//------------------------------//
// Calm Before the Storm 
// Story: TimberTwi Tales: First Impressions 
// by CapNTilfy 
//------------------------------//

Twilight woke up abruptly with a gasp. She had had yet another nightmare involving Midnight, and she wasn't sure how much more she could take!

Twilight put a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Sunset..." she trailed off upon noticing that Sunset's bed was empty, made, and had a note left on it.

Went to help the girls with the dock, and hopefully their new magic too.

- Sunset

Twilight frowned. She knew she wanted to... no, had to stay away from her friends, but at the same time she sort of felt left out.

This is for the best, Twilight thought to herself. She slowly got out of bed, then peeked outside to see if anyone was around.

With the coast clear, Twilight closed the tent flaps and began changing into her day clothes. 





Timber woke up and jumped out of bed. Today was a new day.

Camp Everfree only has a few days left.

Timber sighed. He would have to speak with Gloriosa about plans to keep the camp afloat.

You should have taken action sooner.

There was still time to do something! Timber just didn't know what that something was, though.

You don't have enough time.

Timber grit his teeth, and a scream came from Gloriosa's room. He gasped, then high-tailed it to her.





Gloriosa sat upright in bed, panting as sweat fell from her forehead. She buried her head in her hands as she shook.

Timber ran inside. "Gloriosa! Are you okay?"

"I-I just had the most godawful dream..."

Timber took Gloriosa by the hand.

"I watched helplessly... powerlessly... as Camp Everfree was destroyed right before my eyes." Gloriosa sniffled.

"That's not going to happen," Timber said reassuringly. "We won't let that happen."

Timber's words seemed to slowly light a fire within Gloriosa. Her eyes narrowed in determination. "You're right. We won't. Get things started for the campers, then meet me in the lakehouse."

Timber threw Gloriosa a salute, then left, closing the door behind himself.

Gloriosa sighed. She knew what she was going to do. She was going to do what she should have done from the beginning... whether Timber liked it or not!





Timber walked around the campsite, checking inside tents before heading over to the lakehouse. He would announce his presence if the flaps were closed, as he would rather not walk in on campers when they weren't fully clothed. He reached the Sapphire Tent, then peeked in upon seeing the flaps open.

Twilight sat on her bed, reading a book. Spike was laying down next to her.

"Twilight?"

Twilight jumped, then looked up from her book. "Oh! H-Hi, Timber." She blushed, then laughed awkwardly.

"Why aren't you with everyone else?"

"I just wanted some alone time."

Timber smiled. "Fair enough. I'll get out of your hair then. Later!"

Twilight smiled and waved as Timber left, then sighed and went back to reading her book. Unbeknownst to her, Spike had an ear perked up and a grin on his face.





Gloriosa was fully clothed now, and a woman on a mission. After the dream she had, she'd be damned if Filthy was going to get his way! All the beauty and nature around her only served to fuel the fire she felt within as she chided herself for feeling powerless. She had magic on her side, she was anything but powerless!

Gloriosa grit her teeth as her determination increased with each step she took. She would let nothing stand in her way...

...not even Timber.





Timber reached the lakehouse, then paused for a moment as he saw Twilight's friends and other campers work on the dock. Applejack was carrying things far heavier than herself as Rarity shot a diamond towards a boat to save a camper from falling in the water. Rainbow ran at a speed faster than his eye could follow as she painted the dock. Fluttershy got assistance from the woodland animals. Pinkie Pie was... throwing sprinkles to create holes for nails?

Timber shook his head. He didn't have time to deal with that right now. Figuring out how to save the camp with Gloriosa was his number one priority.

Timber entered the lakehouse and shut the door behind himself.





Gloriosa reached the lakehouse and stared in wonder as Twilight's friends exhibited magical powers of their own. She swiftly shook her head. First things first. She opened the door, then closed it behind herself.

Timber stood in front of Gloriosa, frowning with his arms crossed. "I get the feeling I'm not going to like what I'll hear."

Gloriosa sighed.

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Gloriosa," Timber asked angrily.

Gloriosa shook her head. "I was going to tell you even if you didn't figure out what I had in mind."

"I don't like what those geodes are doing to you. It's like... it's like they're changing you."

Gloriosa raised an eyebrow. "For the worse," she asked coldly.

"Well... yes."

Gloriosa scowled. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm doing this for the camp. I'm doing this for us!"

"By nearly killing the campers?!"

Gloriosa flinched.

"Even after that incident, you still kept going! I mean, you were using magic all over the place," Timber exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I had to tell them something to cover for you. What did you want me to do? Give them false hope?!" His eyes widened upon realizing what he had said.

Tears began forming in Gloriosa's eyes. "You... you've lost all faith, haven't you?"

"Gloriosa..."

Gloriosa turned around and headed for the door. "Don't follow me," she said softly. "I-I don't want to hurt you." She flung the door open, then left.

Timber stood still for all of a moment, then went after her, unaware of the person pressed against the door.





It took a great deal of willpower and focus for Gloriosa to keep moving. She hated leaving Timber like that, but her mission was far too important for reconciliation to get in the way. Hopefully he would understand that in the long run, she had done what was best for all.

Just to be absolutely certain that she wouldn't be followed, she blocked off all paths but the one she took with several boulders, creating another earthquake.

With no other obstacles in her way, she entered the cave at the rock quarry.





Timber felt absolutely horrible.

You were just speaking the truth.

He didn't mean what he said... did he?

You did.

Timber grit his teeth. He had to make up with Gloriosa before it was too...

Timber looked behind himself. He could have sworn he heard some rustling. Not taking any chances, he ran ahead, only to be stopped in place by several boulders falling in front of him. His path had been blocked. "No..." Anxiety took hold of him, and he hurried off to another path.





Twilight was in her tent when the earthquake struck, and she nearly leaped out of her bed. Her phone buzzed, and she checked her messages.

"It's from Sunset," Twilight said to Spike. "She says to meet her by the rock quarry."

"I thought we weren't supposed to hike out that far."

"She says it's important!"

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Twilight and Spike ran out of the tent and onto the path that lead to the rock quarry. An eerie red glow emanated from their destination, distracting Twilight and causing her to run face-first into a spider web. She nearly screamed until a familiar hand swatted off the web and covered her mouth.

"Shh," Sunset said. "Keep your voice down." She took Twilight by the hand and headed to a cave.

"What's going on down there," Twilight asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that Timber and Gloriosa got in a huge fight... and that Gloriosa's responsible for all the magic!"

Twilight eyed Sunset skeptically. "Do you have any proof?"

"Timber said she was 'using magic all over the place'."

Twilight folded her arms. "I don't know. It sounds like hearsay to me."

"Look," Sunset said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just follow me into the cave, and we can get this whole thing sorted out. Okay?"

Twilight paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

Twilight, Sunset and Spike entered the cave together.