Despite the summer months having come to an end, the days were still quite nice. Wanting to take advantage of said nice weather, many people of Canterlot were outside enjoying themselves.
One of the places many people enjoyed spending their time was in a large forest that was located near the city. This forest was the same one that Camp Everfree was located in, though the area they were currently in was on the complete opposite side of the forest.
Currently, Flash and several of his friends from school had come to the forest and set up show in a natural clearing that was a well known picnic sight. "Okay boy," Flash showed his dog, Banana, the frisbee and the hound let out an excited bark as Flash threw it and he chased after it.
Over by the side, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie were laying around on a blanket reading some of their favourite books. Trixie was also there, she and Sunset sitting side by side listening to a new song the bacon-haired girl had recently downloaded. At the same time, Rainbow, Applejack, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie were playing a game with several other people from school. They were throwing a ball back and forth, standing in a circle and bouncing it into the air for as long as possible.
Flash smirked as he looked around, seeing many people filling up the clearing. Some he recognised, others he didn't.
In the very center of the clearing were two individuals Flash knew better then anyone: His parents. Misty Vail, a silver skinned woman with purple hair, and Trail Blazer, a man who looked almost exactly like Flash but with a beard, sat side by side on a blanket. Misty appeared to be drawing something whilst Trail was reading a book, but the pair also smiled when Banana ran up with the frisbee in his mouth.
"Ahh," Misty sighed as she scratched Banana's head. "I'm glad we decided to come out here. What better way to recharge."
"Couldn't agree more," Trail nodded. "Sometimes you've just gotta get out of the museum and smell the roses." Both Flash's parents worked at a museum in the city, that actually being how they met, with his mother working in the artefacts division whilst his father worked in the palaeontology section. The pair had recently been working night and day on a bunch of new exhibits, but now that they had finished they were taking some time off to recharge.
Trail reached into the picnic basket and took out a trio of juice boxes, handing one to his mother and throwing another to Flash. The teen caught it and sipped it whilst walking off with Banana on his heel. As he walked around, he noticed somebody else arrive that he recognised. Shining and Cadance.
And they weren't alone, as Cadance was carrying pink skinned child of about a year or so in age with hair that was a mixture of dark pink and light blue. Shining noticed Flash and smirked, waving him over. "Hey guys," Flash smiled back as he reached them. He then turned to the baby, "and who's this little cutie?" The baby laughed at him as he tickled her tummy, Cadance and Shining smiling back.
"This is Flurry Heart," Cadance told him. "Shining must have told you about her considering how much you two have hung out together." That was true. Ever since Shining had learned about Flash's aliens and chosen to help him, they and Trixie had been spending a lot more time together.
"He might have mentioned her. Didn't tell me how cute she was though."
"Shame on you," Cadance joked at her husband. Shining rolled his eyes as Twilight and Spike began to make their way over to them.
"Hey Flurry," the glasses wearing girl smiled as the baby held her hands out to her. "How's my favourite niece?" She took the toddler from Cadance and started spinning her around, Flurry laughing at this whilst the others smiled.
"Wow," Flash smirked, "didn't know Twilight was so good with kids."
"She just really loves Flurry," Cadance told him. "Hopefully she'll feel the same way about her own kids when she has them."
"In about twenty years," Shining stated with crossed arms. Cadance rolled her eyes at this as Spike and Banana ran off to have fun, Cadance stepping over to Twilight and putting a blanket down before taking her daughter back. She placed Flurry on the ground and Twilight tried to get her to walk towards her. Flurry tried to crawl, but Cadance picked her up and placed her on her feet.
Flurry seemed to understand and tried to walk, but staggered and fell forwards onto her hands and knees before she started crying. As Cadance and Twilight comforted her, Flash turned to Shining.
"Having a kid looks like it's fun."
"It's a lot of work," Shining told him. "But it's definitely worth it. Though when she was first born, I was terrified of going to work. The thought of getting hurt and leaving her without a dad paralysed me for a good while."
"Really?" Flash asked, amazed to hear this.
"It's quite a common issue for cops who become parents. We have a whole team of shrinks specially trained for this exact issue."
"Wow," Flash nodded. As he thought about that, he realised his adventures as a superhero were pretty dangerous. If we wasn't careful, he could end up hurt worse than some police officers. At the moment this would cause his parents and friends a lot of pain. But what about in the future. Would he ever be able to have a relationship, knowing he could cause them a lot of pain because of what he did?
He and Shining continued to watch the many people enjoy their day. But then the peaceful serenity of the forest was broken by a low rumbling sound.
"What's that?" Flash asked.
"Thunder?" Shining guessed, but looked up and saw there wasn't a cloud in the sky. As he watched, the rumbling sound grew louder and louder.
Then, suddenly, a bunch of vehicles rolled into the clearing. These vehicles all had a logo of a shield with a tree in it on the doors and hoods, the trucks beginning to circle them. This caused everyone to worry, as men wearing the same clothing jumped out of the vehicles and had the same logo on their cloths.
One of the men, a green skinned individual with orange hair led the rest forward. "I'm sorry everyone," he told them. "But I'm afraid you will all need to leave this area immediately."
"Under whose authority?" Shining asked, moving to the front of the group. The man stepped forward and held up a piece of paper.
"My name is Cedar Oakheart, founder and chairman of the Sen-Trees. And we just managed to get an environmental protection order signed that allows us to keep this forest safe. Now no unauthorised humans are allowed into these woods."
"That's nuts!" Trixie cried, "you can't just kick us out of here. People have been coming to this forest for years." Those around her nodded, but Shining looked over the document and frowned.
"I'm afraid it's official," he told them. "Court approved. Nobody is allowed in these woods without authorisation given by the Sen-Trees."
"It's for the good of the forest," Oakheart told them. "The less people in these woods, the less environmental damage done to it."
"We wouldn't damage the forest," Pinkie frowned. "We love this place." Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack all nodded, but Oakheart remained steadfast.
"Humans affect the environment just by existing," he stated. "These trees could make great homes for multiple animals, but no animals are around because of how often humans come around here and scare them off. The best way to keep this forest pure is to limit the amount of human contact it has. So please, leave this place before my men are forced to remove you."
