//------------------------------//
// Chapter I - GTKM 
// Story: Trueloves College 
// by IsDashieCookie_ 
//------------------------------//




Trueloves College




by IsDashieCookie_



Chapter I





Applejack allowed an uneasy breath to waft from her lips as she inevitably approached her desired destination; the building that was as just substantially large as it was diverse, City of Canterlot College. The tremendous quantity of students alone was enough to make her feel emotions nothing short of intimidation and apprehension, but the natural-blonde swept such thoughts away before yanking the handbrake of her mini truck upwards. Once the time-worn vehicle came to an abrupt halt, she climbed out, slipped on her backpack (which she had previously rested in the passengers seat) and forcefully slammed the gaping door shut. Ensuring that her mode of transport was definitely locked, Applejack began to inaudibly prepare herself all the while she approached the college entrance.

City of Canterlot College was vastly popular amongst students from all parts of Equestria, mainly due to it's extensive variety of courses to pursue, which a majority of the other well known colleges (such as Cloudsdale Imperial College and College of Manehattan) ceased to offer. Furthermore, the school provided a varied choice of extra-curricular clubs, which was one of the many factors that prompted Applejack to apply. Spending her entire education back in her little province of Ponyville had been uneventful nonetheless, so when Applejack was presented with the chance to attend school elsewhere, she made it priority to pick the most exciting-sounding one she could find.

Although it was a relatively early morning, about 8am to be exact, the sun shone down on Canterlot generously, decorating the picturesque area of the college grounds with a natural orange light. A small smile tugged at Applejack's lips as she realised what this reminded her of -- early mornings on Sweet Apple Acres. Having being literally born and raised in a barn, Applejack was a keen worker on the farm, waking up in the early hours of every morning before school to get started on some of the chores around. Since Big Mac was pretty occupied with selling their homemade apple products and keeping an eye on the numbers and all that (Applejack would've helped with that too, had she been skilled at math), Applejack would keep the animals and crops in check. It was a definitely gruelling job, but it was just how the farmgirl liked it.

Once she had accordingly entered the hugely populated building, Applejack's sap green globes immediately swallowed up her surroundings. The interior of the area was strictly a glossy white colour, complimented with various shapes and walls of polished wood. An enormous sign dangled meters from the ceiling, the name of said college respective printed out in eye-catching, bold letters. To the cowgirl's right, was a bijou collection of minimalistic tables, chairs and benches, all occupied by groups of mingling students. A receptionist area was to her immediate left side, complete with an extensive line of students waiting to be seen.

Becoming somewhat familiar with her surroundings, Applejack slid her mobile phone from the pouch in her denim shorts and powered up the handheld device, the high-quality screen suddenly illuminating with a giant burst of unnatural light. Unlocking the cell with the uncomplicated brush of a fingerprint, Applejack attempted to locate the file containing her weekly timetable of lessons, but unfortunately to no avail. The farm born-and-bred was continuously having frequent difficulties with all this new-fashioned modern technology, as her forthright grandmother took to calling it. As humiliating and unbelievable as it might sound to one's ears, Applejack hadn't acquired her first very own mobile phone until her junior year of highschool, down to her granny believing that such devices are responsible for "rotting children's brains".

Still tangled up by the confusing display of the phone, Applejack was completely oblivious to the fact that a certain eccentric girl was fast approaching her.. This girl happened to be none other than one of her childhood friends and possible distant cousin, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie previously attented the same elementary and middle school as Applejack, but for the summer leading to freshman year she travelled back to her family's rock farm and never returned. Applejack figured that the pink-haired ball of craziness had simply wanted to spend longer periods of time with her biological family rather than her god-parents in Ponyville (Mr and Mrs. Cake).

"Oh my gosh, Applejack?!" squealed the bubbly young woman, latching herself onto Applejack and embracing her in a friendly hug, which seemed to have lasted a second too long as Applejack felt her breathing become restricted under the pink-haired girl's force and her phone almost slip from her grasp. However, Pinkie quickly noticed after hearing AJ's coughs, and released her with a sheepish grin on her slightly chubby face. "Oopsie."

Spluttering, Applejack regained her senses before glaring at the insane specimen, "What the-- goddammit, Pinkie Pie! Y'just about suffocated me!" she retorted, her freckled face flustered with a mixture of shock and embarrassment. 

A handful of eyes were now plastered to the duo like fresh wads of gum, and Applejack felt her cheeks burn as she straightened out her green t-shirt. She also began to reposition her trademark Stetson hat and tamper with her loose golden tresses, which flowed down to her mid-back.

