Oncoming Storm: What Lurks Beyond

by Chengar Qordath


Bad Vibrations

After a few minutes to take stock and rearm ourselves, we headed out into the woods to confront our mysterious enemy.  

Much to Rainbow’s disappointment, I had abandoned the chainsaw for something a bit less dramatic, specifically a pair of machetes that would still be practical for cutting through brush. While using a chainsaw against living plants was less ridiculous than many of the other uses for it, chainsaws were still not really balanced or designed to be used in battle. The only reason I had gotten away with using one earlier was that the plants had all been stuck in a chokepoint, and I could hardly count on that happening again in the open woods.

Star frowned down at her phone and sighed. “Satellite photos aren’t helping as much as I’d like. With F1X3R recharging we have to use Fluttershy’s animals for scouting, and squirrels can’t read map coordinates or use a GPS to give me latitude and longitude.”

“I know, we have to use old-fashioned fieldcraft and skills to navigate instead of just typing everything into a phone and letting it do all the hard work.” I shot a deadpan look her way. “The unimaginable horror. It is almost like our training included these skills for a reason.”

Star rolled her eyes. “Sure, and next we’ll be smacking things with stone clubs and going ‘Ooga booga.’ Luddite.”

“Tech-addict.” I checked the edge of both of my machetes. Not quite as keen as I would have liked, but it was not as if I had the time to spend a few hours honing them to a perfect razor edge. They would at least be sharp enough to do the job.

Star frowned at me. “Should be packing something with a bit more reach.”

I sighed and shook my head. “You saw how useless bullets were against those vines. There is no point in bringing a ranged weapon if it is going to be completely ineffective.”

Star grimaced and did a quick check of her own hunting rifle. “Getting up close and personal isn’t a great choice either.” She nodded at the bandages on my arms, then to Twilight. “I will kick your butt so hard if you’re trying to be a big hero to impress her.”

I snorted. “As if you were capable of kicking my butt.”

Star frowned up at me, doubtless irked by the fact that I was taller and in better shape than her. Then she played her trump card. “KnightRanger32.”

“What?”

“Your password for all your social media.” Star smirked at me. “Easy to figure it out, and you really shouldn’t use the same password for all of your accounts. Makes it get easy to get into all of your stuff. Maybe I can’t kick your butt in meatspace, but if you get yourself hurt being a big stupid skunk hero I will destroy you in cyberspace. You’ll be a meme, a trending hashtag, and whatever other nasty ideas I can come up with. And you know me well enough to realize just how creative I can get.”

“Brat,” I grumbled, halfheartedly swatting at her.

“Ah, sibling love.” Sparkler flopped against the wall next to us, smirking. “Best expressed through teasing, threats, and mockery.” She picked up her rifle and joined Star in checking it over. “Thanks for arming me up, Storm. I was afraid I’d be stuck with the dinky little plinking rifle. Still don’t get why we only have three hunting rifles when there’s four parents who come up here to hunt.”

“Aunt Nimbus prefers to chase the deer down and kill them with her bare hands,” I deadpanned.

Sparkler stared at me for a few seconds. “Okay, normally I’d be sure that’s BS, buuut I can’t rule out that Mom could do that if she really wanted to.”

“It’s usually more of an ambush than chasing them down,” Star murmured, for once backing me up instead of undermining me. “Climbs up a tree and waits for one to walk underneath her, then she drops on its back and snaps its neck.”

“Riiight.” Sparkler closed the bolt, then took a deep breath. “Wish she was here. Just saying, we could use a super-badass SpecForce soldier right now. And...” She growled and shook her head, wiping at her eyes. “Dammit, I’m not some little kid who needs mommy to hug me and tell me everything’s gonna be okay and the monsters won’t get me.”

Star wrapped an arm around her. “How about a cool cousin saying it?”

Sparkler let out a breath and returned the hug. “Yeah, that’s fine. Especially when I can say it right back to her.”

“Indeed so.” I smiled and joined in on the group hug. “Remember, Star: as a big sister I am obligated to crush you beneath my heel, but I will also utterly destroy anyone else who tries to do that to you. Even if you are a creepy stalker who hacks into my internet.”

Star rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, love you too, Skunky. I’ll show you how to set up a better password once we make it outta this, set you up with a password manager or something.”