"No need for violence," Cadance told them as she held Flurry. "We'll leave." The others nodded, but they weren't happy about it. They all quickly began to pack up their things and once they had, they began to leave whilst the Sen-Trees got back into their vehicles.
Flash huffed as he carried the picnic basket. "If they want to protect the forest, not riding around in large gas guzzling off-roaders might help." The others all agreed as they began to make their way out of the clearing and head towards the car park.
"They might be right though," Fluttershy told them. "We humans can't help but change the world around us, even if we try to keep things the way. Every step we take effects the environment. Sometimes that's a good thing, but a lot of the time we end up doing more harm than good." They wanted to deny that, but knew Fluttershy was likely right. Mankind just couldn't help but affect the world around them. It was in their very nature.
"Too bad we can't just talk to trees," Twilight sighed. "If we could, they could tell us how they want to be looked after." Those that heard this laughed, Flash more than any of them. The reason he was laughing was because he had an alien that could do just that. Not that he could ever tell any of them this of course.
As they made their way through the woods back towards the car park, the sound of rustling filled the air. Everyone heard it and looked up, seeing the trees sway back and forth as if a strong breeze was blowing.
However, there was no wind of any kind around. This put a lot of them on edge, the parents ushering their kids to hurry up. But as they did so, something happened that none of them were expecting. From out of the tree, a long green tendril shot down and grabbed one of the men around the waist.
"WHAT?" Was all he could say before he was suddenly hoisted into the air, making those around him scream as they saw him be pulled up towards the tree that had unleashed the vine. They weren't able to stand their panicking for long, as in that moment another vine shot down. Then another and another, until tons of vines began slithering towards them.
"RUN!" Shining roared, many of the woman and children doing just that. Several men stayed behind to try and save the one already caught, whilst the Rainbooms did the same. "Twilight!" His sister nodded and tried to use her magic, managing to enchant the vine and take control of it. But as she tried to free him, several more vines caught hold of him.
"There's too many!" She cried, as several vines shot down to try and grab them. Luckily, Rarity was there and created a shield around them.
"We've gotta get out of here!" Sunset cried, she and Fluttershy holding Rainbow up so they could more easily escape. But there were so many vines around, that there was no clear escape.
"We're trapped!" Fluttershy cried.
"Someone help!" Pinkie yelled as she threw a cupcake bomb at some vines and destroyed them, only for more vines to appear to take their place.
Luckily, help was on the way. Flash had run off with the others, but only so he could slip away and transform unseen. Managing to get away from his parents, the teen leapt behind a non-killer tree and activated the watch. "I don't know what's making the trees do this, but I'm betting Bushwhacker will be able to control them better."
The image of the alien he had chosen appeared and with a smirk, he slammed the dial down as the watch unleashed a bright light.
When it faded, Flash had been replaced by one of is alien heroes. But not the one he had been hoping for. "Hey," he hissed as he saw he was in the body of his super speed alien. "I wanted Bushwhacker, not XLR8. Stupid watch." More cries filled the air and made him look back, his visor lowering and using its zoom function to see several more people being lifted into the air by some vines. "Aw man, here goes nothing."
Back with the Rainbooms, Applejack had leapt up and grabbed a vine before ripping it in two behind where the man it was holding hung.
They both fell to the ground and as they did, more and more vines appeared. "What the hay is goin' on here?"
"Sunset," Twilight turned to the girl, "could this be Equestrian Magic?" The girl thought about it, since they had seen Equestrian Magic do this exact same thing. But something about this situation didn't feel the same.
"I don't think so."
"Well whatever's causing it," Rainbow started. "We gotta stop if before it hurts someone." Several of the men all cried out as the vines started squeezing them tightly, Twilight trying to free them but the vines were just to strong.
But before any of them could pop, a blue blur suddenly shot passed and leapt into the air. Shooting passed one of the men, the vine behind him cut and he fell towards the ground. As he did, the blur stopped beneath him and revealed himself to be one of the alien heroes.
"XLR8!" Twilight cried as the raptor caught them man, then zoomed off through the trees. "Where's he going?"
In an open section of the forest, where the many cars were parked, people were running to safety. Luckily, none of the trees around there seemed to be alive so they could all rest easy when they got to their cars.
"Hey!" Misty asked as she looked around, "where's Flash?" Banana barked as Trail looked around, the parents turning back towards the forest. "You don't think he was grabbed by one of those trees, do you?" Before Trail could say anything, a sound filled the air.
The source of that sound soon appeared when a blue blur shot into the parking lot and stopped, revealing the man carrying alien. "You might want to check to make sure he's okay," the alien told them all as it put the man down before zooming back into the forest.
"What...just happened?" Trail asked as they watched XLR8 vanish into the trees.
The raptor alien blasted through the woods until he reached the area the others were in. "Here he comes!" He heard Shining cry out, "now!" He watched as Rarity threw one of her crystal shields at a vine holding someone and it cut through the vine, making the man drop. XLR8 easily sped forward and grabbed him, managing to get back through the trees to the parking lot to drop him off before returning.
They managed to get into quite a system, with one of the Rainbooms freeing someone in the vines as XLR8 flew passed and grabbed them. Soon enough, all the people grabbed by the vines were free and safely with the others. "That's everyone," he hissed as he sped up to them and Rarity let him into her crystal dome. "Now for you guys!"
"Rainbow first," Sunset told him. XLR8 nodded and grabbed the girl.
"Hey!" She moaned as he hoisted her up, "going fast is my thing!"
XLR8 hissed, "then I guess going faster than you is my thing." Rainbow looked outraged, but the alien shot out of the dome and flew back to the parking lot before she could complain and dropped her off before returning to the rest of the girls. He quickly grabbed Fluttershy and brought her back to the parking lot, then Sunset followed by Pinkie, Applejack, Twilight and finally Shining.
When he returned, Rarity was looking rather tired. "I can't hold this much longer."
"Well luckily, you don't have too." He grabbed hold of her. "Ready?" She nodded and dropped the shield, XLR8 speeding through the forest until he reached the others. "There," he stopped and put her down, "that's everyone."
