Dear Diary,
It’s the middle of the night; sorry to get back to you so late! Once Spike returned, I ended up having to make the two of us dinner, then I had to help Rarity with trying on some of her new dresses, and once I returned home, well...Spike just wouldn’t leave me alone afterward, talking all about Rarity! But he’s finally asleep now, and here I am writing to you…or, well, on you, actually…sitting at my desk with only a candle to light the space around me. It’s a beautiful night though, all of the stars are out and I have a nice sight of the bright moon from where I’m sitting in my room. By now I would normally be going to sleep, but I still have a story to tell you.
Do you still remember what I told you about what happened yesterday? About my friend, Applejack? Well, if so you’ll remember me telling you that I couldn’t sleep at all last night. All I could think about was my friend bathing herself, and me watching as if an angel had descended into Ponyville. As corny as that sounds…it’s true. It was so embarrassing when she realized I was staring…but she didn’t really think anything of it. Probably because she was still exhausted from her sickness. Sorry, kind of getting off track here…anyway, main point is, I couldn’t sleep that night. And, well, it didn’t make for a really good morning today. Once I felt myself starting to feel tired enough to try and sleep, it was too late…
* * * * *
The sun lifted above the horizon of Equestria, as sunlight began to shine through the windows of the library home, illuminating the purple unicorn that had struggled to sleep all night.
“No…” Twilight Sparkle groaned to herself, pulling the pillow over her head in an attempt to block out the sunlight. She then slammed the mattress with her hoof in frustration, not being able to sleep that whole night. Twilight felt so tired to the point she could actually get to sleep regardless of everything that distracted her mind from its sleep cycle, but morning had arrived at last.
Twilight Sparkle eventually slid out of bed, eyes still mostly closed as she walked slowly out of her room and went downstairs to find some food. As she walked through the library to get to her kitchen, her mind once again replayed yesterday’s events, Twilight looking deeply into Applejack’s green eyes in her mind, so easily becoming lost in them. It was too much of a distraction for her; missing the doorway into the kitchen, her head slammed into one of the bookshelves, causing numerous books to topple over and fall onto Twilight, an avalanche of books burying her underneath them.
Twilight moaned once again, trying to push the books aside with her hooves and find some empty ground to stand on. She tried opening her eyes a little more, way too tired to be able to open them completely, and caught sight of the large pile of assorted books all around her. Too sleepy to do it all herself, she tried to call out for her assistant.
“Spiiiike…” Twilight tried to call out, her voice fading as her mouth opened, her calls for the dragon turning into a long yawn. Her eyes then fully closed, as her head lowered. Twilight suddenly lost all sense of everything happening around her, as she drifted off to sleep, letting out a few quiet neighs as she slept.
“Yes, Twilight?” Spike responded, arriving into the room. He saw the pile of books all over the floor, along with a sleeping unicorn in the middle of it all. No response came from her mouth, except for a few more snores.
“Twilight!” Spike said in a raised voice, hoping to get her attention. Twilight’s eyes shot open and her ears quickly raised up.
“Applejack, wait!” Twilight yelled out from her sleep. She soon realized she was no longer with the pony in her dreams, but was instead inside of her library home, still surrounded by the books that fell from her daydreaming. “Oh…right…” Twilight said quietly with another yawn afterward. “Spike…help clean the books…please…”
“You okay, Twilight?” Spike asked, starting to grab a couple of the books.
“Yes…I just…couldn’t sleep…” Twilight said, her eyes falling shut again. Spike quickly nudged her against her side, which was still bruised a little from the previous day. The pain that Twilight felt was enough of a jolt to wake her back up.
“Ow! Oh…sorry, Spike. I’ve just had a lot of thoughts on my mind…” Twilight quickly gasped and said, “Applejack! I’ve got to check up on her and see if she’s feeling better!”
Before Spike could respond, Twilight was out the door and, despite her exhaustion from lack of sleep, trotted down the path towards Applejack’s farm. Spike went back to placing the books back on the bookshelves. “I guess I’m going to be doing the cleanup on my own,” he groaned, frustrated.
It was about twenty minutes before Twilight Sparkle made it to Sweet Apple Acres. Her pace had quickly slowed as her trotting slowed down to a walk, her eyes consistently falling as she walked down the path through Sugarcube Square. She had almost started to sleepwalk as she passed through the crowds, until a clumsy grey pegasus bumped into her.
“Wha…oh, hey Derpy,” Twilight greeted as her eyes quickly opened from the impact.
