//------------------------------// // Oh To Dream Without My eyes (Contest) // Story: Bucket of Apples (Speedwriting Anthology) // by applejackofalltrades //------------------------------// It was a beautiful sunny day. The air smelled like apples and there were juicy, fruitful trees as far as the eye could see. Why, it almost seemed like a dream. Applejack took off her giant hat and waved it in the air, her hoof somehow keeping a grip on it.  “Yeehaw! This is the best day ever!” she yelled into the endless field of trees. If there was anything that Applejack loved to do, it was hard work. Yes, hard work is all that mattered. And most of all, she loved her hat, which she placed back on her head. Applejack breathed in deeply and smiled. She could never get past that delicious smell of juicy, sweet apples at Sweet Apple Acres.  As she walked closer to the trees, she felt her muscles bunch up in anticipation. The first day of applebucking season was always her favourite day of the year. The feeling of satisfaction of a job well done, and the sound of the perfectly ripened apples hitting the bottom of the barrel. Every thud perfectly aligned with the beating of her heart. It was as if her entire life was made for this.  But something was off. She was deep in the woods; she must have been walking for longer than she thought. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, and there was the silhouette of another pony. “Hello? Is anypony there?” Her voice wavered as she saw the unmistakable shape of a giant hat. Sweet Pepper looked around in confusion. Why were there so many trees? Why was she in her Daring Do cosplay? Where even was she? At least it smelled really good. “Hello? Is anypony there?” a voice called out from the distance.  “Oh sweet Celestia,” she hissed. There was somepony else here with her in these dark, deliciously fragrant woods. Maybe they were friendly, but maybe they weren’t. Did she really want to find out? Sweet Pepper looked around in the dark, her eyes barely adjusting to the low level of light as she darted behind a tree, hoping that the other pony wouldn’t find her.  “Come on out, I don’t wanna hurt ya,” the voice carried through the woods again. Was that true? Who knows. Sweet Pepper sure didn’t. But at least having her Daring Do costume made her feel better. Maybe she could be just as strong as Daring Do herself! Yes. that would have to work. Daring Do would never be afraid of somepony making their existence known to that level. No, Daring Do would face them head on. So she took a step out, finally able to see in the darkness. Another mare stood a few hoof-lengths away from her. She seemed to be orange with a long mane tied at the end, like her tail. But most curiously, on the top of her head sat a hat.  “A giant… hat?” Sweet Pepper questioned out loud.  “You have a giant hat too? But why?” The mare tilted her head in confusion and took another step forward. “That don’t make any sense at all.” Sweet Pepper shrugged. “I don’t know, this is my Daring Do costume.” Why were they just standing there talking about giant hats? Actually, why were they there at all? Luna frowned curiously as she observed the scene in front of them. “Oh, I know Daring Do. Never read the books, but I know her,” Applejack told her. “You know her?” “Eeyup.” Okay, this was getting a bit strange. They started talking about their hats and what they meant. Sweet Pepper went on about the holes in them, and how she figured out exactly how many arrows had gone through Daring Do’s hat. She was a super fan after all.  But it was strange that they were both there. Luna stepped out from her blatantly obvious hiding place in the shadows and cleared her throat. The two mares screamed in surprise, and then each raised a hoof to their chest.  