"No it isn't!" He turned and was surprised to see his own mother rushing up to him, "our son's missing. We think he might still be in the woods."
"Oh," XLR8 panicked, "right. I'll...go look for him." He sped off before they could ask any questions and tried to think of some way out of this. But as he did, he suddenly found another vine flying towards him. "Wow!" He narrowly dodged it, only for another vine to attack. "What is this, The Happening?" He asked as a vine shot at him and he used his claws to cut it apart. "That's right," he snapped his claws. "Stay back unless you want a serious pruning!" But as he said that, a new sound filled the air. A strange sound he had only heard the night he found the watch: Lasers. "Huh?" He shot through the woods until he reached the source of the sounds.
It was the Sen-Tree People, only there was something different about them. Now they were dressed in full body armor that you would see SWAT officers wear, whilst in their hands were a bunch of weird guns that unleashed red beams of light. Whenever a beam struck a vine, the tendril shrivelled up.
"That's it men!" One of the shooters yelled, XLR8 realising it was Oakheart. "Don't let a single one survive!" They kept firing at the vines until each and every one was a shrivelled up husk that fell to the ground. When the last vine was destroyed, the gunmen lowered their weapons.
"Wow," they then heard before turning to see XLR8. "For a bunch of people who were going on about saving the forest, you sure pack some deadly weed whackers." The men all looked shocked to see him, with Oakheart being the first to react. "Hey!" He cried when Oakheart pointed his blaster at him, "what are you-WOW!" He barely dodged a laser, "you crazy!" Several more soldiers fired at him and if it wasn't for XLR8's super speed, he would have been hit multiple times.
"Don't let him escape!" Oakheart yelled, with XLR8 deciding to get the heck out of there.
"Later!" He hissed before zooming off, dodging several more lasers until he got out of ranger. "That was nuts. What the heck are those people up too?" As he got closer to the parking lot, he realised he needed to find a way to explain his disappearance. Luckily, the watch chose this moment to start beeping.
In a burst of light, XLR8 was replaced by Flash and the teen kept running until he reached the parking lot. "FLASH!" His mother yelled, running over to him and pulling the teen into a tight hug. "You had us all so worried."
"What happened to you?" Trail asked, Banana letting out a bark.
"Sorry," Flash told them. "One of those trees got the jump on me and tried to pull me away. I managed to struggle free but I got split up from the rest of you."
"Dude!" Rainbow rushed up to him, "you totally missed it. One of those alien superheroes showed up and helped us."
"The speedy one," Flash smirked. "I saw him too. He grabbed me and sped me over here before disappearing into the trees. He was awesome." They all nodded at this, whilst Flash turned to Shining. "But I saw something else before XLR8 sped me away." Several individuals looked rather confused, some wondering how he knew its name and others wondering what he saw. "It was those Sen-Tree guys. I walked in on them fighting against the trees."
"That doesn't sound too plant friendly," Pinkie frowned.
"It gets weirder," Flash told them. "They had these super high-tech guns that shot these weird lasers, that made the vines shrivel up. It was like that guy who chose poorly in that Daring Do movie."
"They had real lasers?" Shining asked, "like real ones." Flash nodded.
"Maybe they were trying to keep the trees from hurting people," Rarity suggested. "Whatever those tree things were, they were clearly dangerous."
"Yeah," Flash nodded, "but when XLR8 showed up they turned them on him. If he hadn't been so fast, those guys would have turned him into forest fertiliser." Everyone's eyes went wide at this, none more so than Trixie and Shining's since they both knew who XLR8 really was.
"But he saved us," Fluttershy pointed out. "Why would they attack him?"
Shining hummed, "I think this Ceder Oakheart needs a little looking into." He turned to everyone else, "let's go people. This area of the forest might seem safe, but I'd rather not take any chances. Everyone back to town and spread the word to stay away from the forest until further notice." They all nodded and began to get into their cars, Flash going with his parents.
As he did, he and Shining locked eyes and both nodded. They would need to meet up and speak about this situation further.
Word of the mysterious living forest had spread throughout the city like wildfire. Footage of the vine attack and the alien that showed up was uploaded to the internet almost immediately, the footage making the city news and getting everyone talking about it.
The police were also looked into it, getting in contact with Oakheart.
The man stated his people were looking into it and would keep the public informed. However, the questions about the strange weapons they had were laughed off as the mad ramblings of a silly teenager so scared he had been seeing things.
"Silly teenager so scared he was seeing things?" Flash growled when he heard this news. He and Trixie were at a cafe, waiting for Shining to show up and tell them when he had discovered. "When I get my hands on that Oakheart guy..."
"Oh relax Flash," Trixie told him as she sipped on her tiny coffee. "What would you expect a big company to say? That they do have extremely dangerous and possible illegal weapons, which they sic on aliens and teenagers who show up at the wrong time?"
"I guess you're right," Flash leaned back. "But still, those guys are up to something and I'm gonna find out what it is. Even if I have to go back to that forest and search every inch of it."
"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen." They turned to see Shining step up and sit down besides them. "The Sen-Trees have just put an order up to prevent anyone not part of the charity from entering the area. The entire forest has been quarantined until they figure out how to stop those killer vines."
"So what did you find out about the Sen-Trees?" Trixie asked, "anything that would explain where they got those killer weapons from?"
"Are you kidding?" Shining asked, "I haven't even been able to figure out where they get their paper clips from. Everything about the charities financial records is tied up with so much red tape, you'd think they were secretly drug smugglers or something."
"So you haven't been able to find out anything?" Flash asked, making Shining sigh.
"Nope. I can't even find out where they get their funding from. And my boss refuses to dig any deeper because Oakheart sends yearly donations to the police force. He won't act on any suspicion I have unless I get some serious proof that something's not right. And since all I have to go on is the word of a minor and an alien, there's no way to prove they're up to no good."
Flash and Trixie groaned at this, Flash slumping in his seat until he gave Shining a serious look. "Then I'll get you some proof." Shining raised an eyebrow at this, "do you have the location of the Sen-Tree's home base?" Shining nodded, "can you send me it? I'm gonna do a little investigation work. Or should I say, an alien friend of mine is gonna do some investigation."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Trixie asked, "what if you get caught? And what if you time out in front of someone and they discover your secret."