"Whoopsie...it's just that I was so-so-so excited to see you! I mean, it's been ages, so when I saw you, I just, well, I just had to do something!" Pinkie Pie giggled as she bounced up and down erratically, earning some perplexed glares from various other students.

Chuckling nervously, Applejack sternly placed a hand each on Pinkie's shoulders, forcing her jittery body to cease to a sudden halt, "Alright, alright, calm yerself, sugarcube." Once the ecstatic woman-child's nerves had eventually regained composure, the friends of youth began to advance towards the open area of space a couple meters from their current position, though none knew what exactly they were trying to find there.

Almost immediately, Pinkie Pie's excruciatingly irksome tone of voice shot directly into Applejack's poor ears, "So, Jackie, do you know where we're supposed to be right now?"

"As a matter of fact, Ah don't--" the country girl was suddenly cut mid-sentence by another shrill remark.

"Well, well, well!" Pinkie hollered most likely as loud as she could to ensure that the entire hallway of students involuntary overheard their conversation. "Aren't you lucky I'm here, Applejack, because I know exactly where to go! To the library!"

As Applejack briskly trailed in the tracks of her impossibly fleet-footed friend (well, nothing was really impossible with Pinkie Pie), the aforementioned girl continuously rambled on about something and everything, while Applejack completely blocked out the noise out of inclination. It wasn't that Applejack disliked the girl, in fact she had been one of her closest friends throughout her childhood, but she did get on her nerves sometimes. Having spent such prolonged periods of time with the blatherskite in her juvenile days, Applejack had practically mastered the art of PinkieBlock, much like AdBlock but with far more convenience.

"...And then he said, 'I'm trying to make a video too, but the other kind', and I said what kind? A movie, a music video, a commercial-- Hey, are you listening?!" snapped Pinkie Pie, coming down from her chatter induced high.

Applejack blinked blankly a couple of times before regaining her own consciousness, "Oh, look sugarcube, we're here." 

She sighed silently with relief as it dawned on her that she wouldn't have to hear the skull-shattering voice for remainder of whatever sort of event was taking place in the library. However, the gigantic banner, respectively printed with the words 'Get-To-Know-Me', was a silent but deadly giveaway. Upon further inspection of the spacious library, Applejack soon realised it was crawling with students presumably the same age as her and Pinkie, leaving her with an single explanation behind what was happening. It was definitely going to be one of those activities where you go around a circle saying your name and three fun facts about yourself. Fun.

The bustling chatter plaguing the supposedly most peaceful area of the entire college was suddenly halted by the presence of an elderly man dressed in 1980s attire, his head in such a denial of hair that the light emitting from the ceiling reflected directly off it in various directions. At the pace of evolution, he waddled towards the centre of the immense gathering of young adults before dramatically clearing his throat.

"Welcome to City of Canterlot College," he droned on in a painfully-monotonous voice. "My name is Prrrrrofessor Pyyyythagoras, and I am a qualified mathematical expert slash teacher in this school. Now, I suspect you all have transferred here today as new students, am I correct?"

The congregation of students hummed in response, a handful giggling silently. Professor Pythagoras instantly fired a searing glare directed towards said students before returning to his previous speech.

"Anywho, this morning you are gathered here to participate in this college's traditional ice-breaker, 'Get-To-Know-Me', or more commonly referred to as 'GTKM'. The arrangement is that you will all split up into various groups, which have been pre-selected, and receive your college identification cards. In your groups you will take turns to share something about yourself, for example your hobbies, favourite food et cetera. The activity is over when the bell sounds, which is in approximately an hour and a half. Do I make myself clear?"

The crowd responded back with a mixture of groans and hums of approval before the professor and a selection of various other teacher's began to read out the names of the selected groups. Ten minutes had passed by the time everyone was separated equally with barely any fuss, and Applejack ended up being paired with a few other people she'd already forgotten the names of.

"Alrighty, then," the teacher leading their group announced once she had settled them at a circular table isolated from the rest of the students.  She was definitely a teacher alright, her generic attire completed with a mousy-brown bob, rectangular glasses that balanced on the slim bridge of her nose, an unadorned shirt and a tight-fitting pencil skirt. She handed each student their ID cards from the pile on the table before speaking.

"I suppose we'll get started, shall we? I'm Mrs Anaphora and I am an English Literature teacher here at the college. I surely look forward to perhaps seeing a few familiar faces in my first lesson." Mrs Anaphora beamed quite warmly, her stern exterior beginning to melt away to reveal a passionate teacher at heart. "Hmm, you next, tell us about you, sir."

