I don't 'got this' at all...
“There are three things all wise ponies fear: a night without the Princess’ moon, a storm of cotton candy clouds, and the anger of a gentle mare.” - ancient Equestrian proverb
~
“Come back soon!” Timber Spruce shouted after the bus from Canterlot High with both hands cupped around his mouth. A chorus of farewells and bevy of waving arms out the side windows answered him back as the vehicle trundled slowly out the main gate. Just before it made the turn onto the main road, Twilight Sparkle’s bespectacled, smiling face appeared in the back window, along with her own gently waving hand.
Timber grinned and waved back, holding his other hand up to the side of his face with his pinkie and thumb extended as he mouthed the words ‘call me.’ He saw Twilight nod in response as the bus pulled out, but from that distance he couldn’t be sure if the blush he saw on her face was real or just his imagination.
With a satisfied sigh, Timber turned and began the trek across the dirt parking lot and grassy field to the long log cabin that served as Camp Everfree’s main building. He cleared the front steps with a single bound and tugged open the double doors, striding into the wide, vacant mess hall as he felt his lips curl into a frown.
This was his least-favorite part of helping run Camp Everfree: the emptiness and the deafening silence left behind by the campers after each session. As much as he loved it here, he’d always hated how isolated it was from… well, everything, really. Their nearest neighbor was almost an hour away by car; Canterlot City nearly four. That combined with the massive amount of work and effort it took to keep the camp up and running essentially meant growing up with little free time and few opportunities to make long-term friends.
But when camp was in session? That was an entirely different ballgame. Dozens of new faces every week, all of them smiling with excitement at the thought of being able to enjoy everything the great outdoors had to offer. It didn’t matter if they were young, old, or anywhere in between; Timber made it a point to get to know as many campers as possible. To everyone else he was simply doing a great job as camp counselor, but for Timber it was a chance to try and catch up on all the things he normally missed out on, however fleeting.
He took a deep breath, sighing mightily as he walked to the window on the far side of the room and leaned on the sill. Gazing out the cloudy glass to take in the serene lakeside vista and the majestic mountain range reaching into the sky just beyond, Timber considered not the for the first time how lucky he was that he would still be able to enjoy such scenery. Isolated or not, Camp Everfree was still his home, and while some small part of him had admittedly been a little excited at the prospect of moving somewhere new, he also had to admit that the thought of giving up the land his family had worked so hard to preserve for so many years left an icy ball of regret in his gut.
The muffled sound of breaking glass snapped him from his musing and whipped his head toward the door that led to the camp’s main office--his sister’s office.
“Gloriosa?” he called out even before he’d reached the door. He knocked gently, but no response came from within. He turned the handle and pushed. “Hey, is everything okay? I thought I heard-”
Timber stopped in his tracks as his eyes locked on the natural wood picture frame laying face-down on the floor in front of his sister’s vacant desk, surrounded by jagged, clear shards that reflected the mid-afternoon light streaming through the cabin. He stepped into the room and stooped down to lift the frame, shaking it gently to free it from the last pieces of broken glass.
A tiny smiled played over his face as he recognized the picture of his family, taken several years ago on the first day of the very first camp session he and Gloriosa had taken on the role of assistant counselors. His smiling parents stood side-by-side, one of his dad’s arms around his mom’s shoulders in a warm embrace, his other hand clasped tightly in hers in front of them. His mom’s other hand rested lightly on the shoulder of Timber’s younger self. The expression on his face was somewhere between embarrassed, nervous, and excited, leaving him looking more than a little manic with his tousled hair and both hands shoved deep into his pants pockets to keep himself from fidgeting.
Finally, his eyes fell over Gloriosa, who stood just in front of the three of them. She had been the taller sibling back then, and looked even moreso with her hands on her hips, feet shoulder width apart and her head held high with pride. The gleaming smile stretching from ear to ear showed off the braces she’d worn at the time, but even that was nothing compared to the sparkle of pure joy that shone in her eyes, captured forever on film. It was without a doubt Timber’s favorite family picture, and a wave of relief swept through him knowing that the photo itself hadn’t been damaged.
A barely-audible sniff made him jump.
Gloriosa Daisy stood with her back to him, facing a window that looked out over the same view that Timber had been admiring earlier. Her posture was stiff and slightly hunched, with her arms crossed low and clenched tightly, giving the impression that she was hugging herself.
“Oh, h-hey sis!” Timber stammered. “I uh… sorry for barging in; I knocked but you didn’t…” He trailed off. Gloriosa remained still and made no indication she even knew he was there. Timber cleared his throat and stepped toward her.
“You missed the sendoff for CHS,” he said. “Twilight and a couple of her friends asked where you were.”
Nothing.