"I'll be fine," Flash assured her. "If the Sen-Trees are up to something, we have to find out. If they're willing to turn their weapons on a super powered alien, who's to say they won't do the same to a person that accidently walks in on them. We've gotta find out the truth."
Shining was a little hesitant, but chose to trust in Flash and sent him the address of the base. But as he did, he suggested Flash wait until evening to make it less likely that he would be discovered. And so after getting the stink eye from Trixie, who wanted to go with him but was left behind since being with him would only make it harder for him to sneak in, Flash headed off towards the forest.
Typing the address into his sat nav, Flash realised the place wasn't all that far from the parking lot near the area they had been to the previous day. So as the sun began to set, Flash drove over to parking lot. Luckily, there weren't any patrols stopping him from entering the lot. And as the sun drew closer and closer to the horizon, Flash snuck through the forest until he reached the area he was looking for.
A large clearing with a building in the center of it, that was a seven story glass skyscraper that had a metal fence around it and several large off-road vehicles. Flash spotted several people in the kind of gear one would see a soldier wear, but none of them had the weapons he had seen before.
Flash looked up at the top of the building and realised that must be Oakheart's office. There was no way to get up there without being seen. At least, no way for a guy who couldn't transform into a super powered alien hero.
Flash activated the watch and cycled through his aliens until he found the one he was looking for, smirking as he slapped the dial down and unleashed a bright green light.
When it faded, Flash was replaced by a long lizard-like creature whose body was greyish purple with dark purple stripes covering it. The top of its head was black with a long pointed fin on it, whilst its mouth was large and had many sharp teeth within it. It had three triangular eyes, the middle one being blue with a red one on the right and a green one on the left. From the tip of its tail, a long black stinger appeared and the watch symbol was on its chest.
The lizard alien got down on all fours and started crawling along the ground, slowly making his way towards the building. As he did, several guards showed up and were talking. The lizard stopped and watched, as the guards spoke to one another. One then turned in his direction, but when he did Flash was gone.
He raised an eyebrow at this, but then shrugged and the two walked off. When they were gone, the lizard suddenly reappeared where he had been and continued crawling until he reached the building. As he did, he once again completely vanished. Footsteps could be seen as the alien reached the outer wall and used his lizard-like abilities to scale up it.
The alien, who Flash had dubbed Chamalien, climbed up the walls without any issues and remained invisible as he searched for a room he could use to get some information. It didn't take him long to find one, as he arrived at the top floor and found Oakheart sitting at a desk typing away at a computer.
Chamalien tried to see what he was typing, but couldn't get a good enough angle. After a minute of so of this, the door opened and someone stepped inside. The pair talked about something that Chamalien couldn't hear, but eventually Oakheart stood up and the pair left the room.
Oakheart gone, Chamalien moved over to the window opening and raised his tail. Using the black stinger, he picked the lock and managed open it. Quickly crawling inside and turning visible, Chamalien rushed to the laptop and opened it back up. Oakheart hadn't switch it off, meaning all of his file were free for him to look through.
"Let's see what you've been hiding," he told Oakheart as he typed away at the computer. He noticed several files and quickly opened them up, speed reading through them as his three eyes went wide. "No way." It turned out, Oakheart wasn't as tree loving as he stated. Many of the files were about his many investments that included a bunch of different industrial processes. Anything from nucular energy to trash pick up and chemical experimentation laboratories.
"Why would a guy that makes his living off of harming the environment, start up a group meant to protect trees?" He then noticed another file, which had the forest's name for the title. He clicked it and the file contained a large map, which Chamalien realised was of the forest. Several sections of the mad had circles around them, which were labelled as 'dump sites'. "Dump sites." Chamalien hissed with a frowned, "Shining will want to see this." He looked around and smiled when he spotted a flashdrive on the desk.
He quickly grabbed it and stuffed it in the computer, the device activating and bringing up a file requesting to copy all files. Chamalien pressed yes and a loading bar appeared before slowly filling. He waited...and waited...and waited, as the files were slowly copied onto the drive. It was a slow process and Chamalien was beginning to get worried, fearing the possibility he would be discovered or he would time out and be stuck in the room.
And sure enough, as the bar grew closer to one hundred percent, he heard movement outside the room. "Hang on," he heard. "I left some documents in my office." Chamalien's eyes went wide and he looked down at the bar, which suddenly slowed the a crawl inches from being full.
"Come on." He told it, "come on!"
Outside, Oakheart marched towards his office completely unaware that it was occupied. Chamalien sweated as the bar continued to slowly fill, whilst the door handle began to jiggle. But eventually, the bar completely filled seconds before the door opened and the Oakheart stepped inside followed by another man. Neither noticed anything out of the ordinary, the room was completely empty.
He walked over to his desk and grabbed a few files, spotting his computer shut with no flashdrive in it. He looked through his pages and saw everything he needed. But as he was about to leave, one of the loose pages on his desk fluttered off due to a wind that flowed in through the open window. "Huh?" He looked at said window, appearing confused. "I could have sworn I locked that." He moved over to shut and lock it before he turned to the man, "how are we doing in preparation for tonight?"
"Good. The mech's ready for the dump. But the men are worried about those trees. That area's been dumped in before, so it might have been affected."
"They're just trees," Oakheart told him. "A bunch of overgrown weeds. With our weapons, there's nothing they can do to stop us. We'll wipe them all out and continue our operation, no matter how many trees we need to destroy." His employee nodded and the two headed back out the room.
When he closed the door, Chamalien reappeared outside said window. "Phew," he sighed before opening his closed fist where the flashdrive was sitting. "Alright," he began to climb down the window, "time to get this to Shining." He reached the bottom and looked around, seeing nobody in sight. He attempted to escape, but before he could a truck drove into the area from out of the trees.
"Hurry!" He heard someone yell, "they're coming!" Chamalien watched as from the trees, a bunch of vines shot out and flew towards the truck. Several grabbed the vehicle and lifted it into the air, the men inside leaping to safety but not getting their weapons in time.
