"Gloriosa!"
The vines swallowed Timber, and everything went dark.
Darkness. Absolute darkness.
Timber Spruce could see nothing. He could hear nothing. He could feel nothing. He could do nothing.
As far as Timber was concerned, he was nothing.
Gloriosa Daisy, the one person Timber cared about the most, was lost to him. Consumed by madness. It was more than enough to make him cry... but all he could do was stay still and breathe.
Timber was broken. A mere shell of a man, staring into nothingness. That was what his life had amounted to. Nothing. It was all he had. Nothing.
Was he even alive right now? Had the roots smothered him? Crushed him? Timber sighed. It didn't really matter now...
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash. The next thing Timber knew, he was back at Camp Everfree while tiny green sparks showered down. He... he was alive? Then what about-
Timber's heart stopped as he saw Gloriosa lying on the ground, motionless.
"Do you want to hold him?"
"Yes, mommy!" Gloriosa walked over to her mother, then carefully held her newborn baby brother. "He's so tiny!"
Gloriosa's mother giggled. "You were about that size when you were born, too."
Gloriosa's eyes widened. "Really?" She looked into Timber's eyes, then hugged him. "I love you, baby brother."
Timber stood still, stunned. His brain caught up with him, and he made a mad dash for Gloriosa.
Two bullies laid flat on a grade school playground as Timber scowled. "You pick on my sister, you pick on me!"
Gloriosa ran to Timber and grabbed his shoulder. "Timber! That was mean!"
"Yeah, well, they were being mean too!"
"That doesn't make it okay!"
Timber sighed. "You know how I feel when people tease you, Glory."
Gloriosa smiled warmly. "I do... but you're probably gonna be sent to the Principal's office."
Timber grinned. "Worth it!"
Gloriosa laughed.
Tears clouded Timber's vision as he reached Gloriosa.
Please be okay please be okay please god be okay
A preteen Gloriosa hung up the house phone in a panic. "Mom and Dad are gonna be here in an hour and the whole house is a mess!"
Timber yelped. "If they come back and see this we'll be grounded forever!"
"They won't let us have the house to ourselves for the rest of our lives!"
Timber and Gloriosa scrambled around the house, frantically cleaning anything that looked like it had so much as a speck of dirt. Time had passed, and the siblings grinned at each other.
"You've got this, Glory!"
"No, you've got this."
By the time they had both finished their cleaning, Timber and Gloriosa high-fived, then passed out on the floor from exhaustion.
"Gloriosa!"
Gloriosa and Timber held each other tightly. They had just found out that their parents fell victim to a plane crash, and they were beside themselves with grief.
"I... I-I can't believe they're gone, Glory..."
Gloriosa sniffled. "N-Neither can I."
"What are we going to do," Timber asked as he broke the hug. "We can't run Camp Everfree on our own!"
"We're going to have to if we want our family business to stay afloat!" Gloriosa sighed. "We... we'll have to make some sacrifices."
Timber nodded. "I'll drop out of Everton High to help."
"You will do no such thing, Timber Spruce," Gloriosa exclaimed while folding her arms.
"What? Why?"
"One of us has to graduate."
"B-But... But you're in your Senior year, Glory!"
"As I said. We'll have to make some sacrifices." Gloriosa looked away and sniffled. "I-I'll do anything to keep Camp Everfree open."
"But-"
"Not another word," Gloriosa snapped. She paused in surprise, then sighed as she put a hand on her forehead. "I-I'm sorry..."
"No," Timber said softly. "It's okay. We're both going to have it rough for quite a while." He put both of his arms on Gloriosa's shoulders as a sign of support. "You've got this."
"Yeah... I guess I do."
Timber stopped next to Gloriosa and gently shook her as tears ran down his cheeks. "Gloriosa..."
No please no please no please no
It was a warm early Summer afternoon, and Gloriosa was staring out the window wistfully. Today would have been her graduation ceremony.
"Glory?"
"Yes, Timber," Gloriosa asked as she turned around.
"Close your eyes for a moment."
Gloriosa closed her eyes, then felt something on the top of her head.
"Okay, you can open them."
Gloriosa opened her eyes, then walked over to a mirror. She gasped upon seeing that her head had been adorned with a crown of daisies!
"Timber... it's beautiful..."
Timber smiled. "I know it's not exactly a mortarboard, but I did what I could."
Gloriosa felt a lump in her throat. "Y-You... you remembered?"
Timber nodded. "Of course I did. I had the date marked and everything." He smiled warmly. "Think of it as thanks for everything you've done for Camp Everfree... and for being my rock ever since Mom and Dad... you know."
Gloriosa shot over to Timber and hugged him tightly. "Thank you... y-you're the best brother I could've asked for."
Gloriosa stirred, then slowly got up. "Wh-What... what happened?"
"Timber Spruce!"
Timber took his High School Diploma with a big smile, then went back to his seat. He fought back tears in a war of attrition as the rest of his class was called up. God, he was so emotional right now... he had to keep it together until the right time!
"Congratulations to the graduating class of Everton High School!"
Timber threw his mortarboard in the air, then caught it and ran to Gloriosa. The sight of her all teary-eyed nearly made him lose his composure, and he finally burst into tears as they hugged tightly.
"M-Mom and Dad would have been s-so p-proud..." Gloriosa sniffled.
All Timber could do was nod.
"Glory... Oh god, I thought I'd lost you..." Timber shuddered, then grabbed and hugged her tightly.
Gloriosa's eyes widened. "D-did... did you just call me G-Glory?"
Timber nodded. "I-I'm so sorry for what I said back in the lake house. C-Can you f-f-forgive me?"
Gloriosa returned the hug. "Of course I c-can. You're my l-little brother." Tears ran down her cheeks. "Can you forgive me for going off the deep end?"
Timber tightened the hug. "Of course I can. You're my big sister... I love you, Glory."
"I love you too, Timber..."
Timber Spruce and Gloriosa Daisy broke together.
Up in the sky, Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly as she watched Timber and Gloriosa reconcile.