Rainbow Dash picked up her Eviscerator and loaded it with a magazine full of foam darts, smiling as she heard the click when the clip strapped into it. She then went on to do a few poses as if she was a soldier in the military. She was going to treat the game with her friends like a skirmish.
"It's been a long time since I've had a game with S.N.U.F.F. guns." Indigo loaded both of the plastic pistols with the same ammunition. "Most of my friends are more into flowers and science these days."
"No joke? I've only been able to have games with these things with Pinkie Pie, and even then, she's only available once a month!" Rainbow walked over to Indigo and wrapped her left arm around her friend's shoulders. "With you and your friends, this is gonna be much better!"
Sunset gently scratched her chin with her fingers as she leaned against a nearby tree. She still had the thoughts of Miasma, the Treekillers, Gloriosa, and the Legend of the Everfree running through her mind. She didn't know anything about any of them, and despite wanting a break from saving her friends—and evidently the world—she was curious to know more.
"Are you alright, Sunset?" Fluttershy walked up to her and held out her hand. "You've been awfully quiet ever since Gloriosa met us."
"It's fine, Fluttershy," said Sunset. "I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"It's about those Treekillers she mentioned. I don't know what it is but something about them and Miasma is really starting to bug me."
"Why ever would you think about that, Sunset?" Rarity stepped forward herself and narrowly missed a dew-ridden patch of grass. "They're nothing more than a de-forestation company. It's nothing like what we've faced before."
"But this forest means so much to you and the rest of the girls, and these Treekillers seem determined to tear it down for this Miasma woman." Sunset pushed herself off of the tree. "It can't be a coincidence that they're chopping down the Everfree Forest during our visit, can it?"
"Calm down, Sunset Shimmer." Sugarcoat joined Fluttershy and Rarity, gently stepping over the roots that were poking out of the ground as she walked up to her. "Most things just tend to happen out of the blue, like when the weather changes when we think it's going to be a sunny day."
"But even when something happens, we can't be sure whether or not it's good or bad," Sunset said. "What if these loggers are after more than just the destruction of the forest?"
"I hardly see how a de-forestation company wants more than just tearing down trees—especially given how most of them make more money the larger the forest is." Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. "Whatever the case is, it's none of our concern—at least for the time being."
"I know. But something still has me on edge." Sunset began to pace left and right. "I can't exactly tell you what it is, but it just came to me when Gloriosa met us on the way into the forest."
"Do you think she was hiding something?" Fluttershy asked.
"Whether or not she was, we know she's gonna tell us something called the 'Legend of the Everfree' tomorrow at the lake." Sunset stopped pacing and pulled out her phone. She tapped a few of the buttons and began to type down a notice that would remind her of when and where to meet Gloriosa. "Maybe after she's told us, we can decide whether or not to trust her."
"Hey, girls! We're about to start our little game!" Indigo called out to all of the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts in the area. "If you want to join us, just grab one of Rainbow's guns and meet us in the clearing!"
"Coming!" Sunset called back before slowly making her way towards the rest of the group.
The girls enjoyed playing the game with the S.N.U.F.F. guns that Rainbow Dash had bought along with her. They all took turns wielding each and every weapon, finding out what was comfortable for them, and then shooting their friends with little orange foam darts, laughing all the while.
This went on for a while until the girls heard the faint noise of chainsaws revving in the distance, a tree falling down, and the crash that echoed briefly before disappearing. The sequence of sounds stopped them dead in their tracks and sent shivers down their spines as it was replaced with silence.
"What was that?" Sunny Flare was the first to break the silence.
"That was probably those Treekillers from earlier!" Pinkie Pie leapt up into the treetops and poked her head out into the distance. She then saw more trees falling and a few pillars of steel barely higher than the trees themselves. "And it looks like they're already ripping down more trees!"
"Treekillers?" Lemon Zest put the pistols down and climbed up to join Pinkie. "Looks like a group of regular old loggers to me."
"Someone in this forest calls them Treekillers, Lemon." Pinkie Pie squatted down, put one hand on the branch she was standing on, and the other on Lemon's shoulder. "She also named every tree in the forest." She looked out at the machines again and saw specks of Gloriosa's hair flowing through the trees. "And there she is now!"
"Gloriosa? Now?" Rarity tilted her head and cocked one of her eyebrows. "While I do agree that it is amazing timing, how did she know that Miasma's men were working on that specific part of the forest?"
"Maybe she has a Glori Sense, like I have a Pinkie Sense. It's usual among kooky and bubbly people like me." Pinkie leapt down from the trees and landed gracefully on the grass. "Either way, we gotta follow her!"
"Something tells me we're gonna regret this..." Sugarcot facepalmed as she and the girls ran towards the chaos.
The men from Miasma's company all had sweat dripping from their foreheads as they continuously destroyed tree after tree with no sign of stopping. They didn't even speak except for when they used walkie-talkies to rally information to their co-workers or to Miasma and Svengallop.
The machines that they piloted were mostly black with red LED lights flashing across the bottom rims that connected to the caterpillar tracks. Portruding out of almost all of them was a massive chainsaw with the serrated edges moving at high speeds. They drove forward and bit into the trunks of each tree, shredding them and leaving stumps in their wake which were then burned by a team of employees using flamethrowers.
