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// Left In The Cold (Entry #3) 
// Story: Dear Diary... 
// by Brony4L1fe90 
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Dear Diary,
Have you ever heard the saying ‘Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket’?  Probably not, since you’re a book, but…I learned the meaning of such a saying the hard way today.  Remember how I wanted to make Applejack some tea and keep her company today?  Well…


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Excited for a great morning ahead of her, Twilight Sparkle rose from her slumber before the morning had arrived, shrugging off the small amount of exhaustion she still had inside of her after not having a full night’s rest for the past two days.  She still felt a bit embarrassed for the way she had fallen asleep on Applejack the previous day, but with a new day ahead, she was confident everything will go okay.
Upon reaching her kitchen downstairs, Twilight used her magic to sort through the various flavors of tea she had stored inside the cabinets.  Twilight was never the kind of pony to drink tea all the time, but after trying a few cups with her friend Rarity, she was generous enough to give Twilight a box filled with a wide variety of flavors of tea.  After looking through most of the containers, she was able to find one that contained apple cinnamon tea.  “This is the one apple flavored tea I have, she might like this,” Twlight said to herself, then magically lifting the container of tea and taking it with her upstairs. 
Twilight Sparkle walked back upstairs, into her room, to prepare her saddlebags.  Twilight had planned a perfect day for her sick friend; after neglecting to stay the whole time yesterday, she had wanted to stay by Applejack’s side all day today to take good care of her.  First, she would make sure Applejack was absolutely comfortable, so the first items to go in her bags were a spare pillow and a couple of folded blankets.  Second would be the liquids, which she’s already covered with the tea.  Third on the list is to provide entertainment for the pony, as she’s surely feeling down for not being able to work on the farm; Twilight packed a couple of board games, as she thought Applejack may not be too interested in the books that Twilight would have wanted to read her.
After placing the boxes for Battleclouds and Monopony inside her bags, she smiled as her packing was finally complete, but her smile soon faded.  “How am I going to carry all of this?” she asked herself, noticing how everything she packed was bulging out of the bags.  Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of tapping on the windows of her room.  Twilight hadn’t noticed until now that it was finally dawn, though the sky was still dark from the rainclouds that covered Ponyville, the first drops of rainfall impacting the window of Twilight’s room.
“Oh no!  I can’t miss out on today!”  Twilight Sparkle said, quickly floating her bags onto her back and running down the stairs.  She was confident she could make it to Sweet Apple Acres in time, but she would have to gallop as fast as she could to make it there.
Not even that, however, would have been enough, especially with the awkwardly packed extra weight in her bags.  Twilight ran out of her home to encounter the sprinkling of cold rain on her coat.  Once she closed the door and made her way down towards Sugarcube Square, she could feel the rain starting to pick up a little, turning into moderate rainfall.  Twilight Sparkle shivered a little from the coldness of the rain on her, feeling the drops of water drip down her face and off her mane, but continued to press onward while increasing her pace.  Within minutes, she was outside of town and along the path to Sweet Apple Acres, but the rain soon became too much for the unicorn.  Before she knew it, heavy rain fell upon Ponyville, the rain soon becoming so thick that Twilight wasn’t able to see very far ahead of herself, and soon lost sight of Sweet Apple Acres in the distance.
Twilight was freezing cold, her body shaking as she continued to gallop as fast as she could through the storm.  At this point, Twilight started to lose focus on meeting Applejack, and cared more about finding some sort of shelter.  Luckily, she was approaching the Cutie Mark Crusder’s tree house and decided to take shelter there, running up and into the house before the rain could intensify any further.
“Ugh, I really need to stay in touch with Rainbow Dash more often about the planned weather around here…” Twilight Sparkle said to herself in frustration after having to soak herself in such a downpour.  Hoping to dry herself off and keep warm while the storm passes, Twilight reached from her bags to grab the blanket.  There was a problem, however; after trying to shove so much into her bags, the bags were never closed properly.  As a result, the blankets were also soaked from the rain.  With no way to keep warm and dry, Twilight soon realized she could not stay inside of the tree house for much longer while she was shivering from the cold rain on her body.  Twilight’s head lowered in disappointment, knowing that she could not stay around; putting herself through such a health risk for a friend like this was something she knew she’d regret.


