AN: More than likely this will be the last chapter of 2012! Posted on the day the Mayans thought would be the Apocalypse as well. Oh well, if you're reading this, you survived or you're a ghoul. Then I'm a ghoul as well. Wait…can ghouls use computers?

Chapter 38: More Headaches

"Rather unorthodox strategy…"

The girl on the screen nodded and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Out of the corner of his eye, Weihan could see Liz and Jorja trying to calmly explain the world of Equestria to the other four Crystal Rangers, while Bec talked to Billy and Twilight. After Xonix had teleported away, he had spent a few minutes trying to compose himself and sorting through everything the overlord had said about him. Of course, it wasn't true and he wasn't becoming a monster…the stress from the time delayed monster and Xonix's survival was just getting to him. Perhaps if he repeated it over and over to himself, he would start to believe it.

"Ah guess so but it worked an' everyone's chuffed bout it."

He sat back on the chair and reeled at the information, shifting slightly as the sleeping filly on his lap yawned. He had absolutely no idea why Sweetie Belle had decided to use his legs as a pillow or mattress, but the looks of gratitude and amusement from the others were more than enough for him to grin and bear it. Of course, Rarity was looking at him with extreme admiration but on the other hoof, it was hard for him to look at her and not hear the shouts of orgasmic joy from her, thankfully unseen, tryst with Pinkie. Feeling a soft breath on his foot, he looked down to see both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie curled up under him and, from the looks of it, fast asleep. Rolling his eyes, he thought to what Bree had told him. It had confirmed that Xonix had arranged some sort of attack that he expected to win, but it seemed he hadn't though to cover all of his bases regarding the intelligences of the others. He felt a small pang of guilt at his earlier thoughts and brushed it off.

North Sydney was a total write-off and the office building the college was in had practically been destroyed. He had heard some rumours that the college was going to be moved into a sturdier building over the term break but it seemed that it would be done sooner. He was suddenly very glad he wasn't there to help with the move…not that he expected the lecturers to 'enlist' the students. On the other side of the card was the relatively small size of the attack force. Based on the images that had been beamed through, there were six smaller cruisers and a large battleship. Recalling the extensive military archives Edward and the reformed Goldar seemed to have stashed away, he knew that the shield protecting the battleship was more than likely Mythic Class, perhaps a Cerberus or Centaurus. The shields around the cruisers were more than likely Kraken Class, but he couldn't confirm that until he had a scrap from one of the ships. He shook his head in wonder once more as Fluttershy snored cutely.

"Thirty three Ultra Zords, Mega Winger and the Delta Megazord? That's slight overkill though."

Bree shook her head as he chuckled under his breath. There was a flash of sorrow that the Astro Megaship had been practically wrecked in the battle, but Andros had repeatedly reassured him that the refit and reconstruction would be the best option for Earth. He wondered where all the technology would be headed if, by some chance, NASADA's budget was slashed in half. He decided not to worry about it as there would always be a need for new Rangers sometime down the line. Apparently Edward had been interested in two strange projects – the ARC Centre and the TW Battle Group. The Orange Ranger had no doubt that he would be seeing the fruits of their labour first hand somewhere down the line, but for now…he was content with a filly on his lap and two mares at his feet. Wait, why did that sound so bad in his head?

"Hey, you didn't see the size of the thing. They were almost tempted to break out the Zords at the start."

Behind him, he could hear Emma tentatively ask a question of the blue Pegasus hovering near her head. He could hear the irritation in Rainbow Dash's voice and chuckled at the exasperation in Billy's. He reached out to the cup of warm tea on beside him but stayed his hand as Sweetie Belle rolled her shoulders once. Dropping his hand to run his fingers through Pinkie's mane, he lifted the cup with his magic. Sipping the sweetened liquid, he placed it down on the table once more and thought about the reasons why their hands had been stayed. Perhaps there had been civilians in the open or injured people being loaded into emergency vehicles…which kinda fit under the umbrella of 'civilians in the open'. Or maybe the first choice of Zord had been one of his and they couldn't really figure out how to undo the security lock. The last one was a possibility but he was sure anyone with an Ultra Crystal could perform a manual override. On the other hoof, if they wanted his Dinozord, they would be screwed as it was resting inside its subspace pocket yet again.

"Huh. What stopped them?"

Idly, he picked up a printout that had been left on the countertop and began skimming through it. There was nothing major in it, just strange power fluctuations and slight tremors coming from one of the old bunkers Billy had built across Equestria. Everything seemed to check out all right, though there was a notice of a loose connection to the central 'hub'. On the other hand, Billy had assured him that any bunkers, bases and holes that were out there had been completely sacked of their technology besides the emergency life support system, air recyclers and some small degree of shielding and those services were run by said hub…it was probably rats or parasprites.

"Civilians out in the open and about a thousand or so scouters raining laser death from above."

