//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: What Dreams May Take Shape // by ThatHandsomeDevil //------------------------------// Apple Bloom awoke that morning feeling like part of her was missing. She slowly worked her way off of the ground, dirt trapped here and there in her mane, and dusted on her cheek, as well. The smell of earth invaded her nostrils, along with another scent... A scent that reminded her ever so slightly of the potion that she had helped Zecora make only two days ago. But it smelled like something else. It smelt like grass after the rainfall, like the salty air of the sea, which Apple Bloom had only gotten to see once, while visiting cousins. She recalled wanting to sketch the angry leviathan of water the moment she laid eyes on it. Sometimes, she still wondered if such a chance would ever arise. Apple Bloom had dreamt a most peculiar dream that evening, sleeping under the apple tree with no leaves. It was not unpleasant, simply filled with a feeling of detachment the likes of which she could not understand nor explain. It felt like a very part of the essence of her being was being molded; shifted and changed into a single form, growing and filling itself out into a separate object entirely separate from her being. Like a piece of her heart had been snapped off and made into something different. Finally, after getting her bearings, Apple Bloom stood rather unsteadily on her hooves, turning around to get a better look at the peculiar tree she had fallen asleep at the base of the night before. Its branches were devoid of any sort of life, branches bare and leafless. However, it appeared to be healthy, almost giving off a radiance of its own. Definitely, however, the most perplexing feature of this tree was the single apple that Apple Bloom discovered hanging from a low branch on the other side of the tree. It was red, with splashes of bright blues, greens, and yellows, much too evenly colored and randomly placed to be part of any normal apple. Maybe it’s a new kind of Zap Apple tree? Apple Bloom thought to herself, examining the bark of the tree. It wasn’t a purplish tinge, like a Zap Apple tree would have, nor did it appear to have any sort of electrical discharge. For now, Apple Bloom dismissed the idea, and got a better look at the mysterious apple. While looks alone wouldn’t give it away as appealing, everything else about it did. The smell of the apple, fragrant and tinged with light spices, like apple cider, along with the things she’d been smelling before, and the strange, soft texture both felt welcoming to Apple Bloom, inviting her to take a single bite, the snake and the forbidden fruit of her Tree of Eden, in one dangerous combination. Apple Bloom felt a growling in her stomach, sending the rest of her body into a rumbling that convinced her that it was time to feast. She raised the apple to her lips, taking a single bite. She savored the taste of the fruit first. It was like all of the best tastes that reminded her of her home and her family and everything else rolled into one item. Apple pie and cider and fritters and tarts and everything else sweet and delicious. It even tasted like Zap Apple Jam! Apple Bloom wolfed down the fruit like a starved animal, the entire thing reduced to a core without seeds in less than 20 seconds. By the time she was done, Apple Bloom felt full; not only in her stomach, but in her heart, as well. Like the piece she couldn’t help but feel had been taken out the night previous had been placed back inside, stronger and better than ever. Apple Bloom remembered the sketch pad she had abandoned last night in favor of sleep. It lay beside the base of the tree, still clean besides a few brushes of dust that dotted the canvas. The yellow filly blew on the paper to scatter the dust away, viewing the previous night’s effort to sketch anything worth seeing. As always, the craftsmanship was shoddy. The true desire to create could be seen, but couldn’t be conveyed. Little Apple Bloom was overwhelmed with emotion. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed like she always came up empty handed. Her work and effort, her true desire to return something to the world, was for nothing! Was she so doomed to live with such inhibitions with no way to exhibit them? Such a thought was even worse than the thought of never earning her cutie mark, if such a thing was even possible... Still... Apple Bloom felt something new and different in her heart. A presence of warmth and strength that had not manifested until this moment. She felt a sudden urge to create anyhow, regardless of whether or not anyone ever saw it. To Tartarus with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! If they were to live their lives in ignorance, then let them. What they thought of her was of no concern to her. She retrieved her pencil from the ground, focusing her artistic discretion on the strange tree. As Apple Bloom sketched, she felt a strange sensation almost tugging against her hoof like a piece of string attached to her nerves. Like there was an unseen force pushing her hoof further and reeling it in when her lines went off course. It wasn’t enough to be distracting, really, but she could feel it there, coaxing her. Before she knew it, the lines she had been, only a moment before, haphazardly creating, were connected. Apple Bloom could do nothing at that moment, really, except for gasp. Her sketch, which would otherwise have resulted in a jumbled mess of jagged lines, was, instead, a clear, and concise sketch of the tree. The lines weren’t spot on, but translated well from page to the real world, nearly to scale, with proportions and even perspective all much improved. Apple Bloom could not believe that her own hoof had sketched something so much... better. It brought a question to her mind; “Was it even me that made this sketch... Or something else?”. The filly didn’t know. What she did know is that now she could rub her talent in those snooty little filly’s faces! That would teach them to bully her, and treat her like somethin’ to throw into yesterdays scrap heap! Apple Bloom set off to find something much more grand and elaborate to sketch. Something to really wow the two schoolyard bullies. WIth her new talent, anything seemed possible. The core of the gift-giving apple lay forgotten at the foot of the tree. Within 30 minutes, it was gone, returned to the dirt from which it had sprung.