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It was right at that moment that I knew I was pushing myself way too far.  I was letting all these simple moments of attraction that I had the past couple days drive me through such extremities, that I was going to end up doing more harm to myself than I was doing good for Applejack.  Even if I did make it to her place, with everything soaked, there wasn’t much I could do except sit there and talk with her and maybe bring her food and stuff, but what would she think if she knew I tried running through a really heavy downpour just to see her?  What would she say to me?
So after all that trouble of trying to see Applejack, I ended up leaving the tree house immediately to return back home.  I was so cold upon entering my house that I couldn’t stop shivering, even after wrapping myself with a robe.  That rain continued on for hours, and all throughout, I contemplated every thought I had for Applejack, knowing I was taking everything a bit too far.  I figured that for the time being, the best thing I could do was see my other friends for a while, to try and take all these nagging thoughts out of my mind.
And that’s exactly what I ended up doing.  I had to wait a good five hours before the rain finally stopped, but once it did, I decided to stop by Rarity’s home and pay her a visit for a while, and also to plan a little something for all of my friends.


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“Well I think that’s just a fabulous idea, darling!” Rarity said, as she sipped some peppermint herbal tea that she had prepared for her and Twilight Sparkle.  “Everyone can meet at the spa tomorrow at noon, and we can all enjoy some relaxation time together!”
Twilight also took a sip of her tea as well.  It had a nice taste to it: wasn’t too overwhelming, but the peppermint left a fresh, minty feeling in her mouth.  “Thanks, Rarity.  I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, so spending that time with everypony will definitely ease a lot of my troubles.”
“Troubles?  Is everything okay, Twilight?” Rarity then asked, worried.
“Oh!  Uh…y-yeah, everything’s fine,” Twilight stuttered, trying to get past the subject.  “So, tomorrow at noon then.  Do you need me to tell anypony or will you be okay spreading the invitation?”
Rarity was surprised by Twilight’s sudden rushing of the conversation, but continued anyway.  “Y-yeah, I’ll let them know, don’t worry.  Darling, are you certain you’re okay?”
Twilight’s hooves began to shake a little out of anxiousness.  She really didn’t want to talk about all of these feelings taking over her mind.  It was much easier for her to write her thoughts out on paper the past couple of days than it was to tell a close friend, especially since it involved feelings for a mutual friend, let alone that friend being another mare.
“Yes, Rarity,” Twilight Sparkle quickly answered, and just as quickly placed the cup up to her mouth, trying to prolong her sipping of the tea in hopes that her nerves would ease.  Twilight’s eyes shifted around the room and at her friend across the table from her, as her closed lips stayed against the cup, the tea still sitting in the cup.  The silence quickly became awkward, as Twilight continued to exaggerate the time spent sipping to avoid further conversation about what was on her mind, while Rarity waited for her friend to place her cup back down to continue the conversation.  The two remained at a stalemate before one of them finally spoke.
“Um, Twilight…you do realize you’ve had that cup at your lips for three minutes now?”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she then realized how long she had tried to stay quiet for.  At that moment, she opened her mouth and allowed all of the remaining tea to pour from the cup into her mouth, downing it all with one swallow.  Twilight’s eyes closed on their own as the taste increased in strength after swallowing such a large amount at once, but then soon reopened, as she placed the cup back down on the table.
“Yeah, I know Rarity, and it was some great tea,” Twilight said, doing her best to stay natural, although further confusing her friend.  “Well, I’d best be on my way now, it’s getting late.”
“But Twilight, it’s only three in the afternoon,” Rarity commented.
“It sure is, and that means it’s time for me to head back home, I’ll see you tomorrow Rarity!” Twilight said quickly and nervously with an awkwardly large grin, then excusing herself from the table and leaving Rarity’s home.


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It’s times like that I really wish I weren’t so lame when it comes to social skills.  I don’t know, what do you think, diary?  Should I have just told her?  I know you’re a book and you won’t respond to that, but…ugh.  I just don’t need more issues causing so much stress that I really don’t need.  But, tomorrow will be a good day hopefully.  I might get to see Applejack tomorrow, depending on how she’s feeling…but if not, I’ll try to have a good day with everypony else.  I think for the rest of the night, it’s best I just get caught up in a good book.  I’ve been cold all day after that run through the rain, so it’d be nice to end my night warm under the covers with a good book.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Wish me luck,
Twilight Sparkle