A slender finger then gestured towards the person seated beside Applejack, a young man with a silverish mohawk and a complacent smirk slathered on his lips. Rousingly, the man in question conceitedly weaved his fingers throughout his spikes of hair as he allowed his simper to drop. 

"Thunderlane," he announced straight-forwardly, over exaggeratedly waggling his respectively silver eyebrows. "Cloudsdale born and raised, baby."

Mrs Anaphora let her preceding smile twist into a confused frown, "...Right. Umm, tell us about yourself, Thunderlane. Anything you're interested in?"

"Oh yeah!" Thunderlane's expression flashed brightly as it was obvious he'd devised another absurd thing to say. "I'm interested in the ladies around here! Hey, teach, how old did you say you were?" The boy seated to the right side of Thunderlane suddenly roared with a preposterous surge of laughter.

"E-Excuse me!?" the considerably older woman squeaked, flustered with disgust and embarrassment. "I think it's time we moved on to the next person, don't you think...?"

Whilst a sprinkling of the students sniggered at Thunderlane's crude remarks, Applejack retained her maturity by rolling her eyes and exhaling sharply. So, he was going to be one of those guys; the guy who forgot he's a college freshman, not a highschool one. The cowgirl simply hoped that she would never have to engage in conversation with him for the succeeding four years. 

Upon realising that it was now her own turn to introduce herself (as the order was clockwise around the table), Applejack cleared her throat anxiously before speaking, "Um, hi, howdy," she raised her light gamboge hand to wave promptly. "Ah'm Applejack, nice ta' meet all'a ya'll. So, Ah'm from Appleloosa, but Ah moved ta' the suburbs a'Ponyville--"

All of a sudden, the attention of each student was involuntarily gripped by a teeth-grinding squeal of sneakers and a hand slamming directly into the table. The possessor of said hand was a person panting with such heaviness it was as if she had ran the entire route from her home to the library. However, once she regained a steady breathing rate, she shot up confidently, a smirk similar to Thunderlane's plastered on her face. The particular girl, as Applejack had immediately notice, was considerably short, standing at an estimated 5'2" as opposed to Applejack's 5'8". 

"Um, can I help you?" Mrs Anaphora inquired, with an eyebrow raise. 

The cyan-skinned girl whipped her body around to face the perplexed teacher, her head of polychromatic hair flowing behind her to her elbows, "Oh, my bad, ma'am. The name's Rainbow Dash."

"I'm not bothered in the slightest about your name, dearie. Just what do you think you're doing?" the Literature major huffed, clearly irritated that her activity had to be rudely interrupted by a disrespectful, tardy student, and the fact that she had been identified as 'ma'am'. She didn't look that old, did she?

"Well, I was gonna go grab a seat so you could get on with your, umm," she glanced around the perimeter of the table in confusion. "...Cult ritual? But then you kinda stopped me by talking to me right now, so the only reason why I'm not sitting down and your not teaching is well, you." Rainbow Dash retorted with a cocky flick of her multicoloured tresses, awaiting a response from the fuming professor.

Mrs Anaphora exhaled sharply, glaring at the troublesome student, "Just take a seat, will you? I don't have time to deal with people such as yourself."

"Neither do I," Rainbow muttered below her breath as she claimed the nearest seat, which happened to be an empty one beside none other than the southern farmgirl.

“Andy’s coming!” whispered Rainbow Dash sneakily before immediately bursting into a fit of laughter at her own terribly poor attempt at a “joke”. 

Eyes rotating like a pair of bowling balls, Applejack grumbled almost inaudibly beneath the thick blanket that was her breath, “Very funny, Skittles,” she retorted back, completely ignoring the fact that it was in fact still her turn to introduce herself amongst the group of students. 

“C’mon, Woody, like I haven’t heard that one a million times already!” replied Rainbow, kicking back further into her plastic foldable seat, the unstable material emitting subtle snapping sounds as it barely managed to support the athlete’s weight.  

“Tha’ name’s Applejack,” the farmgirl grunted, a tinge of frustration and annoyance weaved into her thick Southern accent. 

A mischievous smirk pricking at her lips, Rainbow Dash appeared to be feeding into the negative tone surrounding Applejack by firing another insensitive remark, “Sooo, Applecrack, what bring you to this place?”

Applejack was nowhere in the mood to continue conversing with such a childish being, “What’s it ta’ you?” she scowled.

“Ah! Cold! Real cold, Appletini,” Rainbow replied with mock sadness, attempting to appear as visibly hurt as she could possibly muster. “I'm here 'cause my old man said if I wasted the next couple years of my life lying on the couch he'd kick me out.”

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, but not without coating it with a thick paste of sarcasm, “I’d’ve done tha’ same.”

