I dashed away, my blood cold. It was a miracle he hadn’t hit me like Granny Smith had. Sometimes, I still couldn’t hear quite right.
Immediately, I crumpled up my drawing and dropped it in the wastebasket. This hadn’t been a good idea at all. I briefly wondered what exactly it was that I had done that was so wrong. Maybe only big ponies understood it? It was one of those rules. That’s what it had to be.
I heard the door open and close again, sending a familiar vibration through the house. I both heard and felt hooves walking along the wood flooring, and some murmurs. I pressed my ear up against the door, curious.
“It’s a big problem, awright!” I heard my father hissing. “Ahr son’s a queer!”
“Wha-?” My mother asked, a half-formed word she often asked, making her come off dazed. Then, she laughed. “Oh, please, Green. I know you don’t like his mane, but now you’re being ridiculous.”
A silence passed, before my father rumbled, “Ah’m not kiddin’, Apple Blossom. Somethin’ just ain’t right with that boy. He told me he has a crush on Caramel, the kid down the street?”
An even longer silence ensued, before I heard my mother whisper quietly and sadly, “Well, well… There’s a cure for these sorts of things! Old Miss Candy Apple was tellin’ me all ‘bout it. It’s a routine.”
“Pft,” My father scoffed. “Ah don’t believe in any of that mumbo jumbo nonsense. Our boy needs to straighten out, and fast.”
“What do you propose we do?” Mom drawled.
“Knock some good, hard work into ‘im! I heard this is the work of disharmony in ‘im. Gonna be awright, though. We’ll have ‘im work hard on the orchard, an’ he’ll pick up his feet soon enough.”
“Fine. Do it your way. I think there’s a medicine.”
“Too expensive,” Dad denied. “’Sides, why d'we need medicine when we can just put ‘im to work? That oughta do it, for sure.”
I hadn’t understood most of the conversation, of course, but I frowned and leaned against the wall.
Somehow, I got the idea I wasn’t a very good pony.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
925 users online
347,033 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
gay shipping? I like where this is going...
interesting.... EDIT: I really like this... ALOT also gratz on EQD
I like it so far, can't wait to see more.
(also, I really dislike parents like that)
I swear, I must have a weakness for Soarin x Braeburn ship fics. That, or the writing gets me more interested than anything.
I'm looking forward to future installments
This is really great. I'm definitely looking forward to more.
Love it! Can't wait to read more. -Dropbeat
:unsure sweetie:wait, GAY bronies? sorry, but not my kind of story.
As I've said a million times before...
Really touching. I want to see where this goes.
Awww, poor Braeburn! He is the sexiest/cutest male pony out there! *Huggles*
Nice. Not many fics focus on the other side of the other side of the fence. Bromances can be just as good imo, and this one certainly is! The first person perspective adds a bit of depth you just cant get in third. The only thing I could bring up is that Granny Smith's and his dads reaction. it seemed a bit knee jerk, but I suppose if you are trying to portray them that way, you're on the right track. Also toward the beginning I was a little confused about where they were, whether Braeburn went to visit AJ and Big Mac or whether AJ and Big mac had come to visit him. I was reading it late though so I may have just been tired and skipped over that part by accident. other than that, awesome. I'll withhold my rating for now, but if I had to slap one on it it'd easily be 4.5-5. leaning towards 5.
wow... this hit me straight in the heart.
No story has made me feel like this in a long time.
Those two are just like my parents. Thanks for this great read.
I will follow this one very closely.
what is the equivalent term for fillyfooling
colt...clopping?
112901
Colt cuddling, I believe.
Mine interest hath been piqued.
I'm not gay, but this has given me some perspective. It's cute and romantic. I love the writing and the character interaction, although I don't really see Apple Jack's young personality as how you described it. Good Job!
It really saddens me that there still are homophobes out there...
Anyway Braeburn is a good choice, everyone know that everyone is gay for Braeburn. No exceptions.
Not a big fan of this ship, but the writing has me interested :) Poor Braeburn....*pats Braeburn's head*.
110652
ALL of the Shipping on here is gay, 'Cept the occasional hetero
Cheers
~iraqlobstah
112877
You got 2 Daddies?!
Cheers
~iraqlobstah
113102
I think xe meant xe's got two raging homophobes for parents.
im not gay, and i will never be. but a fanfic is a fanfic. this one might be good.
Interesting.... I will read on!
You deserve every star in the sky.
Seriously wonderful fic. Reminds me a bit of my younger years.
I'm not gay, but I am gonna track this.
113315
I thought the same!
