//------------------------------// // Chapter 41: A Hang Out? // Story: Power Rangers Super Megaforce: Equestrian Adventure // by ariellewilson //------------------------------// Lightning Dust entered her home in Shireville. It’s basically a small, town village with three pony races like Ponyville has. Though it was a tad smaller than Ponyville. It had dirt paths, small shops, and decent looking houses. Closing the door with her wing, she went up the steps to her bathroom to take a hot shower. In the bathroom, she blasted the water on, all of it raining down from the shower head. She took off her Gala attire. Getting in the tub, the rainy water soaked her mane, tail, and fur coat. Her mane, which has always been brushed back, is now hanging limp on the right side of her head. Taking her mane shampoo, she squirted a good amount on her hoof. She lathered it into her hair, getting it all soapy, and did the same process with her tail. She rinsed her hair and tail after they’ve been scrubbed. She then washed her body with coat body wash. She also washed the feathers of her wings. After she was done showering, she shut off the water. Dust let herself air dry, the water droplets rolling down off of her, dripping in the tub. Reaching out, she got herself a towel, drying up her mane, tail, and all over body, including her wings. When she’s mostly dry with a bit of dampness on her, she got out of the tub. She went out of the bathroom to put her attire away. And once her dress and gloves got put away, she reached into her dress, which held something, pulling them out from the fabric. It wasn’t one, it was two. “I couldn’t believe I saw you,” she began speaking to what she had in front of her. “Couldn’t believe you saved me from those blue goons.” A smile spread over her face, as she closed her eyes, hugging whatever she had in her hooves. “I’m gonna see you tomorrow afternoon, and we’re gonna hang out, no matter what she says.” Her speech was done. Dust put the items in one of her saddlebags, which is hanging from her bedpost. “I cannot wait to see you, my hero,” she whispered, shutting off the lamp. Sleep instantly came within her, her excitement remaining the rest of the Luna night. The next day... Orion, Gai, and Dash were in the sky, each bringing a rain cloud over to Sweet Apple Acres, in the request by the cowpony for her orchard to be watered. Ever since the new ponies learned about the different traits of the three pony races, Orion had helped Dash clear the skies. He even showed his counterpart how to get rid of clouds, to let the sunshine pour on everypony. Gai was in utter disbelief when he found out that pegasi controls the weather. It is pretty much fun for his entertainment, wanting to know how many clouds he can get rid of. The rain clouds with them, they reached the farm. “Dash… how do we get the rain out of these clouds here?” Gai asked, poking at his own with his hoof. For being a new pegasus, he isn’t sure on how to get the water out of them. “Easy, shmeasy,” she replied, taking the cloud over to the apple orchard, the boys following her. “All you have to do is move the cloud while hopping on it. Watch.” Placing herself on her own cloud, moving it, she jumped up and down. The rain fell from the soft cloud as she watered half of the apple trees. “See? It isn’t hard,” she said, her cloud now white. Orion and Gai did what she did, watering the rest of the apple filled trees, though the Silver Ranger had done this plenty of times. Their rain clouds went from gray to white when all the water was out of them. “Good job,” Rainbow praised. “You two did fantastic.” The two grinned when hearing this from her. “It was easy,” Orion agreed, sitting on his cloud. “And we’re getting rid of these clouds, right, Dash?” Gai guessed. “Yep.” Rainbow kicked the cloud. The cloud puffed in disappearance. The stallions did the same, getting their clouds to vanish into thin air. “Awesome. Let’s go, I heard ponies saying Pinkie made apple muffins for breakfast.” “I know, I’ve been hungry all morning,” the Silver Ranger said. “I never had apple muffins,” Gokai Silver admitted. Orion shook his head. “Neither have I, man.” “Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner.” Rainbow sped across the sky. The silver heroes zoomed after