“Nice to know, Miss Appleloosa,” Rainbow widened her eyes equally as sarcastically. “Hey, you still didn’t tell me why you’re here.”

“I’ll say it again: what’s it ta’ you? We ain’t exactly friends, for me tha’ go tellin’ ya’ll mah business..” Applejack grumbled once again, crossing her bare arms and glancing the opposite direction from Rainbow. 

It suddenly came to her attention that someone else was not introducing themselves in her place, but it was highly likely that Mrs Anaphora had grown tired of their conversation and decided to simply move on. However, Applejack was slightly relieved in a sense, as the last thing she expected to have to do today was tell strangers her life story. 





Once the traditional ice-breaking activity of the morning had finally come to an end, the students were ordered to follow their new class schedules and treat today like any other generic day. So far, Applejack’s assigned classes had been nothing of the sort intriguing, leaving the previously exciting girl with an incredibly off-putting taste in her mouth. City of Canterlot College was turning out to be nothing Applejack had expected it to be, lacking severely in the ‘interesting’ department. Perhaps that was due to the fact that this was only her first day attending the college, and much more exhilarating things were to come in the future. 

However, for the time being, Applejack was left sitting through hour-at-a-time long lectures about subjects she wasn’t even aware she had signed up to. And as for now, she was forcing her boredom-ridden body to stay awake while she barely listened to Professor Pythagoras drone on about whatever calculus was. 

In normal circumstances, Applejack wouldn’t have had to study mathematics in college, but due to her failing her maths section of the CSEs (Curriculum Support Exams; a series of exams sat before enrolling into the college to determine whoever you need to continue studying basic subjects such as Lower Math, Lower Literature etc) it was compulsory for her to have to attend math lessons. 

Though, it appeared a majority of the students that had began today were facing the same fate as Applejack, as she recognised many familiar faces from the activity hours prior, including Rainbow Dash, who sat beside her. 

Over the course of the day, Applejack and Rainbow had found themselves to get along seemingly well, save for some constant bickering and disagreements, but Pinkie Pie was there to avoid anything escalating too far. 

Rainbow Dash was a cocky, overly-confident and brash athlete and Applejack was a stubbornly honest farmgirl with an unfiltered mouth. Things were bound to get ugly between each other if they intentionally pushed the right (well, wrong) buttons. But keep in mind this was the first time they’d ever met each other, so things were bound to become more comfortable between each other in the future. 

"I’d rather eat a mummified testicle than do physics!" Rainbow Dash complained aloud, resting her elbows on the table and throwing her face into her palms, letting her long prismatic hair create a curtain around her arms.

"It’s calculus, sugarcube," corrected Applejack smugly, a smirk tugging at her lips. She continued to scribble down modelled answers from the PowerPoint displayed before the class, although she could barely understand a thing she was writing down. 

"Yep, because that totally makes more sense," mumbled the smart-mouthed girl into her palms. The newfound friends spent the entirety of the remaining lesson exchanging conversation, which led to Applejack learning about Rainbow's lifelong dream to become a Wonderbolt, the most famous and well-known aerodynamics team in Equestria.

"A Wonderbolt, huh?" questioned Applejack as she began to pack her bag with her new calculus foundation book, since the end of first period was nearing. 

"I think I've totally got a chance," beamed Rainbow, flexing her feathered wings respectively. "I mean, it's been my dream since elementary school and I've never really thought about wanting to become anything other than a Wonderbolt for the past, like, thirteen years. I'm incredibly fast, confident, awesome--"

"Egotistical?" Applejack cut off, only to be met with a eyebrow raise of confusion from the athlete.

"I've got no idea what the hell that means, but I'm pretty sure it means awesome," Rainbow Dash flashed her companion a crooked grin, kicking back into her seat.

"Yeah, ya' keep thinkin' that, hun," muttered Applejack sarcastically as the bell signalling the end of class sounded throughout the college building. Recollecting items such as their rucksacks and books, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash vacated the classroom, savouring a deep breath of calculus-free air.

Before Rainbow Dash could voice a quick 'Sup?' to the energetic girl in the center between herself and Applejack, she was immediately swamped in a forceful hug. Pink arms wrapped around her like a ribbon on a present, Rainbow Dash's face appeared to alter to a darker shade of blue as she helplessly gasped for air under Pinkie's grasp.

"Pinkie..." said Applejack in a somewhat stern voice, prompting Pinkie to suddenly release her prey and grin remorsefully.

Catching her breath at once, Rainbow glared bitterly at her predator, "I just about almost suffocated to death there, you nutjob!" she snapped, her already raspy tone of voice becoming sharper and jagged around the edges.

