Timber moved his way effortlessly through the thick brambles and low-hanging fir branches while maintaining a quick and steady pace, the nagging feeling of worry spurring him on. It wasn’t the woods that bothered him. He knew every single trail, pothole, and critter living in the cracks and crannies of this old forest ever since he was a foal. The filly he was tracing didn’t.
 
Fortunately, when one grows up in a forest, it’s easy to spot the least, littlest thing out of place and lucky for him, this filly left rather obvious tracks. The snapped twigs and crumpled leaves left in the wake of her tiny hoof prints made it clear to Timber that this filly hadn’t taken a leisurely stroll into the woods; she had run as fast as her small legs could run.
 
It was what she was running from that worried Timber.
 
Every second he grew more and more uneasy until he found himself practically galloping after her tracks. All of a sudden, he noticed the hoof prints were starting to fade and that there was less debris scattered around. A few yards later, there were no more tracks; they had stopped short of a bushy enclosure, and so did Timber.
 
When one grows up in a forest, it’s easy to recognize the least little sounds as well, from the drumming of hummingbird wings to the pitter patter of acorns toppling from the treetops. Sniffles, on the other hoof, was a completely foreign sound in the forest.
 
Timber wasted no time in rushing into the foliage which he discovered was harder to get through than he originally thought. He spent a good minute or two pushing his way through the tight twine of branches before finally bursting through on the other side.
 
He blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight, before taking in his surroundings. The bushes he came through curved like a crescent moon behind him that trailed off into the open with only a few tall oaks scattered here and there.  
In the middle of the circle a small, pastel green filly lay hunched over, her body shaking with every little sob.
 
Realizing she hadn’t noticed him yet, Timber took a few steps forward and said softly, “Hey, there. Are you alright, kiddo?”
 
The filly jumped at the sound of his voice and spinning around, looked up at him with panicked, watery eyes. She started to her hooves and started to back a little bit away from him.
 
Timber instinctively edged towards her, saying in his most reassuring tone, “Hey now, there’s no need to be scared. I’m not a scary guy, I’m a funny guy! See?”
 
Crossing his eyes and inhaling his cheeks full of air, Timber squeezed his bloated face, making a farting sound with his tongue. The filly stared at with the same distressed expression, not moving a muscle.
 
 
Oooooooookay, then. I guess that only works babies then.
 
 
He awkwardly chuckled before clearing his throat. “Uh, anyway, I’m Timber Spruce, the Camp Counselor. And you are….”
 
The filly sniffled and gazing at the ground, she whispered,” Pansy.”
 
“Uh, sorry, I didn’t catch that?” Timber said, leaning down.
 
She sniffled again and taking a deep breath, she said slightly louder, “Pansy”
 
 
Pansy? Pansy……why did that name sound so familiar?
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
…….sweet Celestia thiS IS THE KID GLORIOSA SAID WAS PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S CHILD YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING M-
 
 
“Um…are you okay, mister?” a soft voice said, jerking Timber from his thoughts.
 
Shaking the stupid look off his face, he looked down to see the filly right in front of him, looking up concernedly.
 
She’s just a kid, no need to be nervous. Come on, Pull yourself together.
 
Out loud, Timber said sightly antsy, “Oh yeah, I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re both fine. Come one, let’s head back to Camp.”
 
Sharply turning, Timber started to head back through the bushes, when he noticed something was missing. He looked behind him to see Pansy still sitting in the same spot, unwilling to meet his gaze.
 
“Aren’t you coming?” Timber asked, confused.
 
The filly shook her head.
 
“Do you wanna tell me why?”
 
All he got was sniffles.
 
Timber sighed before walking back to where she was and sitting down beside her. He gave her a moment to talk, but when she’d didn’t speak, or even move for that matter, he said,“Look, I’m not leaving this forest without you. So either you and I can stay out here all alone with the bugs and bears, or you can tell me what’s wrong and I can do my best to help you. Then, we can go back to camp and get back to having a good time. So, what do you say?”
 
Pansy shuffled at the ground for a second, before muttering, “ I don’t wanna go back.”
 
“How come?” Timber asked softly, placing his hoof on her back.
 
“I…all the colts and fillies were making fun of me. They-they kept calling me ‘cry-baby’ because…because I keep c-crying.” she said in between sniffles.
 
Timber’s brow furrowed. “Why? What’s the matter?”
 
Instead of answering him, Pansy squeezed her eyes tight as one tear after the other rolled down her cheek until there was a whole flood of them. Timber had dealt with crying children before, but this was a whole new and emotional level.
 
Was he supposed to comfort her? Should he give her a pat on the back or something?
 
Without warning, Pansy lurched on to Timber, burying her face in his shirt. She clutched at the loose fabric now damp with her torrent of tears, her whole body violently shaking as she sobbed her heart out.
 
Timber was stunned for a moment, so much so that he couldn’t even move.
 
Suddenly, in the midst of her bawling, Pansy cried out despairingly, “I hic MISS MY hic MOMMMY!!!”

As soon as Timber heard that pitiful, heart-wrenching cry, all the awkwardness of the situation melted away.
 
Bending down, He hugged her with all his might while trying not to crush her. Then he did the only thing he could think of. As she continued to pour her heart out, Timber gently rubbed her shaking back and softly said over and over again, “ It’s okay, Pansy. It’s okay. Just let it aaaaaalllll out. There’s a good girl. It’s okay. You’re okay, Pansy.”
 