The remaining men on the ground started firing at the vines, but they seemed to have adapted since the last confrontation. Now they were snaking around through the air, avoiding the blasters before shooting forward and grabbing the guns. One by one, the weapons were yanked out of the men's grasps and crushed within the vines.
"This can't be good," Chamalien gulped as several vines shot down and grabbed the men before lifting them into the air. Chamalien acted fast and turned invisible, rushing forward and jumping up to grab the nearest vine. He quickly bit through it with his sharp teeth, freeing the captured man before leaping to another vine.
"What's happening?" One of the men asked as Chamalien used his tail-spike to cut through the vine. The men continued to fall to the ground as Chamalien freed them, each one running towards the building once on the ground.
As they did this, Oakheart stepped outside armed with a blaster and growled. "They even came here?" He noticed the vines getting cut and wondered what was going on, getting his answer when a vine shot up and slammed into something after the vine it was on was cut.
"Ahhh!" He heard as a strange lizard creature appeared and landed on the ground, moaning as he pushed himself back to his feet.
"Another of those aliens," one of the men cried.
"Well don't just stand there!" Oakheart yelled, pointing his pistol at Chamalien. "Roast him!" He fired and Chamalien barely managed to avoid it.
"Hey!" He cried, turning invisible. "I'm on your side you idiots!" The men didn't listen and kept firing, Chamalien running as fast as he could. "Fine, save yourselves then!" But as he made a break for the trees, a laser hit the ground and caused it to explode. "Augh!" He was sent flying and accidently lost his grip on his flashdrive, not seeing where it had landed.
"We've got it!" Oakheart yelled, preparing to fire again. But Chamalien used all his power of concentration to vanish before he could. He still fired, but his shot missed and he looked around. "It's gone." He then turned his attention back on the vines and started firing, hitting multiple and destroying them. Eventually, the trees gave up and retreated. "That'll show them." he turned to his men. "Pack up. Let's get to the dump site as fast as possible. I want this operation complete before day break!" The men nodded and got to work, Oakheart turning back to when Chamalien had been. "Just back off you alien freaks. This is just good business."
Back where Flash had parked, Chamalien leapt out of the trees and landed besides his car. He panted heavily as he leaned against the vehicle, glad he was out of there.
"That...was too close." As he said that, the watch started beeping before turning him back to human. Flash sighed again, getting into the car. Despite getting out of the situation unharmed, he wasn't happy. "I can't believe I lost the flashdrive." He pulled out of the car park and headed towards the city.
Along the way, he called Shining and Trixie. They agreed to meet up at a cafe Shining frequented, Flash heading straight there.
When he arrived, he found Shining standing next to his police cruiser. As Flash pulled up, Trixie arrived on her push bike. "So what happened?" She asked, chaining her bike up before the three headed into the cafe.
"What'd you find out?" Shining asked as they sat down. Flash began to explain everything that he found on Oakheart's computer, Shining and Trixie gasping when he explained the map of the forest that was marked as dump sites. "Sounds like Sen-Trees in illegally dumping in the forest."
"How can they do that?" Trixie asked. "Acting like they're friends to the forest and then doing something that'd destroy it."
"It's actually a smart move," Shining told her. "Nobody would think a group dedicated to helping trees would do something like this and since they're claiming to be protecting the areas that they cornered off, they can keep people away so nobody discovers their nasty little secret."
"Then we've gotta stop them," Trixie frowned. "We gotta prove what they're doing."
Flash sighed as he leaned back, whilst the waitress brought them their drinks. "If only I hadn't dropped that flashdrive. We would have had all the proof we need to get the cops involved."
"Yeah," Shining nodded. "I talked to my supervisor and he said the only way they can get a warrant to properly investigate the Sen-Trees, was if we had some form a physical evidence." He thought for a moment, then hummed as an idea formed in his head. "Flash, do you remember where any of those dump sites were located?"
Flash nodded, "yeah. There was one not to far from where we were today."
"I guess that explains why they tried to get us out of there," Trixie smiled. "What are you planning?"
"We go to the forest and look for proof. If those guys really are dumping there, we'll find something that'll allow me to get a warrant for a more in-depth investigation." He took a big swig of his drink, "you guys with me?" The teens nodded and quickly finished off their drinks, they headed for the forest.
As they drove, Trixie riding in Flash's car, they spoke to Shining over the phone. "So do you think this dumping caused the trees to come to life?"
"I don't know," Shining told them. "I mean, I guess it depends on what it was they're dumping. But lots of areas have had toxic waste dumped there and none of them have even caused the trees to turn into dangerous monsters."
"I don't think the trees are attacking just because they've come alive," Flash told him. "We don't have the full story. They might have attacked, but so would any wounded animal. Humans have done nothing but harm this forest for as long as they can remember. Maybe they attacked us because they don't know there are people out there that want to really help them."
"Maybe," Shining told him, "but if they keep attacking then we'll have no choice but to destroy them." Flash didn't like the sound of that, but knew there was a way he could stop the trees from attacking. His eyes fell on the watch.
They soon arrived back at the forest and parked up in the area without sentient trees. The three slowly made their way through the woods, glad that the place didn't come alive and go all evil dead on them.
"You sure this is one of the areas you saw on the map?" Shining asked, Flash nodding. "Hopefully, there'll be something here that we can use to prove what Oakheart's up too." But as he said that, a sound caught their attention and made them look ahead. It was a strange whiring noise that was followed with the sound of the ground being dug up.
"I think they might be using this site," Trixie pointed out. They rushed forward and as they did, they came across a large area of trees that was being dug up. The thing doing the digging was a giant mech suit, which had a large cab in the chest, four robotic legs and a pair of robotic arms with shovel claws for hands.
"Wow," Flash whispered, "where did they get that?" The mech spun around and when it did, they spotted Oakheart in the cab control the robot. Several Sen-Tree gunmen where also there, keeping a watchful eye out as Oakheart extended the mech's arm and used it to scoop up a large amount of soil out of the ground at the base of a tree.
Several men then rolled some barrels towards the hole and pushed them inside, Oakheart quickly releasing some of the soil to bury them. "You're right!" Trixie told Flash, "they are dumping waste here."
