//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Far from the Shallow // Story: Return to Everfree // by Godslittleprincess //------------------------------// “You’re doing great, Sage” Twilight praised. “Now, let’s try it without using the kickboard.” “But I won’t be able to breathe if I put my face in the water,” Sage protested as she continued to kick herself across the water. Thorax had decided that this morning was the perfect time for a swimming lesson and had the volunteers help the kids get dressed and in the lake. Today, the kids were all wearing dollar store tank tops and shorts to use as makeshift swimwear, and Gloriosa and Timber had put up barrier floats to keep the kids from going to far out into the lake. A short distance away from Twilight, Flash had already taught Arrow Swift and Lean how to front crawl while Pinkie was showing Ala and Missy how to blow bubbles into the water closer to the shore. All around the lake, the other volunteers were each working with a pair of kids, except for Micro Chips and Sunset who seemed to be working with only one child each. Micro Chips was standing right at the shore with Denny, and both had water up to their ankles. “Come on, kid. Let’s try going knee-deep now,” Micro coaxed the little boy. Denny stubbornly shook his head in response. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise that I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” “Ahh!” Denny screamed as he felt his shorts being pulled down. Thankfully, all the kids were wearing underpants under their swim clothes. He turned around and saw Missy laughing her head off. “Missy, that’s not funny!” he cried as he shoved her, causing her to land on her bottom with a splash. “Missy, no!” Pinkie scolded, rushing over as Micro helped Denny pull his pants up. “Missy, what I did I say about doing that?” Thorax rushed over from where he, Gloriosa, and Timber had been watching from the dock. “No! Mr. Thorax, don’t make me get out of the water. Please,” Missy pleaded. “I told you that if you keep doing that, I’m going to give you a time out for 5 minutes,” Thorax firmly stated. “Out of the water.” Missy hung her head as Thorax led her out by the hand. “You know, I think I’m going to go over and talk to her about how to properly prank people,” Pinkie said to Micro. “Can you watch Ala for me until I get back? Great. Thanks. See you later.” Before Micro could even blink, he was given a second responsibility to look after while Pinkie rushed after Thorax and Missy. “Um, so,” Micro said to the little girl with the slightest hint of nervousness. “I guess I’m watching you now. You mind helping me get Denny into the water?” Twilight had seen the exchange from where she was and turned to ask Flash, “You think having Pinkie talk to Missy is a good idea?” “Why wouldn’t it be?” Flash replied. “You mean you see nothing potentially wrong with one prankster taking a smaller, more impressionable prankster under her wing?” “Okay, I see your point,” Flash conceded. “Look, Pinkie Pie might be a prankster, but she doesn’t just go around pranking people carelessly. Maybe some of that will rub off on Missy, and Missy’ll learn how to think before she pranks.” “I sure hope so,” Twilight said to Flash before turning back to Sage. “Okay, Sage, just watch me and Gypsy, okay? We’re going to be holding our breaths and putting our faces in the water, and we’re going to be fine.” Flash smiled at her before turning his attention back to his charges. Timber watched the interaction with a deep scowl. Earlier that morning, Twilight had been blushing and trying to keep her eyes above Flash’s shirtless abs. What even was the big deal? The guy wasn’t THAT jacked. Sure, he was well-toned, but he was still pretty skinny. Meanwhile, Sunset had just finished getting Willow to let go of the dock and front float on her own. “Great job, Willow,” Sunset praised. “Why don’t you practice your strokes now?” Then, she turned towards the part of the dock where her other assignment was sitting with her arms and legs crossed. “Come on, Bee. Get in.” “No,” Bee retorted defiantly. “Yeah, come on, Bee,” Willow added. “Mr. Thorax wants us to learn to swim while we’re here, and you can’t learn if you’re just sitting there.” “Well, I think this whole thing is waste of time, so I’m just going to sit here and waste time my way.” “Cannonball!” Kit screamed as he jumped off the dock, flying past Sunset and Willow, and landed in the water, splashing water all over Honey Bee. Once he resurfaced, he smugly smirked at Bee before swimming away effortlessly. Being the only kid who already knew how to swim gave him a certain degree of freedom that he just loved rubbing in Bee’s face. Bee’s scowl deepened as she sputtered. Sunset smirked deviously as she insinuated, “You know that as long as you can’t swim, you’re giving Kit license to mock you every time you guys are near water, right? You gonna let that keep going on?” Bee sighed and slid off the dock and into the water. “That was a cheap shot, and you know it.” “It got you in