Gloriosa perched herself on one of the nearby trees and pulled out a little purple ball and loaded it into a slingshot made out of a tiny branch and a little red rubber band. She pulled back and aimed at the tracks at the bottom of one of the machines before releasing her grip and watching it fly. The noise of the weapon was muted due to how loud the machines were chuggering along, and no-one noticed the ball explode and coat the target's treads with a sticky substance.
And that was when it happened. The left tracks were no longer moving, meaing that the ones on the right caused the vehicle to turn and drive the chainsaw into another machines, causing it to explode and send the driver hurtling backwards, just over the flamethrower team. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and climbed out to tend to the wounded man.
"Bullseye!" Gloriosa fist-pumped and darted away from the trees and was about to make a stealthy getaway. Unfortunately, she had made a mistake.
Gloriosa barely landed on one of the branches and stumbled for a few seconds before she missed one and tumbled to the ground. She rolled a bit before she landed straight in front of the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts. Pulling her hed up from the ground, she said, "Oh, girls! Nice to see you again so soon."
"What the heck was that, Gloriosa?" Rainbow Dash threw her arms out to the side.
"Oh, nothing. Just more of Miasma's men being thwarted by my sticky balls." Gloriosa reached into a small pouch that barely hung from her wrist and pulled out another purple ball. "Made from lots of different tree saps and compressed into a ball, these things can cover anything up in the stickiest gunk imaginable! The only way that this stuff's coming out is if you wash with soap, and I don't think they even know that."
"Gloriosa, is it?" Sunny Flare approached her and did a little bow. "My name is Sunny Flare from Crystal Prep Academy. Might I ask, what the heck are Treekillers?"
"Treekillers are the most ruthless loggers you'll ever meet." Gloriosa put the ball back into the pouch. "Not only do they never listen to reason, but in some cases, they're allowed to hurt people who slow them down or stop them from doing their work. And all because Miasma is paying them like, a couple hundred an hour or something."
"A couple of hundred to destroy trees, hurt people, and ignore any reasoning? Seems like these men are really determined to make their money..." Sunset folded her arms. "But even so, that doesn't mean that what they're doing is the right thing."
"I totally agree with you on that." Gloriosa's ears suddenly twitched and her head violently turned towards where she had been leaping. "But we can't stay here. The Treekillers are chasing us!"
"What?! Really?!" Rainbow Dash looked at the bushes which were now shaking with muted shouts emanating from them.
"Stop her! She went this way!" One of the men said as they pushed some of the shrubs aside.
"Darnit! We gotta get out of here!" Gloriosa vaulted herself over most of the girls and ran deeper into the forest. "Meet me at the lake tomorrow! Don't be late!"
"Glori! Wait!" Pinkie reached out to her, but she was already lost in the thickets.
Before anyone else could even move, the uniformed men burst out of the bushes and surrounded the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts. Their faces were all emotionless, but they were carrying batons should they need to beat someone up.
"You there! Have you seen a girl armed with tree sap bombs?" One of the men jabbed a finger at Sunset.
"Wait a minute, man," another of the men said, eyeing up Sunset and her friends. "These girls look awfully familiar..."
"Actually, now that I think about it, they kinda do..." A third man raised his finger when the realization struck. "It's them! The fabled Rainbooms! The supposed saviours of their dying world."
"Well, we lost the girl, but we found something much better. Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms of Canterlot High." The first man began to circle the girls while the rest of his colleagues closed up their circle so no-one could get out. "Ooh, Miasma's gonna give me such a promotion when I bring these girls in..."
"Bring us in?! Not a chance!" Rainbow tried to copy what Gloriosa did, but the man she was jumping over grabbed her leg and threw her straight back into the ring and right into her friends, causing them all to collapse in a heap.
"Resistance is futile, ladies. Come with us, and we'll make this much easier than it needs to be." The first man crossed his arms and lowered his brows. "Or try to copy what Rainbow Dash just did and suffer the consequences."
"As for your other friends, they're free to go. They pose no threat to Miasma or her company, and in fact, serve a higher purpose than they might think." The second man said as the Rainbooms were escorted away whilst the Shadowbolts were left alone.
"Sunset, why are you going along with this?" Indigo did her best to keep up with Sunset and her friends.
"We'll be fine, girls. Don't worry about us." Sunset looked back at her. "You and the others just get back to the camp, and we'll join you shortly."
"This seems dangerous, don't you think?" Lemon Zest ran next to Indigo and tried her best to keep up with the men. "If these guys don't listen to reason, then you might have a problem..."
"Trust me, Lemon. We'll be fine." Sunset smiled as she and her friends were taken teh way their captors had come from.
"For some reason, I don't think that's entirely true..." Sour Sweet hung her head and curled some of her hair around her fingers before shifting her expression. "If those guys lay a finger on you, Sunset, they'll have to answer to me!"
And with that, the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts had been separated once again, with Miasma's employees pulling Sunset and her friends away into the deeper expanse of the forest. Both sides felt that they would meet again, but deep down they knew that for some reason, the Treekillers had bigger plans.