“So you can install a backdoor into my computer?” A second later I realized the flaw in my logic. “But you can already get in there anyway.”

“Same principle as the big sis rule,” Star murmured. “Nobody hacks you but me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Lovely to see such family solidarity.” I cleared my throat and focused back on the more important matters at hand. “Use guns if you want, but I would advise a backup cutting weapon. Bullets did not seem especially effective against the vines, and I am sure you recall the old saying about how a knife never runs out of ammunition. The first attack already put a considerable dent in our stores.”

Star sighed and nodded. “So we’re going medieval. Fine, what do we have available?”

Rainbow must have overheard the question, because she shouted over, “Come on, someone has to use the chainsaw!”

I shook my head. “Not the most practical choice, especially after I used all our spare gas to set the plants on fire. That said, considering we came to clear brush in the first place the two you should be spoiled for choice.”

Sparkler nodded. “We’ve got machetes, milspec K-BARs with saw-tooth serrations, and I think there’s a kukri around here somewhere.”

Star shrugged. “I’ll take a machete then. Spent half the afternoon swinging one around, I’m pretty used to it by now.”

“Your call.” Sparkler spent a minute digging through our supply bag until she found the kukri. “I like this one, blame Mom’s SpecForce roots. It’s like the perfect balance between a hatchet and a knife. So...” She took a deep breath and tried to hide the tremble that went down her spine behind a snarky grin. “Now that we’ve all equipped our chosen phallic symbols, we good to go?”

“As ready as we can be,” I murmured.

Cloud came over before we could get moving. The frown on her face gave me a pretty good idea what she was going to say before she opened her mouth. “Hey, Sparks. You sure you want to ... I mean, might be better to stay back at the cabin where it’s safe.”

Sparkler rolled her eyes. “Nah, I’m good. I mean, m’probably safer than you, since nobody took me up on my offer to make some magic. You sure you're good?”

“Yeah, ‘course.” Cloud took a deep breath. “It’s just that it might be safer if you hang back. I mean, considering you don’t have any ... we’re a bit better equipped. Just saying, I don’t want anything happening to you, so hang back and keep outta the ugly stuff.” She nodded to myself and Star. “Same goes for you two. This is a big old magic duel thing, so play it safe and don’t try to be Batman in the Justice League.”

“Right, we don’t have billion dollar armor and a bunch of fanboy writers who’ll let us shrug off  punches from guys who should turn us into a thin red mist with a single shot.” Sparkler went quiet for a minute, then grabbed her sister in a tight hug. “You don’t have super-durability either, just some fancy magic gun stuff. Stay safe, okay?”

Cloud returned the hug. “Will do.”

Sparkler smirked and poked her shoulder. “Just remember, if anything happens to you I’m telling Mom, and then she’s gonna come and kick your ass and mine.”

Cloud snorted and rolled her eyes. “Sounds like what she’d do, yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll keep your ass safe so Mom can kick it.” She marched off to rejoin the others.

Sparkler’s confident grin faded as she stared at her sister’s back. “Alright, let’s find out who’s messing with us and teach them why you don’t piss of the Kickers.”

“If we can, yeah.” Star sighed and frowned down at the ground. “Seems like Cloud doesn’t think we’ll be able to do all that much. Probably right. I mean, us using guns isn’t accomplishing anything more than burning through ammo she could be boosting up with magic, and that just leaves us flailing around with hunks of sharp metal like we’re still in the stone age.”

Sparkler frowned and shook her head. “No way. Even if we can’t do all the cool stuff, they’re gonna need someone watching their backs.”

“Not to mention that the vines seemed so interested in the magic-users that they all but ignored us,” I pointed out. “That was why I was able to sneak up on them with a chainsaw. Those are not normally noted as being a good weapon for stealth operations.”

Star grimaced and nodded. “So the vines ignored us, either because it wants them for some reason or it sees them as the only real threat.”

Sparkler shrugged. “If we’re invisible to whatever’s doing this, or even if it’s just not paying attention to us because it only thinks the magic gang is worth worrying about, then gives us a big edge. Lot easier for us to hit them if they don’t see us coming.”

“The vines ignored us,” Star pointed out. “No guarantee that’ll follow once we get to the big boss. Plants aren’t all that smart when it comes to target selection.”