here, didn’t it?” After drying off and having lunch, everyone once again split into two groups. Flash, Twilight, Pinkie, and Sandalwood were with the group that got to help with the mural yesterday while the group that had to sit out were helping Sunset, Derpy, Micro, and Base with the mural today. Sunset and her group had finished the background yesterday, and today, she was having her set of kids work on the handprint flowers and some of the larger details such as the tree trunk and the clouds. Meanwhile, Flash went to the boys’ cabin to fetch his guitar while the rest of his team was occupying their group of kids with a game of 20 Million Questions. Pinkie had insisted that teaching their new group the camp song was only fair. Flash had almost returned to the gazebo when Micro Chips came running from the supply cabin. “Flash!” he called. “You’ve gotta come see this. I need your help.” Everybody turned towards them with quizzical expressions. Flash could only shrug and follow Micro to the supply cabin. He could hear yelling and fighting going on inside. He looked inside the cabin just in time to see his brother pin Timber Spruce to the ground and punch him several times while Timber shielded himself with his arms. “Bro, stop!” Flash cried, dropping his guitar case and quickly restraining First Base. “Let go of me, Bro!” Base yelled back struggling to free himself from Flash’s grip. “I’m going to beat that hotdog to a pulp!” “Stop it!” Flash tightened his hold and yanked his brother off Timber Spruce. Micro Chips gingerly entered the cabin, picking up Flash’s guitar case with one hand and helping Timber Spruce up to his feet with the other. “Micro, get Timber to Gloriosa and tell Pinkie that she’s going to have to teach the kids the camp song acapella,” Flash requested. “I think my brother and I need to have a talk.” “Got it,” Micro replied, leaving the cabin with Timber. Once the two of them exited the supply cabin, Micro Chips glared at Timber disbelievingly and shook his head. Timber just rolled his eyes. Meanwhile inside the cabin, Flash turned his brother to face him. First Base looked away with his arms crossed. “What the hay was that all about? I want the whole story,” Flash demanded sternly. Base sighed and turned towards Flash with his head still hanging down. “Micro Chips and I volunteered to get the ladder so that we can work on painting the clouds. When we got here, Timber shut the door behind us and started telling me off for snitching on him the first night we were here. So, I told him that if I hadn’t told on him, you would have made everybody take the fall for HIS mistake. Then, the conversation turned into one about you and Twilight, and he said that there’s nothing about you that was worth liking and that you’re one of those people who look and act nice on the outside but are really nothing on the inside.” “So, you hit him?” “No. Then, I said that he must have gotten you confused for a mirror and that he’s only talking bad about you ‘cause he’s jealous that Twilight moved on from him with you. Then, he said that I’d get jealous too if my ex-girlfriend replaced me with a downgrade. Then, he started yelling a whole bunch of other stuff about you that were just so beyond insulting that I can’t even repeat them, and then I hit him.” Flash let out a long sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head in disapproval. “Come on, Big Bro. Don’t be like that with me,” First Base protested. “He was talking smack about you. What was I supposed to do? Take it lying down?” “No,” Flash answered, lifting his head and sternly meeting his younger brother’s eyes. “You were supposed to take it standing up with your head high, like a man.” “Easy for you to say,” Base scoffed. “Hey, I’m just telling you what Grandpa used to tell me back when I used to be in the same situation.” Base turned and blinked at Flash in surprise. “Wait. What?” Flash sighed as he uncomfortably wrung his hands. “Back when I was ten or maybe eleven, I, uh, used to get into a lot of fights. Other kids used to pick on Micro Chips, and whenever I defended him, things had a tendency to get a little, uh, physical.” Roughly seven years ago… “I cannot believe you got into another fight,” Lionheart scolded his grandson as he led him out the principal’s office by the hand. “That’s the third time this week; it’s getting ridiculous.” “Those other boys won’t stop picking on Micro Chips,” ten-year-old Flash protested. “That’s why I had to fight them.” “Flash, I don’t care what the reason is. You’re too old to be getting into these kinds of fights. You’re better than this.” “So, what? Do I just let them keep picking on my friends?” Lionheart stopped walking. Then, he knelt and looked into Flash’s eyes, calm gray meeting fiery blue. “Flash,” he said firmly, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulders. “Listen to me and listen good. The next time those boys pick on you and Micro Chips, I want the two of you to just walk away with your heads up.” “But that’s the same as doing nothing!” Flash cried. “Hey! Do