Timber and Gloriosa stopped, then looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Once they both realized they were alone, Gloriosa folded her arms and gave Timber the same nasty look he gave her.
"Well," Gloriosa said inquiringly. "I'm waiting."
Timber sighed heavily. "I... I don't like being reminded that this may be our last week."
Gloriosa's expression softened.
"I'm scared, Gloriosa. And I'm angry... and those goddamn negative thoughts aren't helping things either!"
"You're still having those?"
Timber held onto his left arm. "They... they never really left. It's like they're slowly chipping away at me." He hugged himself. "Like they won't stop until I'm a shell of a man. Completely broken."
Gloriosa ran over to Timber and hugged him. "Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Because you've got enough on your plate as it is, and we're constantly at each other's throats," Timber said as he returned the hug.
"Timber, you know I love you. There will always be room on my plate for you."
"Yeah," Timber said softly. "I know."
Twilight Sparkle and her friends were gathered around a picnic table where a pale pink-skinned girl sat. She scratched at her two-toned green hair under her red beret.
"We can reinforce the foundation," Twilight said, pointing to the picture the camper was drawing.
"Make it nice and sturdy," Applejack added.
"And little boxes with food so you can feed the ducks and fishies," Fluttershy said.
"Oh! We'll add lanterns so you can see at night," Rainbow said.
The camper took a close look at her drawing, then made a couple of revisions. She inspected it again, then held it up for all to see.
Rarity gasped. "It's stunning! And will make an absolutely perfect runway for my camp fashion show!"
"More importantly," Applejack said. "It'll be a great place for docking canoes and feeding the wildlife."
"Oh, you say 'tomato', I say 'perfect place to showcase glamorous boho-chic stylings'."
Everyone smiled and rolled their eyes as Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna walked over.
"What do you guys think," Twilight asked.
"Hmm..." Principal Celestia thought for a moment. "It's going to be a lot of work, but we can do it!"
"Yes!" Pinkie jumped up. "Adult supervision!"
"On the lighter side of things," Gloriosa said as she broke the hug. "It looks like you might have a crush on Twilight Sparkle."
Timber blushed. "Is it that obvious?"
Gloriosa grinned. "Yes. Yes it is." She put her hands on Timber's shoulders. "She seems nice, but I don't want you to rush things with her." She put her hands on her hips. "You only just met her, after all."
Timber sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"Get to know her better. Maybe make her laugh, tell her a little about yourself... just don't lay it on too thick. I've been on the receiving end of that, and it's a very, very uncomfortable feeling."
"Timber! Gloriosa!" Principal Celestia's voice rang out. "The campers are going to start building the dock."
"We'll be right there," Timber shouted back. "Good talk," he said to Gloriosa.
"Yeah. Good talk." Gloriosa watched Timber walk back towards the clearing with a smile. She didn't tell him she could tell that Twilight felt the same way about him. That would have made him overconfident, and she didn't want him to screw up a chance at happiness.
Timber smiled, feeling better after his talk with Gloriosa. He would have to take what she said to heart if he wanted a shot with Twilight. He would give her some space, but not completely ignore her either. Find that happy medium and stick to it!
Twilight entered Timber's line of sight, and he felt heat rise to his face.
"Hey, Timber," she said. "We're about to start work on the dock. Could you go get some wood?"
"Of course," Timber replied with a genuine smile. He turned around and walked away.
"Oh, darling," Rarity said to Twilight in a hushed yet excited tone. "I think he likes you!"
Twilight blushed. "Y-You think so?"
Rarity made one of her trademark sputtering noises. "Oh, I know so! I've seen that look before."
"Should I talk to him about it?"
Rarity smiled warmly as she put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "No, dear, you shouldn't. It's far, far to early for that sort of thing."
"Oh," Twilight said in slight disappointment.
"What I believe you should do is take this week to get to know him better. There may be things about him you didn't know at first that you might find... disagreeable."
Twilight frowned.
"All I am saying is that you shouldn't rush this sort of thing. I don't want you to end up making a mistake and regretting it later."
Twilight smiled. "You seem pretty knowledgeable about this subject."
Rarity giggled. "Years of reading magazines, darling. Well, that and hearing stories from my parents about when they met and slowly fell in love."
"Thank you, Rarity," Twilight said, then hugged her.
"Don't mention it," Rarity said, then returned the hug.
Hours passed as construction on the new dock went underway. Campers sawed logs into planks, sanded them and nailed them together while others painted symbols on feeding stations.
Timber sat at a picnic table as he tightened the screws on a lantern.
Twilight watched Timber from a distance with a smile. Maybe now was a good time to talk to him. "Making lanterns out of solar-powered garden lights," she said, impressed with him. "Pretty crafty there, Timber!"
"You think that's crafty? You should see my macaroni art. I'm like the Pintocasso of noodles!"
Twilight giggled, and Timber's heart skipped a beat. It was a sound he wouldn't mind hearing again.
"All right now," Principal Celestia said. "You've made a lot of progress, but it's going to be getting dark soon. We can pick this up tomorrow between our other camp activities."
"Everyone get cleaned up and we'll gather by the fire pit at eight to share s'mores and scary stories," Gloriosa said excitedly.
Pinkie Pie came from out of nowhere holding a marshmallow pillow, a box of graham crackers and a chocolate bar. "S'mores!"
"Does she always do that," Gloriosa asked Principal Celestia.
Celestia nodded. "Pretty much, just try not to think too hard about it." She paused for a moment as Gloriosa began to walk away. "Aren't you going to join us?"
Gloriosa shook her head. "There's... something I need to take care of first."
"All right."
Gloriosa waited until everyone was out of sight, then sighed. She gazed at her geode necklace for a moment, then headed towards the rock quarry.