“It is hard to say what we might encounter there,” I agreed. “But we do at least know that we hold an advantage against the vines when they are blindly questing for a target. I intend to use that advantage for all it is worth and seek out any other we might find.”

Sparkler nodded. “Dad always says that stacking up a bunch of little advantages is just as good as having one big one. Besides, I’m not sitting on the sidelines while Cloud goes running off to fight some crazy plant monster. Even if I can’t help as much as someone with super speed or magical shields, I can do something.”

Star sighed. “Yeah, I know. Just...” She grimaced and waved down at her phone. “Bit outta my element for this kinda thing. Cloud’s the best shot even before she had magic, and Skunky’s way better at all this outdoor stuff. I’m the tech-head, and it’s not like I can hack the crazy evil plant monster’s phone or something.”

I gripped her shoulder. “You are a Kicker. Even if you are not quite as physically fit or combat trained as I am on account of too much time in the basement creeping on everyone online, you are hardly a slouch. Now buck up, or else once we get out of this I will challenge you to a sparring match in front of the entire family. And beat you. Utterly. While everyone else watches. And then I will post it on the internet.”

Star stared at me for a second, then snorted and managed a faint smile. “You beat me? Never happen, and messing with me on the internet? Now you’re really overreaching, Skunky.” She brushed my hand off. “Alright, pep talk over. Let’s go be an awesome military family.”

We fell in with the rest of the group. I helped take the lead along with Rainbow and Sunset, trying to apply the fieldcraft lessons I had gotten in junior cadets. Sparkler joined Cloud at the rear of the group, helping her watch everyone else’s backs while also watching hers. Star was in the middle, her phone out as she did her best to pull up satellite photos of the area to help us navigate.

Thankfully we had an easy trail to follow. Foot-thick massive vines that had also been on fire thanks to my contribution to the fight left a great many signs of their passage. Between our own fieldcraft and Fluttershy’s animal scouts we had a fairly easy time finding our way. The problem was what we would find when we got there.

“So here we are, going deeper and deeper into the monster’s lair, closer to the source of its power,” Star murmured to nobody in particular. “Why do I feel like I should start calling up a bunch of Admiral Ackbar memes?”

I rolled my eyes and pressed on. The treetops seemed to close in on us as we moved deeper into the wild woods, blocking out the light of the stars and all but hiding the moon. The darkness seemed to press in around, amplifying even the most innocuous sounds. When Applejack stepped on a fallen twig, the snap sounded so loud I almost mistook it for a gunshot. I tensed up every time one of Fluttershy’s animals stirred in the underbrush, imagining that it might be the vines coming in for a another attack.

After what felt like an eternity but my watch insisted was only half an hour, the terrain started to shift. It took a bit to realize what exactly was different: we had crossed from the land around our cabin to the rest of the woods, the timber company’s property. Judging by the number of stumps and scattered branches, they had cut many of their own trees along with the ones taken from our property. Small surprise, as long as they had all their employees and equipment in the area.

These trees thinned and soon vanished, freeing us from the confines of the forest itself but leaving something equally eerie to replace it. The massive number of tree stumps and detritus littering the ground made it feel as if we were walking through some sort of arboreal graveyard. Though having a clear line of sight should have been an advantage, as we moved forward I felt more uneasy. If hostiles came for us now we had no cover, and while we would be able to see them coming the same applied to them seeing us.

As we moved forward, a dark shape slowly took focus ahead of us. Once we were finally close enough to get a good look at it in the darkness I realized it was an especially massive oak tree, large enough that it had to have been the tallest tree in the forest before the loggers came in. I was surprised they had not cut it down, but as I approached the reason it remained standing became horrifyingly clear. Several wrecked chainsaws and broken axes littered the ground near it, and large masses hung off the trees branches like especially large fruits. Human-sized fruits.

Sunset let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan. “I told you we’d know what we were looking for when we found it.”

Several seconds of silence followed, broken only by the flash of Star’s camera as she snapped several pictures with her phone. “Whoa.”

“That just ain’t normal.” Applejack rushed up to the nearest plant-wrapped humans to get a closer look at it, turning it a bit to reveal what had to be one of the lumberjacks. She gave him a quick once-over. “Looks like he’s still breathin’, just real outta it.”