you know what those boys want out of you and Micro Chips? They want to get the two of you so low to the ground that you can’t even pick your head up. As long as you don’t give them what they want, you’re already winning the fight. Just keep yours and Micro’s heads up. You understand?” Flash nodded. “Yes, sir.” Back to the present… “I’ll admit that walking away with my head up and getting Micro Chips to do the same was a lot harder than just giving those bullies the beat down they deserved,” Flash recounted, “but they eventually gave up when they realized that they weren’t getting to us.” “And I never knew this because?” Base asked with a raised eyebrow. “I guess it just wasn’t important for you to know back then.” “Bro, thanks for the story, but I don’t think Timber cares one way or the other about your dignity,” Base pointed out. “He wanted something out of talking trash about me. That much I know,” Flash noted. “All I have to do is keep him from getting it, and I have a pretty good idea what he wants.” Base raised his eyebrows in a paradoxical mix of understanding and confusion. “So, what are you going to do to keep the hotdog from getting what he wants?” “Something terrifying.” Flash and Base found the ladder in the supply cabin and delivered it to group working on the mural. Then, Flash began walking towards the group in the gazebo and called to his girlfriend. “Hey, Twilight,” said Flash. “Look, I know we’re both kind of on duty right now, but can we talk? It’s kind of important.” First Base, who had been following Flash, realized what his brother was going to do, and his eyes popped out of their sockets in shock. “Oh, umm, I guess we could,” Twilight answered, awkwardly rubbing her left arm, “but we can’t just leave Pinkie and Sandalwood to watch the kids by themselves.” “I know,” Flash replied before gesturing to First Base. “Which is why I asked Little Bro to cover for us.” “Oh, well, does he know the camp song? He’s going to need to know it if he’s going to help teach it.” “Oh, yeah, he totally knows the camp song,” Pinkie Pie interjected. “He learned it yesterday with the first group of kids. You two just go and talk. We’ve got this.” “Okay, if you’re sure,” Twilight said to Pinkie before going off into the woods with Flash. “I’m related to a crazy person,” Base muttered to Sandalwood. “Young love, little dude. That’s what it does to ya,” Sandalwood replied, causing Base to cringe. “So, what did you want to talk about?” Twilight asked as she and Flash sat down on a log next to a small pond in the middle of the forest. It was the same place she used to go to last year whenever she wanted to be alone. Something about sharing this place with Flash just felt safe and right. Flash awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you see, it’s about Timber Spruce.” “Oh,” Twilight exclaimed in surprise. “What about him?” “Have the two of you spoken at all since we came here?” “Actually, we have. On the afternoon that we got here, he came to our cabin while we were settling in to talk to me and asked me to take him back, apologizing for the breakup and promising to never flirt with another girl again no matter how bored he was.” Flash could feel his insides icing over. “What did you say to him?” “I told him that I forgave him for what led up to the breakup and that I couldn’t take him back because I am already in a relationship with someone else.” She paused before continuing, “He asked me who my new boyfriend was, and I told him. I thought he was fine with it, but after what happened that first night, I’m starting to think that he might be a little jealous of you.” Flash hmphed. “A little?” “You’re not jealous of him too, are you?” Twilight asked, crossing her arms. “Noooooo!” Flash initially exclaimed before backspacing. “Well, okay, I guess I might be. Okay, okay, I definitely am. I’m jealous.” “Flash!” Twilight gasped. “I’m not going to just throw away everything that we’ve gone through these past few months because of whatever it is about Timber that you find jealousy-worthy.” “I’m not jealous of Timber because of something that he has,” Flash clarified. “What I’m jealous about is something that none of us have any control over.” Twilight blinked at him in confusion. Flash continued, “I’m jealous of the fact that he was the first guy that you fell for instead of me. I know that there wasn’t anything I could have done to make you like me or dislike him and that everything just happened the way that it did for some reason, and I’ve accepted it. I really have.” Flash looked away from her and sighed. Twilight moved closer to him, placed her head on his shoulder, and wrapped her arms around him. “Flash,” Twilight whispered tenderly. “Timber may have been the first guy that I fell for, but he definitely wasn’t the best. You are.” Flash gave her a sad smile. “Twi, you don’t have to lie to me to make me feel better.” Twilight suddenly pulled away from him and struck his shoulder, protesting, “I wasn’t lying!” “Ow!” Flash cried before he rubbed his sore shoulder. “Okay, okay! I