Author's Notes:

Hello reader!
You may have noticed the "Alternate Universe" tag when you first clicked on the story. But once you begin reading, it won't seem all that different. There's Canterlot, and schools, and the characters look and act the same... So why is this story marked as AU? Well, while it may appear the same, some of the places and events are changed up. Here's some handy-dandy little things you should know before delving in:

1. Equestria is a country
In canon MLP verses (when they're actually ponies, that is), Equestria is the name of the world they live in. In this human AU, Equestria is a country in Eastern Europe, south of Russia and north of Kazakhstan. It slowly drifts into Asia as well. Canterlot, The Crystal Empire, and other canon Equestrian cities are European countries around Equestria. Places like Appleloosa and Humieville (Ponyville) are cities in America, though. To be specific, Appleloosa is in Texas and Humieville is in Utah.

2. France is a city in Canterlot, and in this AU
Obviously similar to the country in real Europe, France is a city in Canterlot. Applejack and Rarity both live in France, Canterlot, but they do not speak fluent French due to the fact that Rarity comes from Humieville (renamed respectively for Human AU purposes, a place in North America) and Applejack comes from Appleloosa (also in North America). Both their native tongues are English. Rarity has taken it upon herself to take French classes to understand the people in Canterlot, but Applejack still needs to learn basic English skills, as she was not educated as a child and worked on her family's farm in Appleloosa. Never fret! Rarity likes to teach her little things along the way.

3. The girls are in college
Which means instead of being in high school like they are in Equestria Girls, they're in college. Since I'm going to presume they're juniors in the movies, they're all around sixteen years of age. In college, Applejack and Rarity are both twenty.

4. States, cities, and countries from the real world exist in this universe (but they might be misplaced)
So places like Pennsylvania, Michigan, New England, Brussels, Russia, South Korea (these are completely random places I thought up off the top of my head, they don't really pertain to the plot at all lmfao) exist alongside fake places like Canterlot, Humieville, ect, they just may be in different places on the map.

5. Applejack grew up poor, and as such was not educated
This was aforementioned, but just to confirm, Applejack grew up poor on her family's farm. In order for the family to survive, none of the children could afford to go to school and had to spend their days growing crops, harvesting them, and taking care of animals (this changed when Apple Bloom was born, as Grannie Smith decided to send her to school.) Big Mac and Applejack were taught to speak, but it was mostly country-slang and basic English skills just so they could communicate, but they cannot read or write very well. Applejack still struggles to remember English, which is why she does not take French like Rarity does.

That's all! Enjoy!
- carcinoGenesis

"Big Mac! No! Stop!"

Applejack's green eyes watered over in silver tears that spilled over to her freckled cheeks. She cried out, throat shrill from screams that were never loud enough. Big Mac was hauling her away from her parents; her Ma and Pa who were being torn apart by those vicious wolves. Two of the beasts fought and picked at the skin of her Mama, while the others gnashed pieces of her Papa's leg around, letting blood spill from the gorey red wounds. Ma's emerald-green eyes had lolled back into her head. Pa's trademark white freckles that sprinkled his nose and cheeks were ripped from his skin and tossed to the ground in a bloody pile. And yet Big Mac refused to do anything but take his little sister away from them. He wouldn't allow Applejack to go back. To save them. To save her family. She reached a hand out, squeezing her eyes tightly together at the sight.

"Why didn't you let me save them?!" Applejack cried furiously when she had gotten back to the burgundy barn she knew so well. She forced herself out of her brother's arms and shook his biceps viciously. "Why didn't ya let me save 'em?! We could of helped 'em, Big Mac! We could have taken on those big wolv-!"

"Applejack, we couldn't! They were gettin' eaten alive!" Big Mac barked back. His green eyes were hurt, nostrils flared. "Are you a moron?! Did you want to die too?! Think of Apple Bloom!"

"What about her?! Grannie could have taken her in!"

In the sturdy, young man's tight arms was a milky skinned child, with crimson red hair tied loosely together in a pink bow. He held it like his own child, cradling the infant securely while it wailed and wailed. "We couldn't save 'em, Applejack! We just... couldn't." Big Mac's eyes began to gloss over. Hot water filled in their beds. "Apple Bloom needs her family. Me, you, and Grannie... we're the only ones she's got left."