“Sorry, Twilight! Have a good day!” the wall-eyed mailmare said as she flew off in another direction to continue her route.
Upon reaching the farm, she could already see a pony stumbling across the trees. But it wasn’t Big McIntosh working the fields today…it was…
“Applejack?!” Twilight shouted in surprise, running towards her friend who was still feverish but ignored her condition to continue the harvest.
“Wha…Twi, how nice of ya to come by again,” she said sweetly as she looked at Twilight. Twilight Sparkle could see the bags under Applejack’s eyes and the paleness in her color.
“Applejack…why are you out here? You’re still sick, you should be in bed getting some rest!” Twilight insisted, stomping her hoof on the ground.
Applejack scoffed and walked back to a nearby apple tree. “Who do ya think ya are, Ah know what Ah’m capable of, and Ah’ve plenty of energy to be bucking these trees!” She tried to show her strength as she lifted her hind legs and slammed into the tree. Only a single apple fell from the tree, landing into a nearby bucket.
“You see, Applejack? Your muscles are still weak! You can’t work in this condition…” Twilight explained to her friend. Applejack looked at her with half-open eyes, trying to insist she was feeling okay.
“Oh, horseapples, Twiligh’, Ah can harv…hah…” her sentence was interrupted by a long yawn, Applejack’s mouth completely wide open as her yawn was let out. Twilight watched the orange pony let her yawn out, only to respond with a yawn of her own a second later, her lack of sleep catching back up with her.
“But Applejack…you need…sleep…” It was such a wonderful word for Twilight to have in mind, that word ringing through her brain. She wanted to sleep so badly, but had to stay awake to help her friend, despite how much the idea of sleep pleased her.
“No, Twi…Ah ain’t…stoppin’…” Applejack continued on with another yawn, swinging her legs back, completely missing the tree. As her legs reconnected with the ground, her body started to sway. “Whoa…Twi…your cutie mark is everywhere…” she said with a giggle as her head rocked, her vision becoming blurry as stars began to erase her sights.
“Oh no…Applejack…you’re dizzy…we gotta get you inside…” Twilight tried to say sternly but her voice came out weaker than expected, letting out a second yawn after her statement.
“No, no…it’s fine, sugarcube…” Applejack said as her legs then collapsed, her body landing into the ground and her head resting in the grass. “Ah’ll just…close my eyes for a spell, Ah’ll only be…” Applejack couldn’t finish her sentence, as she quickly fell to sleep.
Twilight wanted to fall asleep so badly once she saw her friend, but had to keep herself awake to bring her friend to her bed. “No, Applejack…we gotta get you in your bed…sleeping here is no good for you.” She did her best to lift Applejack up, but Twilight’s arms felt just as weak. With no sleep to restore her energy, she could not budge her friend an inch. Twilight once again let out another long yawn, before her eyes fell shut. She tried once last time to wrap her hooves around Applejack’s body to pull her up, but her attempt failed. Her mouth slowly fell open as her eyes shot around inside her eyelids, the dream cycle starting to take place. The last thing Twilight could feel were her legs slowly collapsing, her head landing against a soft cushion.
It was a couple hours later before that crimson colt arrived to find two ponies by an apple tree, sound asleep. He walked up to the tree they both rested near, and slammed his rear hooves into it, causing a shower of apples to rain down upon them. Applejack quickly awoke to the rude awakening, removing her hat for a second to massage the top of her head.
“Ow! Consarn it, of all the…” she started to say to herself, looking up to see Big McIntosh standing over them. “What in the hay was that for?” Applejack said in an upset tone toward her brother.
“Why were you sleeping in the apple orchard?” Big Mac asked her sister in his iconic soft tone, staring into her eyes though to show his seriousness.
Applejack sighed. “Ah’m sorry, but Ah just cain’t slack off on the job…” she did her best to get on her feet, but felt a weight on her stomach. “Ugh, Big Mac, can y’all get off me please?”
Big Mac lifted his front hooves in the air to show none of his hooves were on her body, then taking a step back. Applejack’s eyes widened a little as she then looked down at her stomach, to find a sleepy purple unicorn resting her head on her stomach, snoring as she slept. She could then feel a pair of hooves gently wrapped around her waist, seeing Twilight’s arms around her.
“Twiligh’…wake up,” Applejack said softly, nudging her a little with one of her front hooves. Twilight’s snoring soon ended as she took a quick breath when her slumber ended. Twilight’s eyes soon opened, slowly taking in the sight of two green eyes close up into her face, looking back into her eyes. She quickly rubbed her eyes with her hooves to clear her vision, soon realizing what she was staring at when she woke up. She looked down to see the soft coat of an orange pony, and then looked back up to see the green eyes that belonged to that pony.