“That is a relief.” I frowned as I considered our options. “We should free them, but I imagine attempting to do so will provoke a response.”

“I’m counting on it.” Sunset drew her old saber and walked up to the nearest of the captured men, drawing her blade back to cut him free.

A second before she struck, a vine wrapped itself about her wrist. The tree groaned and a section around the trunk seemed to almost split open like a doorway. A second later a figure walked out from the opening. She had green skin that had a rough texture to it, almost like tree bark, and there were leaves laced through her red dreadlocks. When she spoke her voice sounded surprisingly laid-back and relaxed. “Clear your auras of this violence.”

Rainbow was the first one to break the silence. “So it is Poison Ivy!” She shrugged at everyone else’s incredulous stares. “What? She’s got green skin, red hair, plant control powers, and she went after a bunch of guys for cutting down trees.”

“She is so getting sued after we rainbow-blast her,” Pinkie agreed.

Fluttershy stared at the newcomer for several seconds, frowning to herself. Then her eyes snapped open in shock. “Treesie?! Is that you?”

The strange woman smiled placidly. “Flutters my girl, it’s a pleasure on this journey to see you again.” She turned to the rest of us. “I’m Tree Hugger, radical to meet you all. Your vibes are some of the coolest I’ve ever seen.” She turned back to Fluttershy, a strange light entering her eyes and her smile shifting just a touch. “I can finally hear Mother Earth’s call, Flutters. Can you hear it too?”

Fluttershy shuffled and couldn’t quite meet her eyes. “Um ... well, kind of, since I can talk to animals. But why are you doing this, Tree Hugger? What happened to you?”

“Mother Earth blessed me,” Tree Hugger stretched her arms over her head and let out an almost ecstatic-sounding sigh. “When the cutters tried to destroy this beautiful tree, I chained myself to it to stop them. That’s when the earth itself blessed me with the power to end her destruction.” She spread her arms out, encompassing the entire forest. “The world’s out of harmony, girl. We’ve broken it, beaten it, sold it, and ground it into something pretty for ourselves. We’re trading away the world’s natural beauty for concrete and plastic mazes where we see the light of computer and TV screens more than the sun.”

While that did sound like a fairly accurate description of Star, I was not about to concede to this Tree Hugger’s point. “So how does that extend to trapping these lumberjacks inside of a tree?”

“It’s all about restoring the balance,” Tree Hugger answered with a truly disturbing level of calmness. “They hurt the earth with the cutting and burning, so now their auras are being aligned with nature to cure the damage they caused. I know it’s kinda harsh, but we have to help fix Gaia before its chakra get so polluted we can’t reverse the damage.”

Sunset grunted and transferred her sword to her free hand, then chopped the vine holding her. “Yeah yeah, we get it. I’m all for protecting the environment, but don’t you think kidnapping people and draining their life is going about a thousand steps too far?!”

“It’s not very nice, Tree Hugger,” Fluttershy chided.

“Neither is destroying the earth,” Tree Hugger shot back. “If someone comes into your house and wrecks it, you ask them to fix the damage. Well the planet is everyone’s house, and I’m just helping these cutters fix all the trees they destroyed.”

Applejack frowned at her. “Don’t they plant a new tree for every one they cut down? Ah thought most of the companies did that, just good business.”

“Planting a couple little saplings doesn’t make up for all the destruction they’ve caused,” Tree Hugger shot back. “Just like having a baby doesn’t make up for committing murder. Besides, do you know how long it takes for a tree to grow this tall?” She waved back at the massive oak that she had apparently been staying in. “That’s why I’m keeping the cutters here. I just need to align their auras and open their chakras a bit, and the vibes will help the new trees grow a hundred times faster.”

Fluttershy frowned and shook her head. “Treesie, you’re holding them prisoner to drain their life force to regrow trees. Don’t you realize how wrong that is?”

“Oh, it’s all groovy,” Tree Hugger answered airily. “The whole process is organic and natural. It’s way healthier than all the processed food they normally eat. Besides, the earth mother’s song is saying it’s the right thing to do. Can’t you hear her song, Flutters?”

“Someone’s been taking a long ride on the crazy train to looneyville,” Sparkler muttered under her breath.

