Disclaimer: Not mine. Except the thing behind the cover at the end. AppleDash starts here. And this is obviously an AU setting. Enjoy!
Equestria 101 – Advice
Billy grunted in frustration as he ran calibration testing on the Megabuster again. He didn't know why, but he had a nagging suspicion that the Zords would be needed for the next battle. It had been most unexpected that Zedd had not made Pirhantishead grow, but he reckoned that was due to Zedd not having enough power for a growth spell. As the results came back, he idly mused on the events of the morning…specifically what had happened when Rarity had been seen coming out of his room.
He nervously looked at the open door for the white unicorn. While she had lectured him to an inch of his life about leaving a lady in the middle of the night, she had been rather good-natured about it when she heard the explanation. Of course, his explanation involved long anecdotes about the past and lengthy words, so Rarity had waved it off and told him not to do it again. Still, he was nervous that she might come at him for a 'Round 2' of sorts or worse…ask him to be a clothes model. Technically, he would be exempt from that as he wasn't a pony but he wasn't willing to take the chance.
As the lights flickered overhead, he frowned slightly. All of the power in the Command Tower was being siphoned off the five Element Crystals, but the system was still getting used to converting raw magic into electricity. He had thought about grabbing the Gold Zeo Crystal from Triforia, but had decided against it once he had heard the rumours about Grumm. Trey would need the Crystal to defend his people and his home against the wannabe overlord. Apparently this Grumm had recently conquered the world of Sirius and had destroyed the Space Patrol Delta outpost that had been set up.
Looking up at the sound of hoof steps, he saw Applejack entering the Zord Hangar. Stifling a chuckle at her look of wonder, he smiled at the Earth pony.
"Applejack, what brings you to my neck of the woods?
Applejack barely heard his voice. There was a giant mechanical version of her staring down at her. Apart from obviously being made of metal, it was a perfect replica – right down to the Element necklace, her Stetson and her Cutie Mark. She felt her jaw drop open as she marvelled at the workmanship of what she could only assume were metals and alloys not found on Equestria. Closing her mouth with an audible click, she turned her gaze onto the amused human.
"What…what in the hay is all this 'ere?"
Billy tapped a few commands into the console before answering. Looking over the readings, he nodded to himself and then spoke.
"This will be your Honesty Harmonyzord. It and the other zords are in the final stages of calibration and testing. You really didn't think the Ranger Powers stopped with fancy duds and weapons, did you?"
The cowpony raised an eyebrow at Billy and chuckled. Shaking her head, she made her way over to Billy and tried not to stare up at the giant mirror image of herself looming ominously above her. She really needed help with something and she wasn't too comfortable talking to either Princess about it. She supposed she could have asked Twilight for help, but it probably would be asking too much of the purple unicorn to include the 'Pinkie Pie Swear' and the craziness that would follow. Locking gazes with the metallic behemoth above yet again, she asked the first thing that came to mind.
"What in tarnation is a zord?"
Billy looked at the pony in front of him and thought about how he should answer. On one hand, she and the others were very new to being Rangers and as such, the only information they had was whatever filtered into their brains during the first morph. As the zords were not yet connected to their Crystals, he could be reasonably certain that the information wasn't available.
"A zord is one of the essential parts of being a Power Ranger. It is called upon whenever the battle is escalated, mostly due to the monster becoming enlarged in some fashion. While the individual zord unit is useful, the real potential is shown off with the zords combining into a Megazord configuration…"
He let the words trail off as he saw the cowpony's eyes glaze over at his words. Seeing as his attempt to cut down on the technobabble wasn't working, he decided to tackle the question in the most direct manner possible.
"It's for when you really need a monster dead."
Applejack blinked twice to get the glaze off her eyes and nodded. It only seemed reasonable that there would be monsters in the future that couldn't be destroyed by their Element Blasters and whatever surprised Billy had programmed into their suits. She wasn't sure about the whole concept of escalating battles, but she knew it would come to her when the time was right. With her curiosity sated for the moment, she looked up at the human and swallowed hard.
"Billy, can ah ask you somethin' real quick?"
Billy nodded and closed down the power readout screen. The zord that was mostly ready for action was for the yellow Pegasus anyway…Fluttershy her name was. He knew that she would be a fine Ranger once she overcame her timidness and non-violent stance but the issue was allowing her to push away the timidness in the first place. However, the next sentence that he heard made his mind close up.
"Ah think…no, ah know I love Rainbow Dash, but ah don't know how ah can express it to 'er."
Billy's mouth dried up quickly and he stretched to find a good response. Comforting people and getting them together had always been Kim's job in the group, not his. He opened and closed his mouth several times as suggestions formed and were shot down. He was also well aware that he was doing a spot-on impression of a fish and the thought amused him somewhat.
"Billy? You OK there? Ah cain't ask the Princesses nor Twilight or even any o' the others. Can you at least give me some help?"
Billy swallowed hard and tried to come up with a suitable response. With all his prior relationships, he had never taken the first steps and the only time he had acted on his own in a relationship ended in disaster. Feelings such as love were never meant to be rushed into and a natural progression had to be achieved in order to have the best results for all. On the other hand, the Rangers were starting to grow on him and he didn't want to see any of them hurt – either physically or emotionally.
"Applejack, I'm not one for love advice but if you want to tell her then wait for the right moment. It should be when both of you are alone together and you are certain it isn't a life-or-death situation. Tearful confessions of love during moments like that don't always work."
Applejack tapped her hoof against her chin thoughtfully. The information was a bit on the hokey side, but on the other hoof it made some degree of sense. She guessed she could keep her feelings secret from the cyan Pegasus, but she didn't know for how long. Life-or-death moments never seemed to spring up that often before, but Billy was talking about them like they would happen all the time. She smiled at her fellow Ranger and bowed her head slightly.
"Thank you kindly, Billy. Ah know what to do from now on. No rushin' into things for now an' ah'm keeping my feelings to m'self for a bit. Thanks again pardner!"
Applejack turned to walk off, but something in the far corner caught her eye. To her reckoning it was exactly the same size as her zord, but it had all manner of covers on it. From what she could make out, it was coloured a dark midnight blue and had a streamlined shape. She didn't have to turn her head to know Billy had followed her gaze and was looking at the covered shape as well.
"Billy? What's that over there?"
Billy looked over to the corner and a wistful look came over his face. While the zord wreckage from the Wind and Thunder Ninja Academies had been useful to creating the new zords, there had been a lot of leftover parts. After a short conference with Dimitria, he had found the perfect use for them. Unfortunately, finishing it without a proper Power Source was almost impossible. He sighed softly and answered.
"Backup"
TBC…
