AN: Detailed explanation of the Orange Ranger's weapons for the Ponies.

Equestria 101 – Orange Weapons

"Fire in the hole!"

A muted explosion rang out, sending all inhabitants racing towards the Training Room. Reaching the thick doors first, Billy slapped his hand on the panel next to the doors; causing the heavily armoured panels to slide apart with a muted groan. Coughing at the smoke that belched out, he yelled into the room.

"Everything all right? What's going on?"

"Training. No need to worry."

As the smoke thinned, Billy gaped at the sight in front of him. The two Ultra Rangers were fully morphed and were brandishing their weapons at each other. The small explosion had been caused by a close-range blast from the gauntlet weapon of the Purple Ranger. His jaw dropped open further as he saw that the armour of the two Rangers was scorched and dented in places. The Orange Ranger had his Sabre held in a double handed grip and had the tip pointing directly at his team mate's chest. Not only that; the walls were scorched and smoking from repeated impacts of lasers and fireballs. Shaking away his shock, he made a mental note to strengthen the armour of the internal walls if the Ultra Rangers were staying for longer.

Seeing Billy's shock at the damage, Weihan lowered his Ultra Sabre and nodded once to Eliza. In twin flashes of light, they demorphed but kept their weapons summoned. As the rest of the ponies and Spike gathered in the doorway, Weihan rested his Sabre on his shoulder and made to move out of the Training Room. Two weeks had passed since their arrival and there had been no attacks. The hometown of the Rangers – Ponyville – was being repaired and monster shelters were being constructed from blueprints created by Billy. The Orange Ranger had seen the blueprints and had made subtle adjustments of his own that had increased the protection but not added to the weight. A few nightly trips to Ponyville to help with the automated defence wirings had been an interesting experience…as had babysitting the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"We're done. Sorry about the damage, Billy."

Billy shook his head slowly as the ponies behind him erupted into giggles. He didn't mind the damage as the automated repair system would take care of it but he was very interested in the weapons that were wielded by the Ultra Rangers and he asked as much before the Orange Ranger left the Training Room. Weihan considered his question thoughtfully and allowed Eliza to step back. Lifting up his Raptor Sabre, he swung it through the air a few times before speaking.

"This is my Raptor Sabre and it is my primary weapon…which means it's the one I call upon the most. The blade is made of an alloy of Universal Steel mixed with a small amount of Zycordian Silver. The edge is one micron of refined Zycordian Diamond; meaning it will never dull or break."

Billy was impressed. He had heard about the strength and resilience of Zycordian Silver, but never thought it would be possible to create an alloy out of it. Somehow in the dimension of the Ultra Rangers, such an alloy had been created and moulded into the main weapon of the Orange Ranger. Admiring its sleek look, Billy almost missed the next words of Weihan.

"The mines on Zycor were attacked during the creation of the Ultra Crystals and were defended by Ninjor and Auric. The two warriors failed in their mission and were returned to Eltare with life-threatening wounds. However, they were able to stash away a small cache of silver and diamonds for the creation of the Ultra Weapons. Knowing that just simple blades would not work, the scientists and technicians worked many secrets and abilities into the weapons."

Running his fingers along the handle, Weihan pressed one of the hidden buttons. Holding the blade away from himself and the Rangers, he twirled the Sabre in the air once; causing the blade to seemingly retract and become replaced with flickering flame. Taking up a defensive stance with the Sabre, he attacked the open air in front of him before returning it to a ready position. Billy rubbed his eyes at what he was seeing; a metallic blade had seemingly retracted in on itself and transformed into fire. Where the fire had come from, he wasn't sure…but he could feel the heat radiating off the blade. As the Orange Ranger reformed the Sabre, he almost wished that a similar weapon could be created for him.

"The weapons are connected to the Grid created by the Orange Ultra Crystal and they complement it with their own strengths. Even if the Orange Crystal is taken out of its home dimension, the other Crystals can create a secondary Grid to draw Power from."

Pressing another button on the handle, the blade of the Sabre changed to its 'energy whip' mode. Cracking it in the air a few times, Weihan reformed the blade and carefully balanced the handle on an upturned palm. In his other hand, the Ranger summoned a small orange blaster that he deftly spun around. Letting the Sabre drop off his palm, he caught it by the handle and let it vanish in a flare of light. Crossing over to a panel on the wall, the Orange Ranger inputted a few commands and the walls vanished; only to be replaced by a grassy plain with a city skyline on the far horizon. Squinting to make out the buildings, Billy's eyes widened as he recognised it as Sydney – host of the 2000 Olympics.

"This is my Raptor Laser. It fires off concentrated Grid energy blasts and can shoot out a stream of flame to scorch any enemy nearby. It has one more interesting feature that can take some enemies off guard."

As he spoke, Billy saw several humanoid entities materialise out of the ground. They had the general shape as Putties, but were bulkier and much more intimidating. As the last syllable left the Orange Ranger's mouth, he jerked the barrel of the Laser up, rotated it around and squeezed the trigger – causing a bright orange beam of light to extend. Twirling the new lightsaber in the air, Weihan turned around and slashed it through the not-Putties, causing them to fall apart in large chunks. It certainly seemed that the Ultra Rangers had weapons for every kind of situation imaginable…except for an extremely heavy fire fight. As he expressed this to the Orange Ranger, he watched in confusion as Weihan smirked and dismissed the Raptor Laser Sabre.

"Raptor Cannon!"

In a flare of bright light, what looked like a hand-held heavy cannon appeared in the Orange Ranger's arms. Billy and the ponies openly gaped at the menace it exuded and felt a slow trickle of fear creep down their spines. Aiming the Raptor Cannon at a Golem that had somehow survived the destruction, the Orange Ranger braced himself and fired. The resulting energy blast all but vaporised the Golem's top half and left its legs twitching in place for a few seconds.

"This is my Raptor Cannon and that was a shot with a fifty percent charge. A full hundred percent will utterly destroy anything in sight. There's also an additional mode on this thing, but I haven't tested it out too much for any real data to be gathered. Sorry guys, shows over."

As the Rangers nodded in admiration and trotted off with Eliza, Billy walked into the Training Room as the scenic scene shifted back to the scorched walls. Looking at the Raptor Cannon in the Orange Ranger's hands, he let out a low whistle of appreciation and expressed his wish that the Ultra Rangers could stay longer. Weihan snorted and shook his head.

"I'll ensure that you won't even know we're gone."

TBC…