Applejack's eyes remained wide; dazed. She couldn't believe it. Ma and Pa were really gone. Gone from her forever. She looked over towards Big Mac. Hiccups that rose in his bony chest indicated he was holding back pained tears that wanted desperately to run down. His skin shuddered while holding the screaming child, who was swaddled in a pink fabric blanket between the crevice of his arms. Apple Bloom didn't know what was going on. Her natural baby-instinct was to cry. She didn't know her parents had just died, or the brutal way they had done so. Yet her cheeks were a bright, rosy pink, with a ridiculous amount of slimy tears running down her face.

Applejack looked back down to her hands, which had grown clammy from the utter shock she had been through. A strange... almost familiar color dripped down her fingertips and onto the bases of her digits. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Red blood.

Her chest heaved. And in that moment, she let out a choked, blood-curdling screech.

"Applejack!"

The orange-skinned teenager sat straight up in her bed. She looked wearily over to the girl lying beside her; her pale diamond, Rarity. Rarity's dark blue eyes were widened in fear, her hand over Applejack's shoulder. The covers were strewn at her lap. "Y-yeah, what's wrong, Rares?"

"You were just screaming!" Rarity exclaimed, putting her hand over her own chest. "Didn't you hear yourself? Dear Lord, AJ, that had to be the loudest yet. Are you feeling okay, Sweetheart?"

Applejack glanced down at her sleeping area. It was drenched in sweat that formed in the shape of her body. "Oh, er, yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya. Ah just had another nightmare, is all." She groaned groggily and brought a hand to her now-shut eyes, rubbing the muscle under them with the base of her palm. "Ahh~ Fuck, can't even get a good night's sleep sometimes."

"You've been having nightmares more often recently." Rarity let out a little sigh, swinging her fair, slim legs from the mattress. She scooched herself off the bed, pushing down the hem of the frilled, lacy nightgown she sported. She walked over to the door of the college dorm the duo shared, reaching up and grabbing a hold of a fuzzy pink robe. Rarity worked her nimble hands around it quickly, having the article snuggled to her perfectly thin body in no time. She pulled on a matching pair of slippers before seating herself back down on the edge of the bed, wrapping her arm around Applejack's broad shoulders. "Darling, what's wrong? Are your classes stressing you out? Maybe you should speak to your professors? It was math, right? Or, was it reading? I recall those were the two giving you the most tro-"

"It's not that," Applejack interrupted slowly with a small shrug. "It's just... Ah told ya about my parents awhile back, right?"

Rarity nodded softly.

"Well... Ah keep havin' thoughts 'bout them. Like, they died so young, Rares. They were only... what, twenty-five? God, Ah can't even remember. It seems like so long ago now... They didn't deserve that." Applejack kept her palm against her eye, pressing tears back.

Rarity took in a small breath. She knew that her love had been struggling with her emotions since her parents had passed so long ago. Applejack had always been the one who held her sorrowful feelings inside. Not even during the saddest parts of movies--- like when the girl finally got to be with the one she loved the most, or when a dog died--- would she cry.

Applejack "cried on the inside", or so she often joked. Not this time, though. Her tears needed to be let out. Rarity could tell.

"Sweetheart..." Rarity began slowly. "Please don't do that. Please let it out. You're only in front of me. You don't have to act so tough." She wrapped her arms around Applejack's waist gently, sliding onto her girlfriend's tummy to rest. "I don't mind if you cry. I won't tell anyone. Not like the time I said 'I would never tell anyone when you got the runs at that rodeo.' This is real this time, trust me." Rarity offered a gentle smile, nuzzling Applejack's neck with her nose.

"Er... Ah'm fine, Rares..." Applejack found her voice cracked and quivered a little. There was no getting past it. She inhaled deeply, before drawing her hand away, letting the silver tears trapped inside her eyes to fall down her cheeks.

"There, there." Rarity ran one hand up Applejack's stomach--- slightly bunching the over-sized T-shirt she wore as apparel for sleeping--- and brought it to the country-girl's dusty blonde hair. She swept a few bits of the "straw" from Applejack's face, which was getting caught in the storm of her sniffles and cries.

"God... why? Ah still don't understand. Big Mac probably has the best memory of us all. Can you imagine his nightmares, if he has 'em? And what about Apple Bloom? She don't remember much, but how do ya think she felt when it was 'Bring Your Parents To School Day' and all she could bring was Grannie Smith? She said the kids were laughin' at her all day, sayin' shit like, 'your mom is older than my great-grandmother' and what not. And then Grannie! Oh, Grannie had to hear from her grand-babies that her own daughter and son-in-law were killed!" Applejack threw her head back onto the already-sweat-dampened pillow, letting out a pitiful whimper. "Why me, Rares? It was bad enough that Ah had to face that torture once. It's worse that my brain replays those same damned events in my head every night. And the last part don't even make sense! Random blood just appears on my hands, and Ah don't know why!"