Applejack was the only one to speak, while Sweet Pepper bowed. “Princess Luna? What are ya doin’ here?” What was she doing here? That was a great question. “I do not know. I felt a disturbing presence in this dream, but not a nightmarish one. I came to investigate, and I found you two here.” Sweet Pepper stood up and raised an eyebrow dubiously. “Wait, a dream? So this isn’t real?” Luna shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Although, it seems to be Applejack’s dream mostly.” She sniffed the air audibly and smiled. “A nice one, too.” “Wait, Applejack?” Sweet Pepper turned to look at the orange mare. It was suddenly bright outside. “Oh I know you! Well about you.” Applejack opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a voice from above. “Heads up!” With a crash and a totally non-lethal explosion of fire, Spitfire entered the growing circle of ponies. She was wearing her Wonderbolts uniform for reasons that can only be described as “It was in the picture”. She stood up, her eyes lolling about her head as she shook back into reality. Or, well, not reality. “Woah, sorry. Not sure what just happened there. I was doing some flying, you know, trying to get my speed up when all of a sudden my wings stopped working.” Spitfire rubbed her head with a hoof. For a totally non lethal explosion, that really hurt. She looked at the ponies surrounding her. Applejack, some cosplayer, and… Princess Luna? Wait, that wasn’t even the weirdest part. She gestured to Applejack and the wannabe Daring Do and cocked her aching head. “Uh, those are some giant hats.” Applejack and the other mare looked up at their hats. “Wow, they just seem to be getting bigger!” Sweet Pepper exclaimed. Spitfire’s arcane knowledge led her to the conclusion that the other pony’s name was Sweet Pepper. Applejack chuckled and flicked her hat with a hoof. “You’re right. Rarity’s gonna love this.” “Giant hats?” Fiddlesticks yelled into the circle of ponies. “I have a giant hat too!” Fiddlesticks sprinted over to them, since ponies are able to materialize into existence now. She not only sprinted into the group, but on her hind hooves too. She was really just so talented she played an entire orchestra written for multiple instruments on her fiddle. And truly, the giant hat on her head was no match for anypony else’s. It was so large that it just kept growing at exponential rates. The once bright circle of ponies was downcast by the shadow from Fiddlestick’s giant hat. “I think mine is the biggest.” Applejack gasped and looked at Fiddlesticks, who may or may not be her cousin, it was kind of unclear. “Wow Fiddle! That’s a big hat!” As soon as she said that, her and Sweet Pepper’s hats deflated like balloons and hit Spitfire and Luna in the face respectively. Spitfire coughed. She was on fire, possibly from the grand entrance that she had made before, but it didn’t seem to bother her. Luna was still, like a statue. “I know,” Fiddlesticks agreed with a giggle. “It gets larger the more I play my fiddle.” She kept playing her fiddle, she played so fast because if you can play it slowly, you can play it quickly.  This was something she learned from her dear friend Lightning Dust. Oh, and speaking of Lightning Dust... If you thought Spitfire’s entrance was grand, then Lightning Dust’s was somehow even bigger. Almost as big as Fiddlesticks’ giant hat. “Yeah! Play that fiddle, Fiddle! Woo hoo!” Lightning Dust flew in so quickly, she clipped through the floor and out of existence. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.” This made everyone laugh. Luna was the only exception. She was still, like a statue. Fiddlesticks giggled and kept playing her fiddle. “Don’t worry, this happens all the time.” Spitfire continued to blaze like a bonfire. “Uh, you do know this is a dream, right?” Applejack and Sweet Pepper nodded in agreement with Spitfire’s arcane knowledge. “Oh, well, either way,” Fiddlesticks stated simply with a shrug. “It happens.” Applejack, Spitfire, and Fiddlesticks looked at each other in confusion. Luna was starting to erode. Maybe she would turn to dust? No, that wasn’t it. Spitfire’s growing ember of flames was starting to make her shiny, it wasn’t erosion. With a dramatic swipe of her bow, Fiddlesticks finished her orchestral piece and exhaled loudly, mimicking a crowd. “And that was my piece!” Her giant hat popped and fell back onto her head. It was normal sized now. “What did you think?” “It was really good!” Lightning Dust’s voice said from somewhere. And then the ground started shaking. “Darn it, not another one,” Applejack muttered. The thundering boom of a giant hoofstep filled everyone’s minds, shaking their bodies down to the very core of their existence. The ground trembled as Sweetie Belle walked in. She was not foal sized anymore. She was big. Huge. One might even say, giant. Almost