Glancing behind him at the sound of hoof-steps, he saw Rarity, Applejack and Apple Bloom walk up and nodded at the trio. Levitating the mug to his lips, he felt the weight on his legs lessen and looked down to see Sweetie Belle being lifted off, wrapped in a light blue glow. The Green Ranger placed her sister onto her back and smiled once at him before trotting away to the back living quarters. Sipping the liquid once more, he settled back and mulled over Bree's words once again. Civilians in the streets would pose a threat if there were giant hulks wandering on the streets and it was very easy to not see the human in your path until you were scraping his or her remains off the underside of the foot. He grimaced at the thought, mind flashing back to the countless times he had seen red matter on the bottom of his Zord's feet. Shaking his head, he took a long drink and wondered if Celestia hadn't slipped something extra into it.

"And something, maybe, about me blasting energy dinosaurs from my hands."

He nodded absently…and then the words sunk into his mind. Inhaling sharply, he began coughing as the tea went down the wrong pipe. Fluttershy and Pinkie woke up immediately and lightly hit their hooves against his back. Waving them off, he gulped in a lungful of air and refocused his gaze on the screen. Bree was looking at his reaction with amusement and he rolled his eyes slightly. Seeing that he was all right, Pinkie pranced off to 'play' with the new Crystal Rangers, while Fluttershy laid her head onto his lap. Giving the girl on the screen a look to not bring up the issue, he shook his head once and tried to speak once more.

"Wha…what was that?"

As Bree opened her mouth to speak, Applejack walked closer and playfully nudged Apple Bloom. She could see the tension that was rising between Weihan and the girl who sounded like Apple Bloom and wanted, needed, to nip it in the bud as soon as possible. Plus, she knew that the former King Sombra would practically be wetting himself with joy at seeing the Ultra Rangers in action. She made a face and willed the disturbing image out of her mind.

"An' Ah thought Ah had troubles with this one scooting off in the middle of the night to earn her Cutie Mark in bat catching. Y'all aren't a Ranger, are you?"

Bree shook her head and Applejack felt some of the tensions inside dissipate. If she wasn't a Ranger, then how would a regular human shoot energy from her hands? It was akin to Twilight trying to fly or Pinkie shooting magic from her head – it just wasn't done. Besides, Billy had told them that normal folk needed outside Power Sources to morph into Rangers, so to hear that the dimensional counterpart of Apple Bloom was slowly becoming a Ranger without any exterior assistance was…chilling. She glanced over to Twilight, who was listening in to their conversation. The Purple Ranger had the same expression of confusion and doubt that she was sure was on her own face. Bree shook her head and continued.

"Not a Power Ranger per se…but Zhane, the Silver Astro Ranger, said I may be part of something bigger. Ah'll look into it on this end but how long are you gonna stay over there?"

Running his fingers through Fluttershy's mane, he sighed and thought about the options at hand. There was no denying that Xonix would be out of action for a while. If not in a Power Coma, he would be resting and replenishing his powers until the next attack. Then there were the Trotters, the warriors of Xonix that had been mysteriously lost and were now making a rather deadly comeback in Equestria. He didn't know what they could do but knew the answer to their power was in the bulk of information he had sent over a few weeks back. If it wasn't Xonix or the Trotters, it would be Discord. Even with him running away from battle, the humanoid pony was a dangerous opponent – more so with him being able to access the powers of the Thirteenth Ultra Crystal and summon a form of Hellfire Armour. If a version of Assault Armour could be summoned, Equestria would be fucked. It was his duty as an Ultra Ranger to investigate the full spectrum of abilities Discord could tap in to and ascertain whether a continued and permanent presence was needed.

"For a few more weeks at least or until Xonix comes out of his Power Coma…which I suspect he's in."

Bree did a double take of her own at the words, but seemed to compose herself slightly more elegantly than he had. He supposed it was due to her relative innocence at the whole Ranger business. He would have to watch her like a hawk when he went back to ensure she did everything by the book.

"Xonix is over there? All right, Ah'll keep the troops organised and look for the others in mah team."

Dropping the line of slightly disturbing thoughts, he wondered what the backlash would be on the rest of the Ranger community. If Zhane knew, that meant the Astro Rangers weren't too far behind in their knowledge either and anything they knew would be told to Karone. The former Princess of Evil would then distribute it to Edward, who would tell Rita…and then he would be dragged in front of her yet again for yet another lecture about the 'merits' of civilians morphing into new Rangers. He had heard it before anyway and didn't really put much stock into the Prophecy of the Five Magicians…whoever they were supposed to be. If the former villains knew and sustained their links of communication, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that it would somehow leak out to their other allies…one in particular that he hoped would never find out.

"AJ's gonna be pissed…eh, she'll get over it. Got a name in your head for your designation?"

Bree chewed on her lower lip as she thought about it. She hadn't put much stock into coming up with names as it seemed that every Ranger in existence was named by the Power they bore. Sentinel Ranger was one option, but if the team was supposed to be the Ranger Sentinels, fancy wordplay wouldn't help much. Heading down a different track, her mind kept going to the two dinosaurs that had come out of her hands. she opened her mouth and the little girl inside her brain began kicking her over and over for how stupid the name sounded. She knew that it was, by most accounts, lazy and lacked vision…but it felt right.

"The Dual Dino"

TBC…