"It'll be okay..." Rarity hushed her tone down to a whisper, caressing Applejack's face.

"No! No it won't!"

"I know but-"

"No!" Applejack argued. Her face was starting to heat up in a crimson shade, touching on her freckles and causing her nose to scrunch, her eyebrows to furrow. "Rarity, you were spoiled all your life! Ya got everythin' ya ever wanted! Both you and your sister were raised with everything ya ever needed and desired. Sure, your parents were out a lot on vacation and business trips, but ya still got to see 'em, didn't you?"

Rarity cringed a little. Her face-rubs halted. She breathed quietly. Applejack was just having a temper. She knew she didn't mean the words she said. She remained quiet, twirling a finger through a stray strand of the country-girl's brown hair.

Applejack blushed. She realized how uncomfortable the silence in the room had grown. A sigh broke out. "...Ah'm sorry, Rares. Ah didn't mean that. Ah just got agitated." She reached her hand up, taking a small piece of Rarity's violet, ribbon-like hair in her fingertips, spreading it and reconnecting it cautiously. "Ah just miss 'em, is all. Ah want the dreams to stop. They're terrible."

Rarity ran her fingers lightly over Applejack's nose, pressing into it gently in an act of comfort. "I imagine they are, Darling. I'm terribly sorry to hear you're still having them. Have you considered talking to a specialist?"

"Not yet." Applejack sat herself up a bit, causing Rarity to slouch down to her lap. She rubbed her now-puffy red eyes with the back of her orange palm. "Ah mean, now Ah have, Ah guess. Just gonna be hard for me to bring it up Ah think. Even to a doctor."

"It'll help you." Rarity offered a sweet, reassuring smile before climbing off her girlfriend completely, standing up once more and padding over to a pearl-white drawer that squeezed itself into a corner neatly. She opened up the top drawer, fishing out a fresh bra and undergarments, as well as a bundled-up pair of socks. "You mine as well get ready for the day, Love. Classes begin in an hour or so, for me at least. But I recall you have an English session today at around eight?"

Applejack lazily heaved herself from the bed. She stretched her toned arms up in a wide form and released a trapped yawn. "Yeah." Her arms flopped back down to her side. She walked to the dresser Rarity had gone to, taking a pair of boxer undies from "her side." Rarity always made sure to organize all their clothing neatly at least once a day. The prissy girl hated how sloppy Applejack was. But Applejack loved how prissy Rarity was. She was almost like Twilight, but loads cuter. Applejack chuckled to herself, sweeping up a plaid shirt from another drawer and lifted the baggy T she was wearing.

Rarity stripped from her lacy nightgown and slipped on a white tunic, the sleeves cut midway up her forearms. It was, of course, the latest fashion, complete with her diamond belt that held up a purple mini-skirt. Jeweled beads that complimented her blue eyes clipped on her ears just perfectly. She padded into the dorm room's bathroom, quickly scrubbing her teeth and dabbling on a thing of eyeliner, extending her already naturally-long lashes with a bold mascara. She stepped out, a comb in her hands, struggling through the loops of violet knots in her curly hair. "You need this, I presume?"

"Thanks, Rares." Applejack grinned. She took the brush and quickly brought it through the licks of straw that was her hair. She set the brush down and grabbed a pair of denim jeans from an opposing drawer and drew them over legs, having to inch them up around her thighs and waist slowly before buttoning them and zipping the stitch up. She grabbed a loose hairband from the studying desk and wrapped it over her fingers before grabbing a fistful of her blonde hair and slipping it inside the tube, tying it around into a tight knot. After brushing her teeth, she turned to Rarity and took her waist gently, leaning down to kiss the little town-girl on the forehead. "Ah'll see ya after class."

"Actually try in English, hm?" Rarity teased, standing onto her tip-toes to deliver a kiss back to Applejack's little button nose. She knew her companion was from the more Southern, poor parts of America, and as such, she hadn't been brought up with proper English thanks to lack of education. This required her to take additional speaking classes, and AJ truly was getting better at, but sometimes the little farmer didn't care in trying. Either way, it was something for Rarity to joke about.

"Yeah, whatever ya say, Rares."

"Don't think too much about that nightmare either, okay? We'll get you someone to talk to you about it, and you'll sort everything out. Don't you worry."