Shining took out his phone and started taking pictures, Oakheart digging up another tree. But as he did, Flash noticed movement above the grew. "Uh oh," he pointed at the canopy. "Look!" Vines shot down towards the dumpers, Oakheart appearing to notice this.
"Oh no you don't!" He yelled as he raised his shovel claws and used them to cut the vines, whilst the gunmen started firing at them.
"I gotta get in there!" Flash activated the watch, "I've gotta stop them before they do any more harm to the forest." He found the alien he was looking for and slapped the dial down, a green light filling the forest.
When it faded, Flash was now replaced by a strange plant-like creature. The first noticeable thing about it was its head, which looked like a twelve sided die made of brown wood. Two of the connecting sides had a hole on them that glowed blue, resembling eyes, whilst the side below the eyes had another opening that seemed to resemble a mouth. The rest of the body was a mix of different plants. A bunch of leaves made up the chest and shoulders, whilst vines made up its waist and arms. Its hands were made out of wood and it had three legs that were also wooden and had four root-like limbs sticking out the end that it was standing on. Sticking out of its back were a pair of giant leaves that looked like wings, whilst the watch symbol was on its head on the side right above the eyes.
"Yes!" Flash cheered, "Bushwhacker in the house!" He charged forward and as he did, Trixie and Shining started recording. The dumpers spotted him coming and looked shocked by his appearance, but quickly recovered and held up their guns. But before they could fire, Bushwhacker thrust an arm forward. The vine-like arm extended and grabbed the closest gun, pulling it out of the gunman's grip before swinging it around and knocking the rest of the guns out of their hands.
"Hey!" Oakheart yelled, "not cool." He began to step forward, his mech's claws snapping open and shut. As he did, the living trees shot down and tried to grab him. But he simply ripped them apart as Bushwhacker ran towards the mech, Oakheart's men charging at him.
"I don't think so!" He cried, as he swung his leaf wings around and unleashed a powerful gust of wind that knocked the men off their feet. As this was happening, Oakheart stepped forward and lifted his claw up before swinging it downwards. Bushwhacker barely managed to leap away in time as the claw struck the ground, causing cracks to appear as the alien landed besides one of the living trees.
Bushwhacker's hand brushed against the trunk and as it did, he heard something. "Pain." Bushwhacker turned to the tree, as its vines sways around listlessly. "So much pain."
"Pain?" Bushwhacker asked, "what pain?" The humans wondered what he was talking about, Bushwhacker placing a hand on the trunk. Closing his eyes, he used his chloro-psychic abilities. In a flash, he was inside the tree's mind and saw multiple images.
Those images were of Oakheart, constantly dumping barrels into holes below trees and covering them up. Over time, the barrels started leaking their toxic waste into the ground, where the roots of many trees began soaking them up. Over time, the waste had caused a mutation and gave the trees life.
"So that's it." He pulled his hand away and pointed at Oakheart, "how long have you been dumping waste in this forest? Years? It's caused the trees to mutate and come alive, causing them pain." Oakheart simply sat in his mech's cab, looking stoic. "Don't you have any remorse what what you've done? To the forest you claim to protect!" Then, Oakheart did something Bushwhacker wasn't expecting. He laughed.
"Listen...whatever the heck you are. A forest is nothing important. There's hundreds of them all over the world. And protecting the trees doesn't pay the bills." He reached down and grabbed one of the remaining barrels, holding it up. "A lot of companies are willing to pay a lot of money to dispose of their excess waste. The amounts I charge are still cheaper then the amount they would need to pay to have it dealt with the way those tree hugging babies force them too. They get rid of it cheaper, I get paid and nobody gets hurt."
Flash didn't know if it was the fact he was an actual plant right now, but those words seriously ticked him off. "Nobody! Can't you see the damage you've done?" The trees haven't just come alive, they're feeling pain. And it's not just them you're hurting. Lots of creatures call this place home. What gives you the right to ruin their lives just to make a quick buck?"
Oakheart smirked, "survival of the fittest. And there's nothing you can do about it. Who are the authorities gonna believe? Me, a well known environmental protection group leader, or you, some kind of mutant freak?" Bushwhacker glared at him, then smiled.
"They won't believe me. But they will believe your confession." Oakheart wondered what he meant, but in that moment he noticed movement off to the side and looked around. There, he saw Trixie and Shining standing off to the side. Then, he spotted the phone Shining was holding up.
"You've been recording this?" He cried, Shining smirking with a nod.
"And when I send it to my boss, he'll have every officer in Canterlot down here to arrest you." But when he looked down at his phone, his smile faded and he started moving the device around. "As soon as...I...get a signal." Trixie looked at her phone and found it had zero bars as well.
"The reception around here is terrible." The pair heard robotic footsteps and looked up to see Oakheart charging at them, only to stop when Bushwhacker extended his arms and grabbed the robot's back legs.
"Oh no you don't!" He cried, managing to hold the machine back. He then turned to the others, "run!" The pair nodded and rushed off through the woods, as Oakheart turned to his men.
"Get them!" They nodded and charged after them, whilst Oakheart turned back to Bushwhacker. "Big mistake moss for brains. In the battle between nature and technology, technology always win!" He swung his claws around and struck Bushwhacker's arms, ripping through them as the plant alien fell back. "Now you're gonna be buried here along with all this toxic waste."
Bushwhacker pushed himself back to his feet and stepped backwards towards the trees. placing his damaged arms against them. A moment later, the tree's bark broke off and reformed around the tips of his regrown vine arms to form new hands. "I don't think so." He leapt forward, his root-like toes extending as he shot into the air. As he did, his wooden fists reshaped themselves into hammers.
Oakheart swung his claws at him, but he managed to avoid it as he root-toes snapped off and he fell towards the cab. As he did, he swung his hammer down and smashed it into the glass of the cab. "Augh!" Oakheart cried as his container rattled, the glass in front of his cracking apart. Bushwhacker raised his hammer and prepared to smash it downwards again, but Oakheart was quicker and started fiddling with the controls.