“I’m, uh… I think I’d better get the truck ready and make a trip into town,” he smiled, reaching over to shuffle through a substantial stack of papers on the corner of the desk. “Thanks to that dance party the girls put on and all the guests they invited, we’ve got a pretty long list of requests from people looking to spend some time at Camp Everfree.” He paused to read over one paper in particular. “Oh hey, there’s even one here from that Cadance woman that Principal Celestia introduced us to. Wasn’t she the Dean of some fancy private school?”
Still nothing.
Timber frowned, but didn’t let his disappointment bleed through to his voice. “Anyway, if we’re gonna be ready for all these new campers we’re gonna need some serious restocking. You probably want me to take care of that while you get started on scheduling, right Madam Director?”
He waited for the inevitable explosion that occurred whenever he used the ‘m-word,’ but it never came. Gloriosa, still as a statue, said nothing.
Timber stared long and hard at his sister’s back before turning to leave, his shoulders sagging.
“Timber.”
“Yeah?” He spun right back around with a smile.
“I…” Gloriosa’s voice was tiny and withdrawn, “I’m turning Camp Everfree over to you.”
The smile slowly faded from Timber’s face.
“What?”
“You heard what I said. You’re the new Camp Director, okay? I’ll draw up the paperwork later and we can take it into town to get it notarized tomorrow.”
“What?” he repeated. “Why?”
“Please Timber, you know why.”
“Uh, no! No I don’t!” Timber stepped forward, his brow furrowing as much in anger as in confusion. “After all we just went through to keep this place open? After Twilight and her friends helped us you… you just want to throw it all away?”
“I’m not throwing anything away,” she said firmly and slowly. “I know you’ll take good care of the camp.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Timber sighed. “Gloriosa, running Camp Everfree has been your dream since you were old enough to have dreams. You love this place, maybe even more than mom and dad did. That’s why they left it to you. Not to me, not even to us; you.”
“They did that because they knew how much you hated living in the middle of nowhere,” Gloriosa stated. “They put the camp in my name so you wouldn’t feel obligated to stick around once you were old enough to make it on your own.
Timber eyes widened. “They… they knew? How? I never told anyone.”
“Oh, for the love of pine trees,” Gloriosa huffed. “They were our parents, Timber, do you really think they couldn’t tell how you felt?” She shook her head. “Anyway, that isn’t the point. Our family built and sustained this camp for four generations, and what did I do when it was my turn? I almost ran it into the ground, that’s what.” Her voice began to crack. “Our parents entrusted their legacy--our family’s legacy--to me, and I…”
“Hey, c’mon,” Timber closed to within arm’s length of his sister, “you and I both know that wasn’t your fault. Some of the debts Filthy Rich tried to cash in on were loans that our grandparents had taken out. You had no way of knowing he could just jack up the payments like he did; heck, I bet our parents didn’t even know, or else they never would’ve borrowed money from him in the first place!”
“Mom and dad would’ve found a way to keep going,” Gloriosa insisted. “They would have figured something out; they wouldn’t have…” She trailed off, her shoulders trembling.
“Look, it doesn’t matter either way,” Timber said quietly. “We’re good now, remember? It may have taken a little bit of outside help--okay, a lot of outside help--but Filthy Rich is off our backs, at least for a while, and we’ve got people lining up to use the camp. We’re gonna be okay.” He smiled, reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. “Like you always say, Sis. You got-”
“NO!!” Gloriosa spun, slapping Timber’s hand away. “Don’t! Don’t you dare say it! I don’t even wanna hear that phrase ever again!”
Timber jumped back a step, nearly stumbling over his own feet. Gloriosa’s voice may have been filled with rage, but her face was another story. Fresh tears poured down cheeks already well-stained by their passage, and a damp blotch on the front of her shirt made him wonder just how long she had been crying before he even came along. Her eyes, raw and irritated as they were, still shone brightly, but the happiness of her youth was gone; usurped by a burning anguish that twisted his stomach.
“Sis, I-”
Gloriosa didn’t let him finish, pushing past with a scoff and a sob and making fast strides for the door.
Timber turned to watch her leave, too stunned to even consider going after her. He heard the front door of the building open and then slam shut without enough force to rattle the window behind him. How long he stood there, staring at the inside of the empty office in silence, he couldn’t say. Eventually his eyes were drawn back down to the picture frame still in his hands; to the sister so full of excitement, energy, and hope.
Timber swallowed hard, only able to wonder where that girl had gone.
Hugging her knees to her chest as she sat on the end of Camp Everfree’s gorgeous new dock, her strappy mocassins laying on the boards just behind her, Gloriosa Daisy sniffled for the tenth time in half as many minutes. The box of tissues in her office--her former office, she pointedly reminded herself--had run empty long before Timber had shown up, and she hadn’t been brave enough to risk leaving the room in order to find more. She didn’t mind however, for she’d discovered an unexpected catharsis in simply letting the tears pour forth unrestrained, coward though she might have been to letting anyone else see them.
