There was a knock. Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce looked up at the office door. They recognized the silhouette of the stallion on the other side, and both felt a growing fury at the idea of dealing with him again.
“Let’s see what he wants,” Gloriosa growled. “He can’t do anything else.”
“I’m staying,” Timber stated.
She knew arguing with him was pointless, so she let him open the door. As they expected, on the other side was Filthy Rich. However, they did not expect the lavender Alicorn standing next to him.
“Twilight!” Timber exclaimed. “What-?”
“Calm down, we’re here to talk,” Twilight replied. “Here to help.”
“Princess, what’s this about?” Gloriosa asked, glaring at Filthy Rich.
“How much do you two know about alternate dimensions?” she asked, avoiding the question.
“The concept, I guess,” Timber answered. “Some of the books in Hearthstone mentioned trying to make a portal to one, but I don’t know what’d be like.”
“Alternate, I’d imagine,” Glorisoa said, moving herself and Timber to let the two of them inside. “You believe her about an Alternate Dimension?”
“Miss Gloriosa, I live in Ponyville,” Filthy Rich deadpanned. “We have plenty of strange happenings, even without the embodiment of Chaos showing up whenever he pleases.”
“I’m trying to get him to call ahead,” Twilight grumbled, walking in. “Long story short, there’s an alternate dimension where everyone has a Counterpart, and a lot of events between dimensions match up. Recently, my Counterpart went on a camping trip, met your Counterparts, then helped save your Counterparts’ camp from being bought by Filthy Rich’s Counterpart. And after we learned about the full situation, and checking to see if the same was true in this world, we wanted to make it right.”
“’We’?” Timber frowned, glaring at Filthy Rich. “Make what right?”
“To apologize,” Filthy Rich answered. “And then to help you get this place running again.”
“Why do you care?” Gloriosa demanded, getting in his face. “Who cares about a camp as long as you get your spa?”
“Stars kid, I’m not evil,” he scoffed. “The only reason my daughter and I aren’t up here every weekend I have off is because my wife hates camping. But if you aren’t making enough profit to keep the place afloat, do you really think I could do better? Of course not. I have to make a profit, and a Spa resort lets Ponies enjoy the view around here instead of just another store in the middle of nowhere.”
“So what changed your mind?” she asked.
“That alternate dimension Princess Twilight mentioned,” he said. “She showed me a letter from that world. Believe it or not, I do want to help you. There just wasn’t a way to do it before.”
“Here,” Twilight said, holding out a book pulsing with magic.
Gloriosa raised an eyebrow, but looked at the book anyway. Timber read over her shoulder.
Dear Princess Twilight,
Feels weird to be writing that, but you can probably tell that this isn’t your friend Sunset Shimmer. My name is Filthy Rich, and I’m sure your friends here have told you a lot about me.
The truth is, after learning the whole story I am sorry for the part I’ve played. I am also sorry for learning the whole story, as I pried too far into their lives. I have personally talked to Miss Gloriosa and her brother. While they have not ‘forgiven’ me, I am working to make it up to them. And with their permission, I am making it up to ‘them’.
Sunset Shimmer has told me that many events are the same between worlds. If so, then my Counterpart is probably making the same mistakes I did. I am writing to you in the hopes that you can find my Counterpart, and talk him out of it.
While I pried into their lives, I do not have the right to tell their story of why it’s a mistake. Tell my Counterpart that their Camp is making a profit, but their money is going to something else. Something he’ll understand all too well.
Sincerely, Filthy Rich.
Gloriosa, almost absentmindedly, walked to her desk and put her head down. Timber wouldn’t look at any of them.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I-we want to help. You don’t have to tell us anything though.”
“No,” Timber said, looking to his sister. “It’s already brought up. If we don’t, you’ll wonder.”
“He’s right,” Gloriosa shuddered. “The camp is making a steady profit. And that’s along with our other job.”
“Other job?” Filthy Rich wondered.
“Long story,” Twilight whispered.
“We’re on the edge of the Everfree Forest,” Timber said. “Younger campers aren’t allowed in the forest without me, Glori, or our mom. We have a spell a little ways into the forest, to keep kids from going too far in, and to keep the monsters from coming to us, not that they’ll really do that with us here. Some kid was clever enough to get around it, but not smart enough to know it’s a bad idea to go into the Everfree Forest.”
“Dad went after him,” Gloriosa said. “He didn’t even bother to tell us. If he had we would’ve- Mom figured out too late. And you know what happens when you get between a Timberwolf and its prey. Mom and the kid are still in the hospital. The money we have is going to her bills, and Dad’s funeral.”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said.
“Ah, so that’s what my Counterpart meant,” Filthy Rich sighed. “I’m sorry as well. You two are going through a lot, and stars I know you don’t need to think about business in that time. And I get why you’re more attached to the place than ever.”
“The letter said you’d understand,” Gloriosa mumbled, ‘not asking’ very loudly.
“I was younger than you two,” he said. “My mother was flying home from Cloudsdale when some drunk idiot got them tangled. You can imagine the rest. Father drank to cope, and followed a few years later.”