"Ah'll try not to." Applejack winked, though there was some wavering in it. She began to recline her head down fully to match Rarity's plush lips, which had been softened by a duo of chap stick and a glossy-pink lipstick. Rarity parted hers gently, connecting the couple's pair of lips together to form a kiss.

The kiss wasn't out of the normal. Every time the two departed each other, they left with a kiss to the forehead, the nose, and then the lips. It was something cutsie they always did, sparing the few times when they were in an argument. But... this one felt different. Not because Applejack still had remorseful sorrow hanging in her heart, but because Rarity was prodding her pink tongue into Applejack's mouth!

The feeling was so... weird... Slimy, almost. But it was nice. Applejack didn't force herself to pull away, but it suddenly had become more awkward than romantic. Applejack's eyes popped open, and with them she looked down at Rarity's pale face. Her girlfriend's cheeks were flushed rosy red, obviously surprised by her own actions. She sheepishly twisted it around Applejack's bucked-teeth, before turning it outward, touching onto AJ's lips before sliding it back in her own mouth.

"Uhh..." Applejack stared at Rarity with a bemused expression. Her orange-yellow cheeks had taken on a warmer tone.

Rarity's own eyes showed bewilderment for a moment, before they sparkled. She began to gush.

"Oh my stars, that was even better than I thought~!" Her voice came out in a frilly chirp. She clasped her palms to her heated-face, turning around and around in excitement before finally facing Applejack once more. "I'll admit I do need practice, but gosh, that felt so nice! And ohh, so adventurous~" Her words were practically dripping from her mouth.

"Rares, what the actual hell are ya talkin' about?" Applejack cocked an eyebrow to the "fangirling" Rarity, who had still been babbling until she cut her off. "So, ya kissed me with your tongue. Ah mean, we haven't done it quite like that before, but it ain't like it's somethin' to have a heart attack over."

"No, that wasn't just tongue-kissing, Applejack, Darling!" Applejack's words hadn't touched the girl in the slightest. "That was the baiser des étoiles." She pronounced the foreign word with such preciseness, a person who didn't know her could definitely believe she was authentically French, or at the very least, fluent in it. "It's like a baiser langue - a 'French Kiss' - but instead of just the two people's tongues touching, the libérateur runs their tongue over the récepteur's teeth, then the tips of both their tongues, and finally one last time over the bottom lip. There's also some biting, but that's the dirtier way-"

"Whoa, whoa! Stop with all this fancy-word mumbojumbo." Applejack waved her hands over her chest. Yeesh, she barely understood proper English. How was she supposed to know all this fancy stuff? "So basically, you just tried a new kiss on me, and you're so excited... why?"

"It's just a new, exciting experience," Rarity replied casually. The pinkness of her cheeks was beginning to die down and fade into marshmallow skin. "Sure, the kisses we exchange every time before we leave each other are cute, and I really like them, but isn't this one so much more exotic?"

Applejack chuckled sheepishly, releasing her hands from Rarity's hips and rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, it's pretty hot, Ah'll admit. Took me off guard though."

"I'm glad. It was my intention." Rarity lowered her eyes on her cheeks. A glint of mischief played in them, dancing around like a blue flame. She looked at Applejack's hands and took them in her own, holding them and running her hand around her fingers playfully. "Applejack, Darling... Don't you think we could stay home today? Call off classes, perhaps? I'd really like to try some other kisses..." The blush returned, but the look in the girl's eyes was more determined now, anxious to do something. "You see, that one was from Lyon. It was an old French-speaking city in Canterlot, near France. It's still there, but not many people speak French anymore. That's where the kiss comes from, though. The religious people who lived there would kiss each other like that as a deliverance from the god of the stars, hence the name, which means 'Kiss of the Stars.' I know it may seem silly, but I've really been reading up on different styles of kissing since I've read Fifty Shades of Grey."

Applejack pretend-gagged. Fifty Shades of Grey? Talk about literal garbage. That book was only made because a Twilight fangirl needed her crazy-fill of kinky BDSM sex. A twelve-year old on the internet could probably write something better than that.

"Yes, yes, I know you don't like it. But like I said, I started to look up on it. There's a different type of kiss for every city in Canterlot. Don't you think that's the most peculiar thing?" Rarity looked back up at Applejack with wistful eyes. "They have different ways of showing their affection depending on where they live. I just find it interesting... really interesting," Rarity continued. She swung the pair's hands contently, still looking up at Applejack with pleading eyes. "So, would it perhaps be alright if we took off just one measly day? That's all it would take to try out some kisses. Sixteen, to be exact. And besides, I don't think it should take that long. If anything, we'll call in late. But I think it would be good to take your mind off things today, considering the circumstances."

