While Twilight and Pinkie were at the inn, Timber had slinked off to the local tavern. He had ended up telling the two girls everything on the way back to the mainland. Between that and bringing Twilight to see Flash, his guilt had diminished, but quite a bit of it was still left, so he made the admittedly questionable decision to, uh, self-medicate.
Timber went up to the counter and said to the barkeep, “I’ll take anything you’ve got. Just make sure it’s strong.”
The barkeep looked Timber over suspiciously and replied, “I’ve never seen you around here before, boy. You ever drank before?”
“That’s none of your business,” Timber snapped. “Just give me one of the strongest drink you’ve got.”
The barkeep just shrugged and began looking through his wares. Timber’s exchange with him caught the attention of a mustached man dressed in a light blue uniform with a gold, sun-shaped badge.
The uniformed man approached Timber and said to him, “A little young to be getting into the habit of drinking your problems away, aren’t you?”
“Problems? Who said anything about problems?” Timber retorted dismissively before noticing the man’s uniform. “Oh, shoot, you’re a police officer.”
“That’s right,” the officer confirmed. “You mind telling me what happened that was so terrible that you’re being driven to drink. Even if it isn’t anything I can help with, maybe getting it off your chest might help you feel better.”
Timber pursed his lips in thought as he looked the officer, or more specifically, his uniform, over.
“I’d like to think you’d be able to help me,” Timber answered, “but, unless you’re on your way to put down roots in Griepsburg, my problem might be a little out of your jurisdiction.”
The officer frowned thoughtfully, looked Timber in the eye, and said, “Try me.”
Twilight spent the rest of the morning and the whole afternoon by Flash’s side, tending to him vigilantly. So far, Flash’s condition had not changed. Twilight couldn’t tell if she should be glad that he wasn’t getting worse or worried that he wasn’t getting better, and Flash’s brother and friends felt the exact same way.
“Twilight, maybe you should rest and let one of us look after, Flash,” Micro Chips suggested. “You haven’t left his side since you got here.”
“And I’m not leaving until Pinkie gets here with the medicine,” Twilight adamantly refused.
“At least get yourself something to eat,” Sandalwood added. “You starving isn’t going to help him get better or make Pinkie get here faster.”
“Well, if you’re so worried, then have Ms. Matilda send something up here for me to eat.”
Realizing that none of their entreaties were going to move Twilight, Micro and Sandal began to lead the younger boys away to the dining room. All but one followed them.
“Base, aren’t you coming?” Button Mash asked.
“I’m not very hungry,” First Base replied, sitting in the only other chair in the room. “Just bring something up for me later.”
His friends simply shrugged and continued to leave for the dining room. For a while, Twilight and First Base just sat there in silence watching Flash groan as he endured the most miserable sleep of his life. Then, Twilight reached out and took Flash’s hand in hers.
She leaned forward and said to him softly, “Flash, Flash, can you hear me? It’s me, Twilight. Listen. You must try to stay alive, okay? Don’t, don’t leave me without saying goodbye, not again, please.” She paused, contemplating her next words.
Twilight clutched Flash’s hand tighter and continued, “Flash, I have a secret that I need you to hear.” She leaned even closer and whispered, “I love you. I don’t know how it happened or why, but I love you.”
As soon as Twilight confessed those words, tears began to run down her face, many of them landing on Flash’s face.
Flash stirred and his hand tightened around Twilight’s as he moaned, “T-Twilight.”
“Shhhh,” Twilight replied, caressing Flash’s burning cheek with her free hand. This time, she did not pull away. “Don’t try to talk. Whatever you need to say to me you can say by getting better.”
“What if he doesn’t get better?” First Base interrupted, getting up from his chair and making his way towards them. “How are you going to know what he wanted to say to you?”
Twilight turned away from the younger boy, tears still streaming down her face, and answered glumly, “Well, then, I guess I’ll never know.”
Base stared at her intently and asked, “When you first met us, you didn’t want to have anything to do with us. How and when did you start caring about us, especially him?”
Twilight gave Base a sad smile and replied, “I don’t know when or how. Maybe it happened too gradually for me to notice. All I know is that having you and your brother around made me realize that I hated the person I was becoming and that I wanted to be better than that.”
“And that’s why you fell in love with him?”
“How did—?” Twilight began, turning to Base with a look of confusion.
“I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at my brother lately,” Base answered with a small smile. “My grandfather used to look at my grandmother the same way. I’ve also seen that look on your parents and your brother and Ms. Cadance.”
“Was I that obvious?”
Base shrugged and continued, “Not really. I probably would have missed it if I hadn’t been paying attention.”
“Listen, Base,” Twilight continued, clutching Flash’s hand in both of hers, “I owe you and Flash an apology for all the horrible things I said to you and about you. You are so much more than a needy kid, and Flash, well, he may be an idealist and an optimist, but he’s not a fool or an idiot.”
“You know, after what you had said about us never being able to find our friends again, I didn’t think you’d be anything more than a horrible beast of a woman,” Base admitted with a cheeky smile, “but you’ve definitely changed since when we first met you and for the better too. Now, I’m glad to say that I’m starting to think of you as a friend.”
Twilight smiled back as she put an arm around the younger boy’s shoulders.
“Twilight! First Base!” Button Mash cried as he burst into the room.
“Button, what is it?” Base replied, pulling away from Twilight and moving towards his friend.
“Pinkie Pie’s returned with the medicine. Pip’s run off to fetch the doctor. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”