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Description
The afternoon sun bore down hot on the Campsite with not a single breeze to help alleviate the heat. It certainly didn’t help that it was crowded with foals running to and fro with their parents, eager to show them their bunks or macaroni lanterns. Twilight looked all around her, from the tables covered with food that some devious colts were sneaking snacks from, to the stage where a band of old looking stallions was playing a riveting folk song on banjos and guitars. It was all very distracting and with the crowd constantly shouting and moving, Twilight couldn’t pick out her own foal from among the group.
She was just about to fly up for a birds-eye view, when all of a sudden, a tiny, high-pitched voice called out in the midst of the confusion, “Mommy, Mommy!”
It didn’t matter how boisterous and noisy it was, Twilight would recognize that voice anywhere. Looking in the direction from which she heard it, She was barely able to make out her little green filly from among the crowd. Twilight waved eagerly, hoping Pansy would notice, but it seemed the filly had already seen her and was heading straight for her……pulling along a stallion behind her?
Before Twilight could realize what was going on, Pansy came running up to her, joyfully screaming, “Mommy! Mommy! You’re here!”
Within a flash, Twilight scooped up her filly into her arms and snuggled her tight, kissing her head over and over again.
“Oh, my little Pansy, I’ve missed you so much! Too much. You never allowed to be this long away from me again, you here?” Twilight teased, bopping her filly’s nose and making her giggle.
“But I like it here, Mommy! I even made a new friend!” She smiled proudly.
“You did!” Twilight gasped, setting her filly down. “Pansy, I’m so proud of you! Can I meet this new friend of yours?” She asked, maybe a little too enthusiastically.
Pansy eagerly pointed to the stallion standing awkwardly off to the side, saying, “He’s right here, Mommy. This is Timber Spruce, he’s my new friend!”
Twilight glanced up just in time to see the stallion jump out of his skin at the mention of his name, before giving a somewhat uneasy smile. She was stunned, and looking him over- a tall, twenty-looking, bushy-browed stallion wasn’t exactly what Twilight had in mind when picturing a friend for Pansy.
Since both adults seemed incapable of starting a conversation at the moment, Pansy pipped up, “Timber, this is my Mommy! Mommy, this is Timber!”
“Oh, right!” Timber exclaimed, as a look of realization struck the stupid grin off his face. Making a clumsy, half-hearted, hurried bow to Twilight, he said, “How do you do…your a….highness?”
yeah, I totally just flunked that.
It was now Twilight’s turn to be startled out of her stupor, and waving a hoof, she quickly reassured him, “Oh- you really don’t have to do that. Like I told your sister, you can address me as just Twilight. “
Timber rubbed the back of his neck as he awkwardly stuttered out, “ Oh yeah, sure, n-no problem, totally cool, I understand yeah I….yeah….heh heh.”
Yep, totally flunked.
“Mommy, guess what! Timber taught me how to start a fire using just two rocks! “Pansy chimed in, consequently saving the converstation from an awkward silence.
“Oh, did he now?” said Twilight, secretly relieved.
“Yeah! And yesterday, we went out on a canoe together and he helped me steer it! We even went over a waterfall and I got scared, so Timber held me so I would fall out. And-and then, we went on a scavenger hunt and Timber and me, we won and got a pretty blue ribbon that he let me keep, and we also played checkers and sang songs and caught fireflies and-and we even found a baby deer!” Pansy finished her rambling, bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Well, it sounds like you and Timber had a good time then, huh?” Twilight said, giving Timber a knowing smile.
Timber said, smiling sheepishly back, “ Heh heh, yep. We sure did.”
“Oh! Oh! And Mommy, Mommy, we even got to see the…the…con-sel-lation Orion! I even drew a picture of it and-oh!” Pansy stopped, her eyes going wide with realization. “I almost forgot, Timber and I made you a gift, a surprise gift, I’ll go get it for you-be right back!” Pansy barely finished her sentence before darting off into the crowd and was gone before Twilight could get a word on.
The stallion and mare turned to look at each other, stupefied. After a moment, Twilight smiled before bursting into a fit of giggles. Timber couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit himself.
Catching her breath, Twilight said slightly embarrassed, “I’m so sorry about that; I didn’t expect her to run off like she did,”
Timber shrugged casually, without the slightest trace of nervousness since Twilight had met him. “Eh, it’s no biggie, “ he said, “I know she’s been dying to give you her your gift ever since she started working on it, which if I recall correctly, was about three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks ago!?” Twilight cried out in surprise. “ What could have possibly taken so long for her to make?”
“Sorry, can’t tell you. Pansy swore me to secrecy,” he said slyly, pretending to zip his lips shut.
The alicorn smiled smugly in return. “Oh? Well, can you at least tell me were the drink stand is? Or is that a secret as well?”
“Oh no, the drinks are no secret at all- only the ingredients inside them are. Would you allow me the pleasure of escorting you there?” Timber asked with a dramatic, royal air as he imitated a mock bow, this time much more gracefully.
Twilight snickered. “The pleasure is all mine,” she said, before heading through the crowd with Timber leading the way.