"Soh-reeeee! I kinda push my limits when I comes to meeting new friends. Well, I always push the limits. Even with strangers! Did you know that one time I hugged my sister so hard her shoulder dislocated? She wouldn't look at me for weeks after that...but it was the best hug I ever-ever-ever had! Have you ever had a really good hug? Huh, huh, have you?" rambled Pinkie Pie, enticing a groan of irritancy from Rainbow.

"She always like this?" she hissed under her breath, glancing over at Applejack, who simply nodded her head.

"'Fraid so, you’ll get used’ta it. Say, where’r y’all headed to now?" asked Applejack, glancing at the time displayed on her mobile screen, which read a couple minutes past four.

Rainbow took lead in exiting the college building, the two other girls trailing shortly behind her, “Well, I was gonna go check my new place out, set out my things, ya know?”

Pinkie Pie beamed with excitement, bouncing around unnaturally, which ended up in her getting a couple awkward stares from the students around her, “Oooh Oh Oh! Can I come too?! Can I?!"

"Pinkie Pie, leave the damn girl alone! Why don’t Ah drive ya over ta yer own place, Ah’ve got some time ta spare," Applejack grumbled in a hushed tone before turning to Rainbow Dash. "Nice ta' meet cha, Dash. Ya better get goin' if ya wanna have enough time ta' settle in yer new place."

"Likewise, Applesnack, guess I'll see you around!" grinned Rainbow, saluting before taking off in the opposite direction, the crisp Canterlot breeze running its fingers through her extraordinary hair as she flew towards the car park to find her motorcycle.  

Applejack scoffed lightly as she led Pinkie Pie to where her own mini truck was situated, though her mind remained fixated on the overly-confident girl she’d met today. What a character. An irritating, brash, cocky, rude character, but an interesting one for sure. Applejack was pretty much certain in the fact that they’d at least become close friends. But as of now she had more important duties to fulfil, such as getting Pinkie Pie to her new apartment without her causing any trouble.





Having exhaustedly spent a majority of her free time navigating the hectic streets of central Canterlot, Applejack was more than just happy when her truck finally pulled up at the carpark of the little apartment she would find to call home for the next four years of her life. She was ecstatic. The place in question was a tiny apartment situated above a simple, minimalistic café. Nothing too classy or full of stuck-up prunes with little to no taste buds, just the way Applejack liked it. It was also situated pretty close to the college, no more than a brisk ten minute walk, which made it appeal to Applejack even more. The only complication was the marginally expensive monthly rent, but Applejack was sure she could get a job easily with such a population of shops and restaurants around.

After retrieving her luggage from the trunk of her truck, unlocking the front door and heaving herself up the stairs, she entered the main house, heading straight for the bedroom to toss her baggage in the corner and collapse, when she was interrupted by an all-too familiar voice.

"Applejack?!"

Breathing wildly with shock, Applejack peered over the couch which sat in the connected living room and kitchen to be met with the uncanny sight of none other than Rainbow Dash peering up at her. 

“You stalkin’ me or sum’?! Whad’dya think yer doin’ in...in mah apartment?!" Applejack choked, storming up opposite Rainbow Dash and covering the television with the size her body.

“Hey, hey, calm down Godzilla!” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously as Applejack berated her with a glare that demanded answers. “Looks like we’re..we’re housemates, idiot. You seriously didn’t know?!”

Applejack's left eye twitched slightly as she stammered on her words, "Ro-ro-roommates?" She had indeed completely forgotten about that fact that this apartment was indeed a shared accommodation. 

"Heh, looks like it! Aaaand you've got none other than the best--" Rainbow Dash pointed smugly at herself with her stubby thumbs. "--as your housemate! Go on, tell me how awesome it is! I mean, I know how awesome it is already but it sounds so much better coming from someone else.”

“Yeah, awesome,” Applejack mumbled, clearly having trouble comprehending her current situation. What a complete damn coincidence that the two girls, who had just happed to become newfound friends at college were now living with each other for the next four years?!

"Right, could you get outta the way now? You're a pretty nice view but this is the season finale of The Amazing Adventures of Daring Do and I can't afford to miss this," spoke Rainbow Dash, fanning her hand at Applejack who quickly sat on the empty space on the couch.

Removing her Doc Martens, Applejack purses her lips as she wondered whether Rainbow's compliment was intentional or not. However, it wasn’t as if she could care less anyway, and she decided to swat that thought away like a fly. 

As Rainbow attentively gawked at the television, Applejack couldn’t help but wonder how the next four years of her life were going to play out while living with such a challenge.