believe you. I believe you.” Twilight huffed as she turned away from him with her arms crossed. Flash closed the distance between the two of them and hugged her from behind. “Hey, hey, don’t be like that,” he said to her. “I just sometimes have a hard time believing that I’m the guy that you really want. Base just told me that Timber said that you replaced him with a downgrade, and I’m honestly having trouble not believing it.” Twilight’s expression softened as she turned to face Flash. “In what way are you a downgrade from Timber?” “For starters, he’s older and likely more mature.” “Ha!” Twilight scoffed. “Is that why he just started a fight with an almost 14-year-old while you’ve been running yourself ragged breaking up fights between the kids?” “Okay, maybe he isn’t more mature than I am, but he is older and taller.” “Not by much.” “Also, depending on who you ask, he’s probably better-looking.” “Actually, to me, the two of you are about the same in the looks department.” Twilight smirked before reaching over and ruffling Flash’s hair. “Your hair gives you a bit of an edge though.” “Hey, quit it,” Flash giggled before finally breaking out into a laugh. Twilight laughed along with him. After a while, the two of them stopped laughing and just sat together in a comfortable silence. “Okay,” Flash continued. “Here’s the biggest reason why I feel like a downgrade compared to Timber. He likes a lot of the same stuff that you like, and he knows how to talk nerdy to you.” Twilight pursed her lips in thought. “Okay, Timber is better at talking nerdy than you are. I’ll give you that.” “I figured,” Flash muttered. “You want to know how you are definitely an upgrade from Timber?” Twilight smiled at him as she took his hand in both of hers. Flash turned to her and met her eyes. “Because you’re a guy who loves other people well and cares about them deeply,” she continued. “I see it in you in the way that you treat people, in the way that you treat your brother, your friends, the rest of your family, the kids. I even saw it in the way that you treated your mother back when she was still around.” Flash just stared at her with his mouth agape. A pressure built up behind his eyes as his heart swelled. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I find people who can talk nerdy to me incredibly attractive, and that’s how I got together with Timber in the first place, but you can’t build a relationship on attraction alone. I know that now. Maybe if I had known that then, I would have fallen for you first.” “Twilight,” Flash said with a wide grin as his voice began to break. “If you keep talking like that, you’re going to make me cry. No joke.” Twilight pulled him into a tight embrace, laying her head on his chest and closing her eyes. “You can cry all you want,” she whispered. Flash wrapped his arms around Twilight, returning her embrace, as two streams of tears flowed down his face. “Hey, Flash,” Twilight said as she rubbed circles into his back. “Can I tell you something?” “Of course, you can. It’s only fair. I mean, I did just spill my guts to you,” Flash chuckled. Twilight smiled as she pulled away from him before reaching in her pocket and offering him her tissues. Flash took one of the tissues, thanked her, and wiped his eyes dry. “Falling for you was like the first time that I found friendship,” Twilight began. “Back when I was in Crystal Prep, friends were just people you used to get ahead. Since I refused to be used and didn’t need to use other people, I didn’t have any friends besides Cadance and Spike. I thought that I could fill that void by looking for more discovery and with it more success and recognition, but then, I came to CHS and met the girls. They showed me that friendship was giving the best of yourself to bring out the best in others without expecting anything in return, and I didn’t know how much I needed that until they gave it to me.” Twilight looked into Flash’s eyes as she continued, “I thought Timber was everything that I would ever need in a boyfriend, smart, confident, charming, shared my interests, but with you, I found something deeper and more meaningful and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, and I want to hold on to it for as long as I can.” Heart racing, Twilight lunged forward and kissed Flash on the cheek. “If I hadn’t agreed to save our first kiss, you’d be getting a lot more than that,” Twilight smirked at the utterly dumbfounded look that Flash was giving her before she stood up. “Come on. Let’s head back before everyone starts worrying about us.” When First Base saw Flash and Twilight returning to the gazebo arm-in-arm, he took it as his cue to return to his team. As he made his way to where the mural was being painted, he saw Timber Spruce standing right outside the main lodge, holding an ice pack to his jaw. First Base could tell that he had also seen Twilight and Flash together by the scowl he was wearing. The two of them locked eyes with each other as Base passed by. “You have lost,” First Base’s smug grin said to Timber.