She was just about to fly up for a birds-eye view, when all of a sudden, a tiny, high-pitched voice called out in the midst of the confusion, “Mommy, Mommy!”
It didn’t matter how boisterous and noisy it was, Twilight would recognize that voice anywhere. Looking in the direction from which she heard it, She was barely able to make out her little green filly from among the crowd. Twilight waved eagerly, hoping Pansy would notice, but it seemed the filly had already seen her and was heading straight for her……pulling along a stallion behind her?
Before Twilight could realize what was going on, Pansy came running up to her, joyfully screaming, “Mommy! Mommy! You’re here!”
Within a flash, Twilight scooped up her filly into her arms and snuggled her tight, kissing her head over and over again.
“Oh, my little Pansy, I’ve missed you so much! Too much. You never allowed to be this long away from me again, you here?” Twilight teased, bopping her filly’s nose and making her giggle.
“But I like it here, Mommy! I even made a new friend!” She smiled proudly.
“You did!” Twilight gasped, setting her filly down. “Pansy, I’m so proud of you! Can I meet this new friend of yours?” She asked, maybe a little too enthusiastically.
Pansy eagerly pointed to the stallion standing awkwardly off to the side, saying, “He’s right here, Mommy. This is Timber Spruce, he’s my new friend!”
Twilight glanced up just in time to see the stallion jump out of his skin at the mention of his name, before giving a somewhat uneasy smile. She was stunned, and looking him over- a tall, twenty-looking, bushy-browed stallion wasn’t exactly what Twilight had in mind when picturing a friend for Pansy.
Since both adults seemed incapable of starting a conversation at the moment, Pansy pipped up, “Timber, this is my Mommy! Mommy, this is Timber!”
“Oh, right!” Timber exclaimed, as a look of realization struck the stupid grin off his face. Making a clumsy, half-hearted, hurried bow to Twilight, he said, “How do you do…your a….highness?”
yeah, I totally just flunked that.
It was now Twilight’s turn to be startled out of her stupor, and waving a hoof, she quickly reassured him, “Oh- you really don’t have to do that. Like I told your sister, you can address me as just Twilight. “
Timber rubbed the back of his neck as he awkwardly stuttered out, “ Oh yeah, sure, n-no problem, totally cool, I understand yeah I….yeah….heh heh.”
Yep, totally flunked.
“Mommy, guess what! Timber taught me how to start a fire using just two rocks! “Pansy chimed in, consequently saving the converstation from an awkward silence.
“Oh, did he now?” said Twilight, secretly relieved.
“Yeah! And yesterday, we went out on a canoe together and he helped me steer it! We even went over a waterfall and I got scared, so Timber held me so I would fall out. And-and then, we went on a scavenger hunt and Timber and me, we won and got a pretty blue ribbon that he let me keep, and we also played checkers and sang songs and caught fireflies and-and we even found a baby deer!” Pansy finished her rambling, bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Well, it sounds like you and Timber had a good time then, huh?” Twilight said, giving Timber a knowing smile.
Timber said, smiling sheepishly back, “ Heh heh, yep. We sure did.”
“Oh! Oh! And Mommy, Mommy, we even got to see the…the…con-sel-lation Orion! I even drew a picture of it and-oh!” Pansy stopped, her eyes going wide with realization. “I almost forgot, Timber and I made you a gift, a surprise gift, I’ll go get it for you-be right back!” Pansy barely finished her sentence before darting off into the crowd and was gone before Twilight could get a word on.
The stallion and mare turned to look at each other, stupefied. After a moment, Twilight smiled before bursting into a fit of giggles. Timber couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit himself.
Catching her breath, Twilight said slightly embarrassed, “I’m so sorry about that; I didn’t expect her to run off like she did,”
Timber shrugged casually, without the slightest trace of nervousness since Twilight had met him. “Eh, it’s no biggie, “ he said, “I know she’s been dying to give you her your gift ever since she started working on it, which if I recall correctly, was about three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks ago!?” Twilight cried out in surprise. “ What could have possibly taken so long for her to make?”
“Sorry, can’t tell you. Pansy swore me to secrecy,” he said slyly, pretending to zip his lips shut.
The alicorn smiled smugly in return. “Oh? Well, can you at least tell me were the drink stand is? Or is that a secret as well?”
“Oh no, the drinks are no secret at all- only the ingredients inside them are. Would you allow me the pleasure of escorting you there?” Timber asked with a dramatic, royal air as he imitated a mock bow, this time much more gracefully.
Twilight snickered. “The pleasure is all mine,” she said, before heading through the crowd with Timber leading the way.
Feeling more confident now that the ice was broke and his dry throat was soothed, Timber leaned an elbow on the table, saying, “So, Twilight, wanna explain where your royal entourage went?”
“Excuse me?” Twilight said, nearly choking on her drink.
Levitating a napkin to her, Timber continued, “Well, it’s just that I figured with you being a Princess and all that, you’d have some guards or trumpeters with you. You know, the whole Royal Shabang?”
