//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Young Apple of My Heart 
// by Bananza 
//------------------------------//

"G'bye Big Mac! See ya after class!"

Applejack waved as Bic McIntosh walked up the dirt road out of Apple Orchards. Although he knew that Applejack was going to be school age next year, he couldn't help feeling a little bit jealous of her being able to stay home. After what felt like ages of pointless education he figured he had learned enough about history and magic. The rest of this year was about pointless as it gets. Alas, his emotions were for naught and here he was again trekking up to the city for school. The dirt and pavement of the road feeling so much rougher than that of the soil in the orchard. "Just a few more months of this and I'll be home free"

Arriving at the old - and somewhat dilapidated - schoolhouse he walks over to Thunderlane. Thunderlane was an gray colt with a mane of light blue and lighter blue stripes.

"Big Mac! I thought I would never find you!" Thunderlane exclaimed turning to the side. "My cutie Mark came in last night! While I was with my dad corralling clouds yesterday evening."

Sure enough a storm cloud and a yellow lightning bolt was visible on Thunderlane's flank. Flashing a huge grin at Mac "Turns out my special talent is with lightning. I single hoof-edly stopped a huge lightning storm last night!"

"And I suppose the other 6 pegasi had absolutely no impact whatsoever?" Hearing Thunderlane's boast, the teacher - Fisherberry - decided to step in.

"Oh, no! I mean yes, they did! I mean, I had a lot of help but ..." Thunderlane stutters.

"What you mean to say is that you found your raw talent, but still have many years of hard work left to refine it." Fisherberry turns and heads towards the building. "Now if you two are done chit chatting I would like to begin class!"

Following close behind the light blue mare, the 9 foals and colts file into the run down building of a school and start sitting down. Almost immediately after sitting down behind Cherilee, as Big Macintosh was oft to do, she hastily hands him a note. Waiting for an opportune time to open it without getting caught, he reads it.


"With Nimbus out of the running, looks like it's just you and me left without our cutie marks. Who will be victorious, and is it victory or defeat to be the last?"


What an odd question. It had always seemed to Big Mac that being the last in the class to get a cutie mark was an embarrassment. Yet somehow Cherilee had a crazy way to make you not feel so bad about things. Hastily scrawling on the paper - whilst imitating taking notes on whoever Fisherberry was talking about - he writes down "eeyup!" and hands it back to her.

He immediately knows when she's read it. Her neck tenses for a second while stifling a giggle as she turns to cough, trying to hide the laughter. Afterwards, however, he receives no further responses though expecting further discourse after class.