“Equestrian magic does that to some folks,” Cloud murmured back. “Something about all the power going into them when they’re not ready to deal with it. It’s part of why everyone was so cagey when I got powers.”

Fluttershy continued trying to reason with her friend. “Why did you send vines to attack us?”

Tree Hugger blinked a couple times, seeming to need several seconds to actually process the question. “They weren’t attacking you, they were just trying to bring you here so you could help. These cutters have weak auras, but yours burn bright like stars. I bet if you joined up with me we could fix the whole forest in just a few days instead of the months it’ll take with these guys.”

Rainbow snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, think I’m gonna pass on getting locked up in your crazy death tree so it can drain our magic.” She zipped over to one of the captured lumberjacks. “Now let all these guys go, or we’re gonna make you let ‘em go!”

“You guys really gotta stop harshing my mellow.” Tree Hugger sighed and shook her head. “Don’t worry, you’ll all understand once our auras are in harmony.” Vines erupted from the tree, shooting towards the others.

Fluttershy yelped in surprise as one of them snagged her waist and hauled her off her feet. “Tree Hugger! Let go of me right now!”

“Soon as everything’s in balance,” she answered calmly. “Though really, I think once I uncloud your chakras you’ll realize I’m helping you expand your consciousness and you’ll want to stick around. Just think of how many trees we could save working together! We’re going to fix the world’s balance by working together and usher in a new age of harmony between humans and nature.”

Fluttershy struggled against the vines, and several birds flitted down from the sky to start pecking and tugging at them. “How is hurting us going to make anything balanced?

“I’m not hurting you,” Tree Hugger answered placidly. “I’m expanding your mind and enlightening you. You might hurt yourself if you try to fight against it, but that’s why you need to expand your mind to new experiences and perspectives. Once the tree’s had you for a bit you’ll understand, and you’ll thank me.”

Rarity slashed one of her diamond-shaped shields through the vine holding Fluttershy, dropping her to the forest floor. “That is not how you treat a lady!” She threw up another shield to block vines going after Twilight’s back. “Stop this right now, or so help me...”

I spotted the threat in time to call out a warning to her, but there was no time for me to do anything else. I threw one of my machetes, but I might as well have been blowing against a hurricane. Rarity was so focused on defending her friends that she didn’t even realize she was in danger until one of the vines wrapped around her leg and hauled her into the air. Rarity shrieked, one hand grabbing her skirt to hold it in place as she flipped upside down as the magic from her shields started draining away.

Applejack snarled and jumped up at the vines, intent on freeing Rarity. Several more vines intercepted her in mid-air, hoisting and suspending her once more. With no leverage and nothing to anchor herself against, Applejack’s super-strength was far less effective, and despite her best efforts she could do nothing to free herself, let alone Rarity.

The rest of us closed ranks to try and protect each others backs, but Fluttershy tripped and fell on her way to us. Pinkie rushed out to help her, but that just let the vines snatch up both of them. Pinkie managed to make the first few vines who tried to grab her erupt in masses of sap and pulped plant matter, but the blast sent her flying back. She stumbled back to her feet, but her eyes looked a bit unfocused and she wasn’t very steady. The next vines had no trouble hoisting her up, and without Pinkie protecting her Fluttershy stood no chance.

“The balance is already coming closer,” Tree Hugger crooned. “Soon harmony will be restored and everything will be righteous.”

“Tree Hugger!” Fluttershy called out in vain. “Stop this! There isn’t anything balanced about what you’re doing!”

Tree Hugger shrugged. “Deer are balanced by wolves, rats by snakes, even the shifting foundations of the world through earthquakes and eruptions. Balance doesn’t play favorites, Fluttershy. It just is. If you’d just stop fighting, I’d be able to help you understand what I mean.”

“Maybe we don’t want to listen the crazy plant lady!” Rainbow snapped at her, rushing past us and jumping in between several vines so they would tie themselves up into a knot. “So what’s the plan after you grab us? Turn into some super plant monster that rampages across the city doing the whole Gaia’s Vengeance thing?”

“Mother Earth doesn’t hold grudges,” Tree Hugger smiled calmly. “Humans are the only ones capable of anger and hate.” Several vines shot out at ground level, one of them managing to trip her up and kill her momentum. “Can’t you hear her call? It’s beautiful. You just need to open up your ears and listen with your heart.”