“Oh no, I’m not that kind of Princess,” she said. “Celestia, Luna, and Cadence are the ones with the Royal guards and trumpeters. Personally, I never saw the need for me to have any such thing. I prefer to be Twilight Sparkle first and foremost with everyone before I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Timber rubbed his neck again, saying, “ I see, well, you must excuse my ignorance. We don’t get much news from the world outside of Camp Everfree very often and when we do, it’s usually through the grapevine of other campers.”
“Oh, really?” Twilight asked, surprised. “How long have you been working here?”
“Ehhhhh, pretty much my whole life. I grew up here with my sister and, once our parents died, Gloriosa took it over and has been running the place ever since,” he said, shrugging.
Twilight brought her hoof to her mouth in a gasp. “Oh…I’m so sorry to hear about…your parents.”
“It’s fine, really. We still miss them a lot, but, we’ve been doing pretty well on our own. Especially when it comes to Glory. She’s always had a heart for this camp, ever since she was a filly, and has put so much of herself into just to keep it going. Without her, I don’t think this place would even still exists,” he said, taking a sweeping glance around him.
Filling her glass up again, Twilight said, “What about you? Don’t you think you could run the camp?”
“It’s not a matter of whether I could run it or not, though to be honest, Gloriosa sure gives me a run for my money. It’s just that….to be honest, I’m not the one who wanted to keep the Camp going, Glory is. The Camp means the world to her, and the only reason I’m still here is to support my sister. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy what I do here. It’s just…I never really saw myself as being a Camp Counselor all my life. “ Timber said, leaning over and staring down at his empty cup.
Twilight leaned in a little herself and cocking her head, she asked, “Well, where do you see yourself, then?”
Timber thought a moment, then peered up at her and said, “I haven’t given it much thought since we started running the camp on our own, but…as a kid, I dreamed of being some sort of traveling forest ranger.”
“Really? That’s not surprising, knowing you grew up at a Camp in the middle of the woods. I was picturing something more original, like writing or baking,” Twilight said
“Hey now! I was only seven and it’s not like I had a bunch of options sitting out in plain sight,” Timber said, feigning offense.
Twilight laughed, “Alright, alright, I see your point. Well, do you ever plan to pursue a dream like that?”
“I…don’t really know,” He said slowly, becoming thoughtful for a moment.“I think about it from time to time, but…I keep feeling that if I were to leave, I’d let Gloriosa down.”
“Maybe you should talk to her about it? See what she says,” Twilight offered.
Timber went back to staring at his empty cup, saying half-heartedly, “You’re probably right.”
A moment of silence settled in between them, leaving Twilight unsure of what to say next.
“For what it’s worth, I think you add a lot more to the camp than you give yourself credit for,” the alicorn finally said, real honesty and encouragement in her tone. “I mean, you certainly have a talented way with kids, that’s for sure. I have never before seen Pansy warm up to anypony like she has to you. How did you ever do it?”
“Would….you believe me if I told you it was my sense of humor and remarkable feats of bravery?” he said, looking up and wiggling his eyebrows in a convincing manner.
Giving him a slight nudge, Twilight scoffed, “Yeah, right”
“Okay, okay, you got me.” Timber said as he raised his hooves in mock surrender. “It could have something to do with the fact that I helped her through her first week of being homesick. Ever since then, she’s been following me like a second shadow, begging me to do this with her or that for her. She keeps me on my hooves, that’s for sure. But really, I don’t mind. Pansy’s the sweetest little filly I’ve ever met with a heart of gold. I’m sure she must make you and your husband so proud.”
Twilight glanced away at that, blushing slightly. “Well,” she hesitated, “I know she sure is the pride and joy of my life, but as for her father….there’s actually isn’t one. I adopted Pansy as a foal.”
“Really!? I would never have guessed that. Afterall, she does have your eyes deep, rich purple eyes,” he said, giving her a coy smile.
Twilight, not sure how to respond, took another sip from her glass hoping to hide her slightly more noticeable blush. And for some reason, Timber felt his own face feel a little flushed.
Coughing awkwardly, he said, “But uh, tell me, what made a Princess like you wanna adopt a foal?”
“It’s a looong story,” she said
Setting down her glass, Twilight began, “I’ll warn you from the start, it doesn’t have a happy beginning~~”
“But if she’s with you now, it must have a happy ending, right?” Timber interrupted.
Twilight smiled, “Yeah, I suppose it does.”
——————————————————————————————————~~
̶C̶r̶u̶d̶d̶y̶ ̶e̶n̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶c̶r̶u̶d̶d̶y̶
Finally, the sweet release of death.
Writing just dialogue is a pain in the neck. You know why? Becuase there’s not enough action going on to describe it and because when I go to sleep tonight, the word ’said ’ is sure to haunt me.
Well, at least Twilight and Timber got more dialogue in one setting than they ever had in the actual movie.
Just to point out the obvious, this is the very first time in my Next Gen that Twilight and Timber meet (and it’s during the Camp’s ‘Parent Night’, just so you know). Tim is a little unprepared as to how to great Royalty, and is really nervous at first that he’ll end up looking like a total dunce. However, once the jitters are gone, he’s comfortable being his cocky, comedic self again. As you can see, these two didn’t hit it off romantically from the start. If anything, this piece is more about them getting to know each other and establishing a bond. The lovey dovey feelings develop much later.