A gust of wind sent chills down her spine, and she reflexively gripped her legs a little tighter. As cold as the late afternoon breeze was making her, she was thankful it hadn’t let up since she arrived. The constant rippling of the water’s surface kept her from seeing her own reflection as she stared out across the lake, and the last thing she wanted right now was a visual reminder of how miserable she looked to go with how miserable she felt.
She heard Timber’s boots plodding through the grass long before they plunked onto the dock, his footfalls slowing noticeably as he drew near.
“Man, I really can’t believe those girls insisted on rebuilding the dock again,” Timber said with a little laugh. “What is this, like, version nine?”
Gloriosa ignored him. Or tried to pretend like she was ignoring him, at least. It became much harder to do so when he plopped down next to her, tugged off his boots and socks, and dangled his bare feet over the edge of the dock. He let out a slow, satisfied sigh as the cool water washed over his feet and lower calves.
“That’s what I’m talking about. My feet are still sore from wearing those fancy dress shoes at the Crystal Ball. Twilight may not look it, but she sure knows how to cut a rug,” he said with a grin, glancing in her direction. “I know you had to spend most of your time chatting up potential donors, but I’m kinda surprised I didn’t see you out on the dance floor more often. You used to love the fireside soirées that mom put together; maybe we should see about starting them up again.”
“You can do whatever you like,” Gloriosa lifted her head just enough to turn it away from her brother. “You’re in charge now.”
“Even if I did accept that, it doesn’t mean I can run this whole place on my own,” Timber replied, and Gloriosa could practically hear the eyeroll in his voice, “I’m still gonna need your help, y’know.” There was an almost unnoticeable pause. “Unless... you’re not planning on sticking around?”
Gloriosa’s eyes widened slightly.
“I… I hadn’t really thought about it,” she was forced to admit. “Maybe it would be for the best if I just…” She had to cut herself off as she felt her throat tighten up; another surge of tears threatening to spill forth if she even dared to finish that thought.
An impossibly long minute passed between them in silence until she heard her brother take a deep breath.
“Okay; real talk,” Timber said, his words measured and surprisingly soft. “This isn’t about Filthy Rich taking the camp at all, is it?”
A sudden wave of cold fear surged through Gloriosa’s body, and she had to fight to stop herself from visibly tensing up. No avoiding it now.
“... No.”
“Okay,” he said, and she could almost feel him nodding, “then at the risk of making a really terrible pun, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that this is about you turning my made-up story about Gaia Everfree into a reality and trying to trap everyone in the camp?”
Seeing Gloriosa’s grip on her own legs tighten was all the answer he needed.
“C’mon, we already talked about this. Yes, you let the stress of the situation get to you, and you made some… well, pretty awful decisions. All the while ignoring the awesome advice your devoted little brother tried to give you,” he snarked, a smug grin forming on his face, “but even after you transformed, you really didn’t do anything all that bad.” He shrugged. “I mean sure; you scared some people, but once everyone found out the truth they were more worried for you than afraid or mad--the turnout and all the support we got at the Crystal Gala was proof enough of that.”
Timber grunted slightly as he stretched, laying back on the dock and supporting his weight with his elbows.
“Anyway, it was a pretty crazy week, but in the end everything worked out. People still had fun, and more importantly nobody got hurt.”
Gloriosa couldn’t stop herself from tensing up this time.
“They almost did.”
“Almost did what?”
“Get hurt,” Gloriosa said, her voice small and somber. “I was going to hurt them, Timber. I wanted to hurt them.”
“You…” Timber turned to look at her with wide eyes. “Gloriosa, I thought you said you didn’t remember what happened?”
“I didn’t,” she gave her head a tiny shake as her gaze returned to the lake stretching out before her. “At first it was all just a giant blur; all hazy, but over the next couple of days, it… it started coming back to me.”
Timber pushed himself back up into a sitting position, staring at Gloriosa with rapt attention as she continued.
“All I wanted to do was protect Camp Everfree, but then the girls started fighting back, and when Rarity mentioned the spa, I…” Gloriosa clenched her teeth, eyes narrowing at the memory. “All I could think of was what Filthy Rich said about tearing down the camp and building a spa of his own, and I just… snapped. I was so angry; it was like I was filled with this… this absolutely volcanic rage. I didn’t care what happened to anyone anymore; not even you. I had to save the camp, and if Twilight and her friends hadn’t stopped me when they did, I… I would’ve…”
She trailed off, sucking in a sudden breath as tears started to build in her eyes yet again. Timber scooted closer, wrapping an arm around his sister’s shoulders and pulling her into a slightly awkward sideways hug. She reciprocated by leaning back onto his shoulder, releasing the hold she had on her own legs and letting her feet join his in the water.