“Gyah!” Rainbow yelped as she tripped, and vines hauled her away. “Lemme go, you crazy hippie lunatic!”

Cloud snarled and took aim at Tree Hugger. “Okay, I am done playing around sniping vines, eco-bitch. Either you let Rainbow go, or I swear...”

Tree Hugger cocked her head to the side and stared at Cloud. “Your aura is so weird right now. It’s pink and black, love and hate mixed together. That’s not how it’s supposed to go. You need to clear out your chakras before that gets all toxic on you. Don’t worry, Rainbow’s fine, and soon you will be too.”

A dozen vines interposed themselves between Cloud and Tree Hugger before my cousin could take her shot. The bullet did an impressively ludicrous amount of damage, punching a basketball sized hole though several of the vines, but that was nowhere near enough to penetrate the shield of plants. Pushing that much power into the old hunting rifle left the tip of the barrel glowing bright red and steaming, and when Cloud tried to work the bolt she withdrew her hand with a startled yelp. Just as well—if it was that hot, putting a new round into the chamber might have cooked it off.

Sunset stepped into the gap, swinging her sword to intercept the vines that went rushing in at Cloud. I would’ve stepped into help her, but a second later I realized I would just be getting in the way. Sunset’s eyes were locked on Tree Hugger, and her strikes were lashing out to parry and counter the incoming vines before they even struck. It must have been magic.

However, even if she could use magic to anticipate the attacks she could only move so fast, and her sword could only be in one place at a time. The vines soon began slipping past her defenses as they came in from multiple angles at the same time. I would have moved up to support her, but with how fast her blade was flying I feared getting in her way.

Eventually one of Sunset’s counters came in at a bad angle, and instead of carving through the vine her saber got stuck halfway through. An instant later the vine whipped backwards, yanking the trapped blade out of her hands. I tried to get over to her to hand off my machete, but the rest of the vines snatched her before I could get close enough. Without Sunset protecting her, Cloud got grabbed a second later.

We fell back again, myself, Star, and Sparkler forming a defensive triangle around Twilight. Sparkler brought up her gun and pointed it at Tree Hugger, but the barrel was shaking so much she dropped it a second later. “Mom and Dad could’ve put a cabin anywhere in the woods, and they had to pick the spot right next to Captain Planet’s evil twin...” She grimaced and shook her head. “Storm, now’d be a great time to come up with a clever plan.”

“We have guns,” Star pointed out.

Twilight frowned. “The magic’s what’s pushing her to do all this. I mean, I can’t imagine Fluttershy would normally be friends with a crazy ecoterrorist. Sunset always said the magic just makes you more of what you already are, so it probably pushed her from a peaceful advocate to ... this. She’s not in her right mind.”

“But we have to do something to stop her.” I sighed and shook my head. “Even if she is not fully culpable for her actions, we cannot allow this to continue.”

“Yeah, not letting her eat Cloud and everyone else.” Star brought up her rifle, and unlike Sparkler the barrel was not shaking. “Give her one last chance?”

Tree Hugger brought all of her captured victims over to her. “You’re all so ... harmonious. Your auras all congeal together like a kaleidoscope.”

I took a deep breath. “Tree Hugger, let them go or we will shoot to kill.” Warning her probably wasn’t a good idea considering she could use the vines to intercept our bullets like she had with Cloud, but... “You have five seconds. Four. Three...”

Tree Hugger looked over at us. “Oh, missed one.” The vines shot out at us, and while Twilight tried to force them back with her magic there were just too many coming in too fast. One of the vines wrapped around her waist and hauled her over to the others. “Flutters, do you hear something? It’s like there’s more, but Mother Earth’s song is so loud, and yours on top of it...”

Seeing Twilight taken away removed the last vestiges of doubt. “Take the shot.”

Star’s rifle cracked, but right as she pulled the trigger she closed her eyes, and her aim drifted off just a touch to the side. Instead of hitting Tree Hugger directly, it just blew off one of her dreadlocks. The vines all froze in place, and Tree Hugger whipped around to face us. “Violent auras. Why didn’t I see them sooner?”