With a gasp from shock, Twilight Sparkle quickly raised her head in the air. “Applejack!” she shouted from surprise. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea I…” Her speech soon fell short as she felt warmth in her arms and hooves. She could feel the soft, round texture of Applejack’s stomach. As much as she wanted to stay in that moment, holding her in her arms, she quickly slid her hooves away and stood up on the ground next to her.
“My goodness, Applejack, I’m so sorry, I was just trying to bring you inside, and I must have fallen asleep. Oh I’m really really so—“
“It’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack assured her, getting up to her hooves as well, now that the extra weight was lifted off of her body.
“Really though, Applejack, I shouldn’t have slept like that, I just…I’m sorry!” Twilight cried out, then running off in embarrassment. “I’ll see you again soon, I’ve a letter to the Princess to write, go get some rest!” Twilight didn’t want to leave her friend’s side, especially since she was still sick, but had to make up some sort of believable excuse in order to escape from the awkward moment she put herself in.
“Twiligh’, Ah…oh, Ah’m still gonna harvest those—“ Applejack tried to convince herself she was still in a decent condition to continue harvesting apples, but was soon tapped on the shoulder by her older brother, who then pointed his hoof towards their home with a serious look on his face.
“…Ah should just get some rest, shouldn’t Ah?” she said with a disappointed look on her face.
“Eeyup.”
* * * * *
Yeah, can you believe it? I was so exhausted, trying to pull her up and into her home, that I ended up falling to sleep myself! When I woke up at that moment, I thought I was on my bed once again, just feeling the soft texture my head rested on, but I realized that it wasn’t a pillow I was sleeping on…it was my friend, Applejack! I had fallen asleep on her without even knowing it!
It was such an embarrassing and awkward moment…but at the same time, having her in my arms…it was an amazing feeling, I really didn’t want to let go. Her coat was so soft…and her body was so warm, probably warmer than usual because of her being so sick…she was just so comfortable! But what would have she said if I kept holding onto her? And when I saw those eyes of hers, so close to my face like that…I was just astonished by those alluring green eyes. When I finally realized I woke up to such a sight…I’m just surprised I didn’t do anything stupid. You know…like…try to…
No, I can’t think of doing such a thing to a friend like that! Oh, diary, you’ve no idea how many feelings and emotions ran through my mind during then. I just had so much on my mind since I ran from her farm like that. But it wasn’t all that bad. I actually made a stop at the bookstore on the way home, hoping I could find some new books that I could lose myself in, to ease my worries. That was when I saw a stand with various writing supplies which included empty books. Once I saw the price tag and label next to it, I realized that you weren’t just any blank book, but had been created to be used as a diary. I thought it’d be a perfect way to let out all of my emotions and ease my worries, by having a close friend to tell all my thoughts to! And so, here we are now. I’ve already written to you earlier today about what happened yesterday once I returned home with you, but now you finally got to hear what happened before I actually took you home. As for right now, it’s really late. Having to write about me falling asleep makes me realize I’m still completely out of energy. I do plan to stop by Applejack’s farm tomorrow, since I never really got to take care of her today. I don’t know how long she will be sick for, but I need to take care of her as much as I possibly can. I think tomorrow morning I’ll brew some tea and bring a little to her. It’d make for a nice surprise to help a sick pony, wouldn’t it?
Until next time,
Twilight Sparkle
* * * * *
The quill that floated magically over the diary was then placed aside, as Twilight’s head soon plummeted onto the book, her chin resting in the groove between the pages of her diary. Her mane hung over her forehead, all roughed up with various pieces of hair sticking out astray. Twilight was so tired that she didn’t pay much attention to her appearance, her mane left unkempt. Her eyes shifted over to the fire that danced across the top of the candle, moving unpredictably as a thin line of smoke also danced along, floating away from the fire.
Twilight Sparkle let out a long moan of both exhaustion and loneliness, as she thought about her friend, a color matching that of the orange fire that lit up her desk area. “Applejack…” she whispered, thinking about her friend once again, as well as everything that had happened the past two days. She had genuinely started to miss her friend that night, longing to be next to her. A minute of silence passed before Twilight soon magically put out the fire on the candle, walking away from the desk to crawl into her bed. Exhaustion soon consumed her body once she crawled onto her mattress and underneath her covers. Within seconds, her eyes shut closed and she soon drifted off to a night of rest she had longed for after the all-nighter she had previously pulled.