111739
Bronius, damn you. Go write Discord's Reign, rather than reading my silly fics!
113117
I did indeed.
And what is up with the hundreds of "I'm not gay" Comments on this story
Are people really that insecure about themselves?
Track
113345
My apologies, its just that my writing cage gets kind of cold after a while...Chapter 21 is ready to go, all I'm waiting on is for my pre-reader to do his thing and it'll be posted, assuming he doesn't have IRL stuff to do. Either tonight or tomorrow I swear!
113462
I'LL SEND FOR A BLANKET.
I'm just very excited, I saw this comment was from you and kind of tripped out.
poor colt.....
Awesome, you already know I'm excited about this from the IRC, but just wanted to post this hear
MOOOOAAAAARR
I haven't even read it yet but...
*EFFING TRACKED!*
Well it's about damn time someone posted a Male/Male shipping on this site.
Can't wait to read more, bro, I do hope you continue this.
Tracking this, really cool fic dude.
113570
I'd like to adress that issue a bit-
(naturally i can't speak for others but that goes without saying. Anyway, here goes..)
I often add the 'I'm not gay'-tag when adding my piece of mind to such conversations.
The reason NOT being to distance myself from them
but rather to stop people in their tracks who go by the lines of
"You take a pro-homo point. Therefor You must be gay. Furtheremore therefor, what other can be expected of you.
Now that we have established your reasons to add your point, we have no longer reason to listen to your actual reasoning."
You see, when actually asking what the big deal is about the whole uproar (as demonstated very, VERY nicely in the fic!), people really seldom get past anything that can not be summed up as "its unnatural".
And I hate that.
Seriously do.
When pretending you thought about something you should be able to come up with better logic than that.
So I guess you guys understand why I want these buggers give as less 'goes without saying'-ground as possible.
113152 Agreed. Fimfiction is Fimfiction, and I've got nothing better to do anyways.
ALLONS-Y!!!
That being said I'd like to lose a few words on the actual fic now.
I want to really, really congratulate you on so nice and unmistakeably capturing the whole point of the whole
'no reasons needed'- crap.
You can pull that card when getting into your kids not to chew on power cables, granted.
But when, and expecially when discussing sexuality, it is an inacceptably low standard in discussion-culture (for want of a better word) when adressing adults and simply brutal when used on kids
(Inbetween I'm not sure, most likely both), since as in this case, he has no idea whatsoever what he is being punished for.
And when trying to find out (by the only to him know means- asking the older ones) the process just repeats.
Likely until:
-he submits and keeps telling himself from then on that its his fault for not knowing for the start or
-gives up asking, likely VERY confused and not a reason richer than what he started with (as in = 0).
-And if he's very lucky: stalling the decision which to choose till he finds someone to actually talk to (and back) and/or make up his own mind in time.
I think that people have not enought idea that the approach above your by-the-book 'beating into submission'.
Which sickens me since Braeburn's parents FOR SURE think they are doing him a favor in the long run.. *sigh*
5 / 5 Stars!
Oh, and sorry for the over-long rant
you know, just for the sake of completion.
i always liekd shipping stories, regardless of whom's being shipped
this one is like, amazing. it takes you to the very moment where braeburn discovered he was a queer n that's just great
keep goin
I really like this story, it's surprisingly believable for some reason that I can't put my finger on. Something about how simple the language is, along with the first person perspective makes it very involving, I really enjoyed this!
May I please have some more, sir?
Not sure about the first person perspective... I can't say I've ever read a first person fic before. Still, you certainly have my attention. Hell, it was only the first chapter and you already had me nervous about how things would turn out for Braeburn. Yup, you've got my attention, and my track.
The way that this is being told... I like it a lot. I'm not normally a romance kind of guy, and I really hope that this doesn't turn into clopfic (please don't), but I really like it so far. Things just flow off the tongue (I tend to read fic aloud and in voices/accents for effect) very well, and I like Braeburn as a character.
This was pretty good. Just as log as it doesn't cross over into the land of clopfiction...
Also, was I the only person thinking of Tim the enchanter when she was describing Applejack's "wishy washy"-ness and how she was always changing her favorite color?...no? Ok.
113847
This held my attention particularly well for some reason. Maybe it is because I can sympathize with Braeburn, and I care about him being happy.
It's good one XD tracking.
i.imgur.com/3V00x.png
I hope you get the next chap up, my story will never be like this.
oh god. they are almost as bad as lyra's parents from the empty room. i still cant believe those assholes. anyways, love where this is going
- Imagewicked
Khorosho, I expect to see more