"Rares, don'tcha think they're gonna do dorm checks?"

"They did it last week. They only do it a few times a month." Rarity's eyes widened. She protruded her bottom lip out in a pout, flicking her eyelashes over her cheeks. "Please, AJ. Please~" She pressed her little body closer to Applejack's, hugging her tightly from the waist. "Let your diamond stay home for one day so she can give her cowgirl a bunch of kisses from around the world."

Applejack felt herself melting. God, how did Rarity have such a little-girl charm like that? She was convinced. It was impossible to say "no." Letting out a sigh of defeat, the country girl sashayed back over to the bed, flopping herself down on her side. "Fine, Rares. Guess Ah didn't really want to go to English, anyhow."

"Ooh! Thank you, Applejack, Darling, Sweetheart!" Rarity squealed happily, running over to the bed and flopping down next to her girlfriend. She hushed herself with a hiss. "Yes, we must keep her voices down, just in case." She grasped Applejack's face between her palms, looking at her excitedly. "So, we can begin, yes?"

"Whatever ya say, Rares." Applejack gave a little smile, and before she knew it --- or could even react, really --- Rarity had smashed their lips together in the dirtiest way the farm girl had ever seen from the petite town girl. Rarity worked her lips gently yet tightly around her girlfriend's, daring to slip her tongue inside once more and swipe over Applejack's bottom lip, which seemed to quiver a bit in shock. She took it between her teeth and pulled it slightly, giggling when doing so and forcing herself to finally let go.

"G-god damn, Rares!" Applejack breathed out, her cheeks a darker crimson than they had been from the "God Star Kiss" (or whatever the hell Rarity called it) before. "W-which one was that?"

"That was... well, it doesn't have a name. But it's from Pennsylvania! Nice, huh?"

"I-it was... w-wow." Applejack cocked an eyebrow. "Ah thought we were keepin' this in Canterlot?"

Rarity giggled. "Oh, hush~! It's too cute to see you so flustered, Love!" Her pearly fingers weaved through Applejack's hair. Her voice became something seductive-- low and hushed. "I want to do it a lot more. Until every breath in your body escapes..."

And so they did...

"Ah love you... Ah love you so much."

"Show me, Darling..."

Rarity's thighs draped over Applejack's pelvis, arms wound around her neck. The two stared at each other with loving eyes, foreheads sweaty and hearts pumping in their chests. The girls had stripped of their clothes. Their half-naked bodies were pressed flush against each other, Rarity on top, Applejack on bottom. Just the way they liked it.

"We did every one I could think of... but I've never been to the South..." Rarity twisted Applejack's hair between her fingers. Her eyes yearned for something. And her girlfriend thankfully knew what that something was.

Applejack cupped her palms around Rarity's warm cheeks. The pale-skinned girl felt her eyes drift away as she felt AJ stroking her soft, now tousled hair. Applejack puckered her plush, caramel lips, and slowly, she brought them to the bridge of Rarity's nose. And down her lips went, planting loving smooches on her nostrils, down to her cupid's bow, her chin, and up to her forehead. Next, they went to each one of Rarity's cheeks, before they met her lips.

Rarity's eyes fluttered open. Dreamy, but confused. And then worried. "Applejack... Darling?"

Tears had welled back in the farm girl's eyes. She was smiling, but her lips (now detached from Rarity) were quivering. Her cheeks were hot and they burned as salty droplets rolled down. Applejack's throat bucked to choke back cries.

"Applejack, Love, what ever is the matter?" Rarity grabbed her girlfriend's cheeks.

"M... Ma and Pa used to k-kiss me like that." Applejack laughed sadly, dragging her fists over her eyes. "It's... the way we leave each other every day."

"Oh... Love..." Rarity's heart throbbed. She wrapped her arms around Applejack's heaving waist, and Applejack wound her burly biceps around hers. "I guess I know now why you always turned away when we argued... That's the most you have to remember them by, huh?"

Applejack sniffled and nodded. "It's s-stupid... Ah know."

"Don't be upset..." Rarity sat up on the orange girl's tummy. "If that helps you remember them, there's no need to be ashamed of it... I love kissing you that way... I love you, Applejack."

Rarity leaned back down. She pressed her nose to AJ's.

"Even if you have those nightmares every night for the rest of your life, I'll be the one to calm you down every time."