“I’m sorry,” Timber said.
“I’ve had plenty of time come to terms with it,” he said, waving his hoof. “But knowing this, I want to help. You can talk to me about that if you need to, but for now we should save your camp.”
“That’s oddly generous,” Timber said.
“We came up with a few options on the way here,” Twilight said. “Mr. Rich has offered to either help pay for what he can to get you back on track, or he could officially buy the place but in name only. Your family would still be free to run it. Um, also I could help too, but I don’t know what that’d do in the long run. You know how ponies can get if a ‘Princess’ says she likes something.”
“We can hammer out the details later,” Filthy Rich said. “For now, I need to get home. I promised my daughter I’d be back there for dinner.”
“Sure,” Gloriosa sighed. “Just send a letter to tell us when to meet and talk about it. We’ll think it over.”
With a nod, Filthy Rich headed out the door. Twilight followed, but stopped at the entrance. She told him to head on without her, then turned around and faced the siblings, looking over them cautiously.
“One more thing,” Twilight said. “Your Counterparts, Gloriosa’s Counterpart, was using some sort of magical gemstones with a connection to the Elements of Harmony. From what I know of Forest Guardians, you know about the Tree of Harmony. Did you do anything to it?”
“No,” both of them answered.
“Desperate or not,” Gloriosa said, “I know the dangers of using those with the wrong intent. I guess my ‘Counterpart’ doesn’t.”
“And if she did,” Timber added, “Mom and I would’ve noticed right away and yelled at her for it.”
“So no gemstones?” Twilight asked again, watching them both shake their heads. “No turning into some kind of ‘Tree Witch’ with a glowing blue mane?”
The two of them glanced between one another and chuckled nervously. Twilight only frowned and raised an eyebrow. She sat down, waiting for them to speak.
“So, I, uh, may not have been the most honest when we met?” Timber said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
“About what?” Twilight asked.
“Well, when we met you were confused,” he explained. “You sensed a magic attack but found an Earth Pony, and I didn’t bother to correct you about it. But you’d already guessed that, didn’t you?”
“Your magic isn’t normal,” she confirmed. “You think I’m not going to scan you when we have Queen Chrysalis out there and probably coming after me?”
“I didn’t expect any less,” he smiled. “But yes, we’re probably not like anything you’ve seen.”
He looked to his sister, and she nodded in approval. Both their forms flickered for a second. It wasn’t like a changeling’s transformation, but more like a Unicorn’s Glamour. Timber didn’t change too much. Markings appeared on his coat, looking almost like vines curling up his body, and mask-shape across his face. A glowing streak of green appeared in his mane, and his eyes matched the luminosity. Gloriosa’s change was more apparent, her coat graying and gaining pink markings, while her mane turned blue.
“You don’t seem surprised?” Timber half-smiled.
“I am, a bit,” she said. “Curiosity is more important.”
“Curiosity killed the cat, you know,” he said.
“But Satisfaction brought it back,” she retorted.
“On that note, I’m going to bed,” Gloriosa rolled her eyes. “Call me if you need something.”
The two watched as she walked through the door. It was a little surreal to Twilight, seeing a glowing magic being walk through a door like normal. Then again, she wasn’t one to judge.
“So, what exactly are you?” Twilight asked, deciding to get right to it.
“A Forest Guardian,” Timber explained. “Do you know what exactly Timberwolves are?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve gotten to study them,” she nodded. “The magic of the forest affected the trees, bringing them to life.”
“Hypothetically, you could drain the magic out of a Timberwolf,” he said. “What do you think happens when you put that magic in a pony?”
“I think I’m looking at it,” she said.
“Gaia was the first,” he said. “It was an experiment of sorts, one she volunteered for, and it got passed down. After all, how can we protect the Castle if everything in the forest tries to kill us? So the monsters, and especially the Timberwolves, leave us alone. They won’t even enter the camp while we’re here.”
“Luckily you smell better than a Timberwolf,” she smiled.
“Lucky me,” he said. “Of course, it doesn’t help much when a Timber Wolf already is on the hunt.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her smile dropping.
“Not your fault,” he sighed. “But there’s a little more. Not only does the forest recognize us, but we have a power over it.”
To demonstrate the point, he lifted his hoof to the open window. Vines crawled in, almost like snakes, and wrapped around his leg. They almost seemed to act like an affectionate cat, rubbing around his legs. She half-expected the vines to begin purring.
“This isn’t too weird for you is it?” Timber asked.
“Have you seen my life?” Twilight laughed. “Alicorns, dragons, the Crystal Empire, everything I’ve seen in the forest, an entire alternate dimension full of ‘Humans’, and not to mention Discord himself. I think I’ve got ‘weird’ covered. But I’m probably not getting any sleep before I ask you every single question.”
“You might want to tell Mr. Rich that you’re staying,” he said. “He might get worried waiting at the train station.”
“Good point,” she frowned. “I’ll be back. Or you could come with me?”
“That might give him the wrong idea, don’t you think?” he asked.
“Or the right one,” she said.
She couldn’t help but laugh when he tried to stammer out a response.