“Oh crap.” Sparkler brought her rifle up to snap off a shot of her own, but panic sent the bullet even wider than Star’s.

The two of them started working the bolts, but I didn’t think there would be enough time. I snatched up Sunset’s sword in one hand and pulled out the machete in my other, then charged in. Perhaps not the best tactic on a personal level, but charging in with two blades held high would hopefully keep Tree Hugger focused on me instead of the two with guns.

It seemed to work, since Tree Hugger sent a dozen thick vines straight for me. Fortunately it seemed that whatever effect that made me invisible to them back at the cabin still applied to some extent; while she could still direct the vines to attack me, they seemed a bit clumsy and unfocused compared to the speed and power they’d possessed against Sunset and the others.

However, my plan quickly ran into a snag: closing in on Tree Hugger made Star and Sparkler hesitate even more than they already had been. Hard enough to consider shooting another human in the first place, and now they also had to worry about the risk of friendly fire on top of that. Perhaps I should have been touched they cared, but at the moment all I could think was that if they didn’t shoot Tree Hugger regardless of the risks, none of us were likely to get out of this.

Cloud Kicker must have reached the same conclusion, and evidently Tree Hugger’s efforts to stop me from closing in on her had taken her focus off holding onto her prisoners. “Star! Sparks! Get my hands free and help me aim!”

As the two of them started frantically hacking away at the vines holding my cousin, I closed in on Tree Hugger herself. I started to bring Sunset’s saber to bear on the girl, but just before I would have struck I met her eyes for a fraction of a second. They were ... human. Tree Hugger might have been transformed by magic, but she was no monster. I quickly shifted my aim to smack her with the hilt instead.

The blow still staggered her and sent her to the ground, and I intended to keep her there. I dropped the blades and fell on Tree Hugger, trying to get both arms around her neck for a chokehold that would knock her out and end the fight.

Tree Hugger snarled and pushed off against the ground, making up for a lack of training with a surprising amount of muscle and sheer fury. While she couldn’t have held me off forever, she did manage to keep me from placing my arms long enough to bring in a vine to slap me away. I hit the ground hard enough to send a painful jolt up my spine, while Tree Hugger stomped over to me, looking as close to angry as I had seen her in the entire fight. “What is wrong with all of you?! Have your chakras been clouded by the evils of this predatory world? Don’t you realize I’m the righteous one?”

I groaned and glanced up, spotting something that Tree Hugger had missed. Cloud had both of her hands free, and with Star and Sparkler helping to keep the rifle steady she had a bead on Tree Hugger. “Good, bad, I’m the girl with the gun.”

She pulled the trigger, and Tree Hugger went flying back like she’d been hit with a sledgehammer. The vines holding everyone instantly went limp, allowing us to free the others with almost no trouble. As soon as Rainbow was free she zipped over to Cloud, giving her a quick once-over before letting out a relieved sigh. Then she smirked and nudged Cloud in the ribs. “You gets points for using a Bruce Campbell line, but it doesn’t feel quite as spontaneously awesome as when Storm did it.”

As soon as she was free, Fluttershy rushed over to Tree Hugger’s side. “Treesie! Are you okay?!” Tree Hugger answered with a surprisingly alive groan for someone who’d just been shot with a .306.

Cloud let out a relieved sigh. “Okay, so the nonlethal bullet spell works. I mean, all the tests we did said it would, but...”

“There is a substantial difference between testing it and actually shooting someone with one,” I agreed. “How does it work?”

“Disperse the impact force,” Cloud explained. “Spread the impact over a wider area, but without any more power behind it. So instead of putting holes in people it just sends them flying and leaves one hell of a bruise.”

Tree Hugger groaned and slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position, struggling to stay even that upright. “Wuh ... whoo. Something feels out of harmony. These are some seriously bad vibes.” She stared at everyone around her and blinked a few times. The vines around us started twitching back to life as their mistress recovered.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. “She’s not done! Shoot her again!”

“No!” Fluttershy rushed over to the rest of her friends. “Hurry, we need to get the magic out of her before she can stop us.”

“Right.” Sunset grabbed Twilight and Rainbow’s hands, and the rest of them linked up. “Cover us, Cloud.”

Before I could even ask what they planned to do, everything vanished in a blinding flash of rainbow light.