Suddenly, parts of the mech above the cab opened up and unfolded a pair of pipes. And from those pipes, streams of black smoke shot out and hit Bushwhacker in the face. "Gyah!" He cried, staggering backwards. As he did, Oakheart swung the claw around and hit him. "Augh!" He was sent flying and crashed into the ground, rolling along the forest floor until he came to a stop at the base of a tree.
Oakheart's mech stepped forward and raised his claw, "it's over." But as he swung it downwards, something stopped him. "What?"
Bushwhacker opened his eyes and looked up, amazed to see multiple vines had grabbed the mech's arms and were holding them in place. And as he picked himself up, he placed his hand against the trunk and heard the voice. "You care about us. You...friend?"
Bushwhacker chuckled, "yeah. I'm your friend." He then heard the machine move and looked back at Oakheart, who was ripping the vines apart. "So let's take this guy down together, as friends!" He charged again and this time, he aimed for the legs. He grabbed one of them and ran around it, his arm extending until it coiled around the mechanical limb before rushing to the next one and doing the same. When both legs were thoroughly tied up, he pulled on the arm as hard as he could.
Oakheart was focused on the vines, he hadn't noticed any of this until he got a warning. "What?" He looked down at the screen and saw it tell him two of his legs were getting to close together. Any closer and he would lose balance. "No you don't!" He started moving the legs to try and rip Bushwhacker's arms off, but the plant alien held on whilst the trees continued to attack his cab.
But he eventually cut through the last vine and then swung his claws around, cutting through the vine arms and causing both he and Bushwhacker to go staggering in different directions. They both hit a tree and whilst Bushwhacker used it to regain his balance and re-arm himself, Oakheart's mech ended up ripping his down. "NO!" Bushwhacker yelled, as Oakheart's robot landed on the tree and shattered it.
"That hurt," the man moaned before pushing his machine back up. "But probably not as much as it did for that tree." he laughed and charged again, Bushwhacker doing the same. He was done playing around.
Shining and Trixie ran through the forest, the Sen-Tree gunmen running behind them and firing whenever they got a shot. Luckily, they fell under the normal idiom of bad guys being terrible aims.
"Look out!" Trixie cried as she grabbed Shining and pulled him behind a tree, seconds before a laser flew passed the spot he had been. "What do we do?"
"Good question," Shining gulped as he looked around. He then got an idea and smirked, "you got any smoke bombs?"
"Please," Trixie told him, "the great and powerful Trixie restocks her supplies daily." She reached into her pocket and as the gunmen got closer, she threw them towards the ground and caused a large cloud of smoke to appear. The gunmen fired into the smoke, expecting the two to make a break for it. But they didn't hit anything and when the smoke cleared, they were gone.
They looked in every direction, but there was no sign of either of them. Every direction except one: Up.
Suddenly, Shining and Trixie flew down from above and tackled two of the gunmen. They fell to the ground and the pair quickly grabbed the fallen guns, whilst the remaining gunmen spun around and were shocked by what they saw. The two started firing, proving quite the skilled marksman as they hit the remaining guns without touching the people.
One by one, the guns were all destroyed and the men were left helpless. "Don't even think about running," Shining told them. "You are all under arrest." The men looked terrified, but didn't try to escape and put their hands up as Shining turned to Trixie. "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
"Video games." Shining chuckled and took out his phone, seeing they were out of the dead zone. He quickly sent the video to his boss, knowing the chief would act on it immediately. Hopefully, Flash would have dealt with Oakheart before the police got there.
Bushwhacker ran around the giant mech, which was doing everything in its power to try and destroy him. It swung its giant claw down to try and cut him in two, but Bushwhacker extended his toes to get out of the way seconds before the shovel clamped down on them and cut through the wood.
"Ow!" He cried, as he felt back to the ground. "That hurt!"
"Good!" Oakheart yelled before thrusting his claw at him again. "And I hope this hurts even more!" But before it could get him, more vines shot at him and grabbed his arm. "Stupid overgrown weeds!" He ripped the vine out, "most trees would probably thank me for giving you life!"
"They probably would if it didn't also cause them great pain!" Bushwhacker yelled, running around the mech. As he did, he noticed someone on the machine's back. A large metal box with several wires sticking out of it. Those wires went off in different directions around the machine, Bushwhacker quickly realising what the box was. "If I can't damage the machine. I'll cut its power!" Focusing, he sent the mental image of the box and wires to the trees. They quickly caught on and started aiming for the box.
"Hey!" Oakheart yelled as a vine grabbed one of the wires, but he reached up and cut it before it could do anything. "You know how much this thing cost? I'm already gonna pay a ton getting the window repaired." More and more vines flew down to try and rip the power source off, but Oakheart continued to fight against them. As he did, Bushwhacker ran forward and turned both his hands into blades.
As Oakheart ripped a vine out, the alien leapt up and slashed at one of the wires. This caused an alarm to go off, Oakheart looking at the console before laughing. "Ha, you only took out my headlights!" He turned to Bushwhacker and swung his claw at him, but a vine shot down and wrapped around the alien's waist before pulling him away.
"Then I'll hit another one!" Bushwhacker swung around on the vine, using his ability to speak with the trees to direct them, and managed to get around behind the mech before flying forwards. He swung passed and cut two more wires, one powering one of the legs and another Oakheart's seat-warmer.
"Raaah!" He cried, trying to manoeuvre around using the remaining three legs. But without the fourth, he just couldn't keep up with Bushwhacker as he swung around and cut through another wire. This one caused one of the arms to die, the mechanic limb slumping to the ground and hitting one of the remaining legs along the way. "Stop this!"
"Not happening!" Bushwhacker cried as he swung back again, Oakheart swinging his remaining claw at him. But Bushwhacker had the tree let him go and he went flying under the arm. He shot under its armpit and as he flew behind him, he swung around and extended his arms. This time, he grabbed every remaining cable and wire coming out of the power pack. And as he landed on the ground, he pulled at the wires with all his strength.
Oakheart quickly caught onto this and realised what was about to happen. "NOOOOOO!" He screamed as the wires were finally ripped out of the mech, causing every system in it to power down. "No!" He tried to do something, but nothing responded. "No, no, no, NO!" Things only got worse for him when the vines shot down and started wrapping around his dead mech before slowly pulling it in multiple directions.