“Shh,” he said quietly, resting his chin on the top of her head while being careful to avoid dislodging the daisy chain she loved so much. “It’s okay. That wasn’t you, Gloriosa.”
“Yes... it was,” she said in a soft, regretful tone. “Sunset Shimmer was wrong. I know it was me because… because I can still feel it.”
“What, the magic?” Timber frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense, the girls took the geodes with them when they left. They’re practically in Canterlot by now.”
“I’m not talking about the magic, I’m talking about the anger; the frustration.” She put a hand on her chest, fingers twisting into the fabric of her shirt. “It’s all still here, just sort of… waiting… smoldering like a campfire log that could burst into flames at any second.”
“Uh, Gloriosa,” Timber said with a half-cocked grin, “this might just be the annoying little brother in me talking--not to be confused with the awesome little brother; totally different guy--but you’ve always had kind of a short fuse. Not really a secret to anybody... just sayin’.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Gloriosa rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “This is part of who I am; who I’ve always been. It isn’t going to just go away now that the magic is gone. What’s to stop me from losing control again? Sure, I won’t cover the camp in vines next time, but I could still hurt someone... and that,” her voice wavered as a pair of tears escaped down her cheeks, “that really scares me, Timber.”
Timber hugged Gloriosa a little tighter as she sobbed gently, squeezing her eyes shut to staunch the flow of sadness.
The siblings stayed like that for many minutes. As the wind died down and the Sun sank closer and closer to the mountaintops in the distance, the soft blue sky blossomed into a warm mixture of oranges, reds, and purples. The lake shone with colored reflections, the steep light dancing across the surface in a glittering, sparkling display.
Timber took a deep breath, letting it ebb out slowly.
“You know,” he said, “we’ve watched this sunset hundreds--maybe even thousands of times, but it never gets any less beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Gloriosa agreed softly, a tiny smile curling on the edges of her lips. “We were so lucky to grow up here. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Another long moment passed until Timber cleared his throat.
“We should probably head inside,” he said. “The sooner we get that paperwork out of the way the better.”
“Then,” Gloriosa lifted her head to look her brother in the eye, “you’re really willing to take ownership of the camp?”
“Yup,” his quick response shot back, “we’re putting my name on that form… right next to yours.”
Gloriosa blinked.
“What? No!” she cried. “Timber, I already said-”
“That you wouldn’t trade this place for anything?” he cut her off with a sly grin. “Yeah, I heard you, and you know what? I think you’re right.” He turned his attention back to the wondrous view before them. “Camp Everfree is an amazing place. You know that better than anybody, and I’m not gonna let you walk away from doing what you love just because you’re worried about something that might never happen.” He looked at her with a warm smile. “You belong here, Gloriosa… and maybe if I help take over some of the administrative stuff it’ll take some of the pressure off of you so you can start to actually enjoy it again.”
Gloriosa stared at her brother, her mouth hanging open in stunned silence.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” she stammered. “What about your dream of leaving? Of living in the city?”
Timber shrugged. “Eh, that was a long time ago. Besides, Canterlot isn’t that far away,” a wide smile split his face, “and I do have an adorable reason to visit it now. I think I’ll be good. So, what do you say?” He offered his hand to his sister. “Partners?”
Gloriosa’s breath hitched in her throat as she felt another wave of emotion rise in her chest, but she found that she was all too happy to let these newest tears fall. She lunged forward, ignoring Timber’s hand and wrapping him in an exuberant hug.
“Whoa!” he laughed and returned the embrace. “Guess that’s one way of saying yes.”
“Thank you, Timber,” Gloriosa said in his ear softly. “You’re the best brother a girl could ask for.”
“Thanks; I try,” Timber quipped. “Just remember to tell Twilight that the next time you talk to her. Chicks dig responsible guys who take care of their family.”
Gloriosa shoved away from him playfully and laughed, both the sound and sensation feeling alien and wonderful to her all at the same time. The siblings stood, scooping up their respective footwear.
“Well, it’s way too late to make that supply run tonight,” Gloriosa said as they walked along the dock toward the shore. “Maybe you can check to make sure all the buildings are locked up while I get started on the ownership addendum and work on scheduling all those attendance requests?”
“No problem, but that sounds like a lot of paperwork. You sure you don’t want any help?”
She shook her head. “No, I can handle it.”
Timber smiled wider than he had all day. “So in other words, what you’re saying is…?”
Gloriosa, realizing that she’d walked right into that one, returned his mischievous grin with one of her own.
“I got this.”
Author's Note
After seeing EQG4 I found that I really liked Gloriosa. I've always been a sucker for the 'save nature from greedy corporations' angle. Probably watched too much Captain Planet as a kid, 
... Oh, and before anyone asks, I totally stole the idea behind that proverb from Patrick Rothfuss.