as big as Fiddlesticks’ once-giant hat. “Hi everypony!” Sweetie Belle’s voice was so loud and high pitched that Luna broke free from her catatonic state and shrieked. This caused everyone else to scream, because they had forgotten that Luna was there. “Sweetie Belle? What in tarnation happened to ya?” Applejack looked up at the monstrously humongous Sweetie Belle, a look of both fear and admiration on her face. Sweetie Belle shrugged, daring the world itself to give her an answer. “I don’t know, but it’s amazing! Now Apple Bloom can’t say she’s the tallest one!” Spitfire crackled. That was not a typo, she crackled. Little bits of fire flew from her. “Wait! Something is happening!” Everyone turned to Spitfire in fear except for Sweetie Belle. She looked down. “What?” Spitfire shook violently, her fire growing bigger until it hissed and disappeared. But the pony that remained was not Spitfire. In fact, Sweetie Belle had no idea who this one was. She narrowed her eyes and hummed in confusion, a shockwave that made the trees sway. But Applejack seemed to know something. She gasped.  “Autumn Blaze?” Applejack questioned carefully. She was still, almost as still as Luna for a second. Then, she lifted a hoof and opened her mouth, belting the most beautiful note that anypony had ever heard.  It was so beautiful, it made them all cry. A giant tear drop fell from Sweetie’s face and splashed onto everyone. Autumn Blaze kept singing the one note. She had too much power, if she even tried a simple melody, everyone might die of happiness, so she kept singing the one note. It was a D sharp.  “Autumn, please stop,” Applejack sniffled. Her eyes were red from all the crying. “You’re gonna make Sweetie Belle drown us all.” The kirin had been running out of breath anyway, so she nodded. “Yeah, okay, Applejack.” She stopped singing, and everyone stopped crying abruptly. Not a single gasp for breath was heard. It was as if somepony had stopped spinning a record. “Say, how did I get here?’ “Well, Spitfire was here but then she turned into you,” Sweet Pepper explained.  Autumn Blaze nodded wisely. “Wow, I can’t wait to tell all of my friends about that.” “MWAH HAH HAH HAH!!! FRIENDS?” A voice larger than life echoed through the dreamscape. “FRIENDS ARE FOR LOSERS!” Sweetie Belle started to shrink like the author’s will to live. She became so tiny so fast, she had to climb onto Luna’s back, who was once again still like a statue. “That voice,” Applejack murmured. Fiddlesticks played a dramatic sting on her fiddle. “Dun dun dun.” “FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, YOU SAY? BLAH. UNTRUE.” “It can’t be,” Applejack whispered. Autumn Blaze hummed under her breath, not caring about whatever was happening. “Starlight Glimmer?” “This is stupid,” Lightning Dusk said from the abyss she was in. “I’m so glad I clipped out of existence.” “CLIP OUT OF EXISTENCE? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?” “Oh it’s a video game thing. Do you not have video games where you’re from?” “NO.” Applejack coughed. “Uh, are ya gonna wake up?” Wallflower opened her eyes. “What the hell?” Applejack stood in front of her. The real one. Not whatever the hell her dream had been. “I said, are ya gonna wake up? Ya fell asleep.” Fell asleep? Oh, well that would definitely explain the dream she had just had. “Oh, right, sorry.” Wallflower stood up drowsily and picked up the book off her desk. It was wet with drool. Gross. “So, how are you guys?” “Fine, I guess,” Applejack answered with a shrug. “How bout you?” She eyed Wallflower’s spit-covered textbook. “Have a good sleep?” A good sleep? Could she even call that a good sleep? “Uh, kind of? I had this really weird dream.” “Really?” Applejack followed Wallflower out the classroom door with an intrigued smirk on her face. “What was it?” Wallflower put a finger up to her chin. Unlike most of her other dreams, this one didn’t seem to fade away immediately. “Well, in my dream you were this little… Horse thing. With a giant hat. That seemed to be important.” Applejack absentmindedly lifted a hand to adjust her hat. “Oh, well, that’s a bit strange,” she said with an odd grin. “Can’t say I’ve heard that one before.” “Yeah, it was weird. Anyway, so you were going into this forest when you saw this other horse with this giant hat…”