The whole thing creaked and groaned until, finally, the metal monstrosity was pulled apart at the seams and only the cab remained. The glass box fell to the ground and the glass shattered, Oakheart quickly unbuckling himself and climbing out. But when he tried to make a run for it, the mangled limbs of his broken toy fell in front of him.
"Augh!" He cried when he felt something wrap around his legs before pulling him into the air, the man screaming as more vines wrapped around his wrists and neck in preparation of doing to him what they did to this machine. "Help me!"
"STOP!" Bushwhacker yelled, running to him and looking towards the trees. "Don't do this! I know he hurt you, but this isn't the way." He looked up at Oakheart, who was still terrified. "He sees you as nothing but a bunch of monsters, but you're not. You didn't ask for this to happen and everything you've done so far has been completely justified. But if you do this, it won't be self defence. It'll be cold blooded murder and it'll prove he was right about you being monsters." He looked back at the trees, "prove him wrong. Show him you are capable of more mercy then he ever could be. Please."
With that, he stood and waited. Oakheart remained where he was for several moments, the vine's grip tightening a tiny bit and making him squeak. But then, they began to loosen as the vines lowered him to the ground. Oakheart sighed as he was dropped onto the floor, taking deep breaths as he brushed himself off. He was about to run, but then felt a presence and looked behind himself to see Bushwhacker glaring at him.
Before Oakheart could say anything, the alien threw a punch into his face and the fusion of flesh and bark caused him to go flying until he hit the ground and was knocked out. "Keep him tied up until the police arrive. I'm sure they'll be able to find a cell cramped enough for him." He turned back to the trees and placed his hand on one. "I know you're in pain, but there are humans out there that'll help you. They'll find a way to counteract the toxins you absorbed and keep you safe, but only if you stop attacking innocent people."
He waited, hoping the trees would respond to him. And eventually, they all spoke back. "We promise. Only hurt people in defence."
Bushwhacker smiled at this, as the watch symbol started beeping and he reverted back to his human form. As he did, Shining and Trixie showed up. They looked around at the trees, but Flash turned to them and nodded.
Several hours later, the police arrived with a bunch of prisoner transports.
Oakheart was the first to be arrested and thrown into the transport, his men soon following. "You'll never make the charges stick!" He yelled from the back of the van, "you really think a jury will convict me when you tell them I was beaten by an alien. I'll be out soon enough!" That was all he said before the van slammed shut, the transport being driven away.
"Good work Armor," Shining's boss told him. "With the confession you recorded, we have enough evidence to do a thorough investigation of the company. If there's anything at all illegal, we'll deal with it."
"I hope you find something," Shining sighed. "I'd hate to see him walk after what he's done. I also hope his flunkies don't try and purge their systems when they hear he's been arrested."
"Yes," his boss nodded. "That could be a problem." But as he said that, one of the trees started moving and a vine whipped down. "What the?" His boss reached for his gun, but Shining stopped him and told the officer around him not to attack. They all stared at the vine as it tried to mime something, but none of them could figure out what it was saying.
But then, another vine came down and they saw it was holding something. A flashdrive. "Wait," Shining reached out and took it. "Could this be..." An officer with a portable laptop stepped over and they plugged it into the device, opening it up and finding a bunch of files with the Sen-Tree logo all over them.
"Where did this come from?"
"Don't know," Shining shrugged. "I guess Oakheart or one of his men had it and dropped it during all the excitement."
"I guess that's possible. I'll have the team properly go over this later. For now Shining, you deserve some time off for all the hard work you did."
"Thank you sir, but it wasn't just me. If it wasn't for the alien hero, I might not be here right now."
"Huh, I guess those aliens can be useful after all."
"They sure can sir," Shining looked up at the trees. "They sure can." Up in said tree, Flash and Trixie were watching and hiding from the police. When Flash locked eyes with Shining, he smirked back at the man before he and Trixie bumped fists. Mission complete.
Several days later.
Things had certainly changed in the forest. A real environmental protection agency soon arrived and using the information on the flashdrive, found and removed the toxic waste Oakheart had dumped inside the forest. They also managed to find a way to neutralise the waste's painful effects on the trees, causing them to stop feel pain. This didn't negate the other effect, allowing the trees to remain conscious. It was a new breakthrough in botany, one that many scientist would spend the next few decades studying.
The protection agency also allowed people to return to the forest as long as they promised to respect it and the living trees. The people were happy to do so, returning to the clearing to enjoy themselves again.
"Ready boy?" Flash asked Banana, holding up a frisbee, his dog barking happily before Flash threw the disk. The pup charged after it, but before he could catch it a strong gust of wind picked it up and caused it to go flying into one of the trees. Flash frowned at this, but then smiled when he saw a vine appear and grab the disk.
It then threw the frisbee like Flash had, Banana barking happily as he chased after it. As his dog ran around and played, Flash looked around. The trees were a lot more happy to have people there now, the vines playing with many of the kids by acting as makeshift swings and climbing ropes.
The Rainbooms were off to the side, sitting under a tree with Applejack reading a story book to one of them. Apparently, she did that with some of her trees back home and the trees appeared to be interested in the story as it was holding up the book for her and flipping the pages. Flash spotted his parents in the center of the center of the clearing, enjoying the sun as they laughed and fed one another.
Shining and Cadance were also by one of the trees, Cadance holding Flurry as Shining tried to get her to walk. And sure enough, the toddler began to push herself up and stagger towards him. And when she fell, a vine flew down and caught her before she hurt herself.
It helped her back up and the baby laughed as she continued walking towards Shining. He caught her as she reached him and held her up, making her laugh as her parents smiled. Flash also smiled, looking up at the trees and nodding. Yes, these things might have come alive through human cruelty and felt nothing but pain up to this point, but that pain hadn't turned them into monsters. Instead, it had made them kind.
It just goes to show that a kind heart can be found in even the most unlikely of places. Hopefully, this would mark a new beginning for mankind and its connection to nature. Help form a future that was truly green.