This went on for a few minutes, though it felt like hours to Timber. Eventually, Pansy ran out of steam and her uncontrollable sobbing sputtered into sniveling hiccups. Timber waited a little longer for her to catch her breath before he spoke.
 
“Listen, Pansy, it’s okay, normal even, for fillies like you to be homesick their first week of Camp.”
 
The filly looked up for the first time at him and asked innocently, “R~~hic~~ really?”
 
Timber chuckled, “ Totally. In fact, I even got homesick once when I wasn’t much older than you. I grew up here my whole life, so when I and my sister were sent to stay with my Aunt in Canterlot for a month, I felt really homesick. Canterlot didn’t have a forest I could play in, only busy, noisy streets filled with so many ponies and so little woodland creatures, and it made me feel sad and lonely, just like you. In fact, I missed home so badly, that I started drawing trees on the walls behind the couches. I would even pretend I was climbing them by jumping from one cushion to the next.”
 
Wiping the salty tears off her face, Pansy giggled, “ That’s silly.”
 
“It was,” Timber said, chuckling a little himself at the memory. “ The only downside to my little shenanigan, aside from getting in trouble and having to wash it all of with a toothbrush, was that I was so focused on my forest back home, that I didn’t enjoy all the cool stuff that Canterlot had to offer. Once I stopped thinking about what I was missing, I had a pretty fun time doing new things, like Zeplin riding or going out for fried ice cream. So….do you get the point I’m trying to make?” Timber finished, giving an awkward half smile.
 
Pansy thought for a moment, before asking hesitantly, “You think…I should stop thinking about Mommy?”
 
“Uh, heh heh, not…necessarily, no. What I mean is, I understand you miss her, but if all you do is think about that, then you won’t enjoy all of the fun stuff here at Camp Everfree! And…don’t you think Princess Twi- uh, I mean, mommy would want you to enjoy your time here instead of crying all the time?” he asked.
 
“Um…I guess so,” Pansy said, rubbing her foreleg uneasily.
 
“And hey, while you’re waiting to see your mommy again, you can do all sorts of fun stuff like hiking and fishing, so that when she comes for Parent’s night, you can tell her all the really cool things you did! In fact, you could even make her a little gift at craft time tonight if you want!” Timber offered.
 
Pansy’s eyes lite up and for the first time since Timber had met her, she looked up at him with the cutest little smile. “Yeah, I’d wanna do that!” Pansy said enthusiastically.
 
“Great! Then why don’t we head on back to Camp and get started on that?” said Timber getting to his hooves.
 
Suddenly, Pansy’s smile twisted into a frown. “But…what about everypony who teased me?” she asked worriedly.
 
Timber stuck out his chest while polishing his hoof, and in his most manly voice, he boasted, “Oh, don’t worry about them. I’ll make sure they never bother a single hair on your head ever again, just leave it to me, okay.”
 
“Okay,” Pansy said, giggling at his display.
 
Timber snickered a bit himself, saying “Come on, we don’t want to be late for snack time.”
 
Pansy got to her hooves, stretching and yawning a bit as she did, which gave Timber an idea.
 
“Hey, Pansy, do you want a once-in-a-lifetime ride on my back on our way back?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows convincingly.
 
The filly smiled up at him and said sweetly, “Sure!”
 
After a few awkward moments of struggling and rib punching, Pansy finally scrambled onto the stallions back.
 
“Ready?” he asked.
 
Pansy nodded.
 
“ Alright then, “ and facing forward, Timber said in a nasally voice, “All passengers must keep their legs and tails within the vehicle at all times. We are not responsible for any good times or corny jokes that may ensue during the trip. Thank you for choosing Timber Spruce Transport as your mode of travel.”
 
Then, making a few squeaky, funny-sounding noises, he started cantering off through the woods with Pansy laughing as they went. As soon as she caught her breath, Pans was silent for a moment before pipping up, “Uh…..Timber?”
 
“Yeah, Pansy?” he said, turning his head to look at her.
 
Her forelegs were wrapped around his neck, while her face was slightly obscured by his luscious locks. She looked shyly at the ground as she said her sweet, soft voice, “Thank you.”
 
Timber smiled warmly at her.
 
“Any time, kiddo.”

This took me 5 hours to write.LOAF INTENSIFIES
 
 
I am nothing more than a hollow shell, emptied of all emotion and energy.
 
 
I need a nap.
 

 
But before I pass out for 2 days, here’s a little more info for you guys:
 
 
This story takes place when Pansy is only about 6 years old. Twilight get’s the bright idea to send her only child to a nature camp, you know, to get the blood pumping and to give her a chance to learn more about nature outside of their own town and what Twilight could teach her.
 
There was only one problem. Twilight’s very emotional daughter who was extremely attached to her, had never once been more than a night’s long separation from her. As expected, Pansy didn’t handle it well and was a crying mess for the first week. That is, until the friendly, comedic, ruggedly handsome stallion, Timber Spruce ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ step in and save the day.
 
Ever since their little talk in the woods, Pansy latched on to Timber like a leech. She was his shadow the whole time and rarely left his side. Even when it was time to play games, if she couldn’t have Timber on her team, she stayed out. Even though Timber would sometimes feel a little burdened down by the filly (sometimes literally if she wanted another horseback ride), he couldn’t bring himself to say no to her or send her away. Besides, he was getting pretty attached himself to the little sweetheart, and in all his years as Camp Counselor, he had never seen a filly so passionate about nature. Maybe even enough to rival himself.
 
Spending so much time with Pansy even made Timber forgot about her parentage, and how in a few weeks, he’d have to face the Princess herself on Parent’s Night.