her. Orion loved flying at this speed, feeling the wind on his face. It felt great, his silver streak launching out behind him, like he was a rocket, going over a hundred miles per hour. He flapped his wings, gaining more speed. He saw Gai, he too, flapping his wings - hard, wanting to catch up to him. For being the new member of the team, he remembered he got the Megaforce team by surprise when he sped right through them. Not literally through them, he ran past them. This Ranger was a complete silver blur when he ran back on earth. And that was on the ground. Since he turned into a pony with pairs of wings, he can go fast in the clear, blue sky. Faster than his ship he’d taken to get off his home planet. Speaking of fast… Zoom! Lightning Twister went by. “I’m faster than all of you!” “Yo, where were you when we watered Applejack’s orchard?” Orion called out, catching up to her. “My bad,” she said. “I was checking for any clouds. Plus, to see if there’s any danger. Remember what Dash said, a way to stay safe in the sky is to multi-task.” “I remember. She told me that when I started staying at her place.” Ever since he’s been a new pegasus, he’d been given advice on flying. How to watch out for things. Check the sky and the ground for any problems. Listen and pay attention to everything around him. It came in handy when he was fighting the bad guys, the ones who can fly. It helped a lot. “Say, I saw you save a mare from those…” “Bruisers?” he finished for Twister. “I couldn’t let them hurt her, can I?” Orion shrugged, remembering from last night. “You did a great job, too,” she put in. “By the way, where are we heading to?” she added. “To Sugarcube Corner to get apple muffins,” Gai excitedly proclaimed, going past the two. “Try to keep up.” He flew past Dash. “You, too, R.D.” “It is on, Gai!” she proclaimed, laughing out loud. She picked up the speed of her cyan wings, gaining at a faster paste. “See you later, slow pokes!” she hollered behind her. The other pegasi gain more speed for themselves. The Silver Ranger was going much faster; it led his tail to be straight out due to the rush he’s in. They reached Pinkie’s home, landing on the ground to see the weather pony at the door. “Took you all long enough,” Rainbow said, pretending to look at a watch. “Let’s go in. I’m starving. I can eat more than one muffin,” she expected, swiping her bangs. “You’ll be eating ten muffins,” Twister predicted, the four of them going into the cake shop. “Or thirty,” Gokai Silver happily imagined. “I’ll be fat for eating that many muffins. I’m a Wonderbolt, I need to stay in shape.” Sniffing the air, the Element of Loyalty licked her lips. “Mmm…” Dash caught the whiff of the apple scent. “The muffins are gonna taste fantastic,” she told her friends, striding up to the counter. “May we order in some muffins?” she spoke to her pink pal. “Certaintly,” Pinkie enthusiastically smiled. “Sugar, bring in a plate of muffins for our friends,” she talked to the Power Pony. “On it.” Sugar Cupcake headed to the kitchen. “Here they are,” she said, bringing in a tray of apple muffins. “Jake and Don just took them out of the oven.” “They made these?” Orion was impressed, as Dash took the tray. “I never knew they can bake,” he spoke in all honesty. “We can’t.” This came from his Ranger pal. “Don and I never knew how to bake,” he said, the boys walking out of the kitchen, “until Pinkie showed us how - like making these muffins.” “I’m glad you didn’t put anything bad in them. Last time that happened was when A.J. helped me make them. It was a disaster. Ponies, including I, got food poisoning. We all had to go to the Ponyville Hospital.” “How bad was it?” Twister couldn’t help but ask. “Like I said, it was a disaster,” the cotton mane pony replied. “It was as bad as getting the stomach bug, except much worse, which is why it was called food poisoning.” She then beamed. “Enjoy the muffins!” “We will.” The athletic pony took the other winged ponies to one of the tables. “Here you go, Silvy.” She gave him a muffin. He thanked her, biting into his muffin. It tasted like apples. While he was eating his treat, he thought about last night. Where he met Rainbow’s rival. He recalled the wink she gave him when he was in Ranger form. It kept him wondering, until he had to shrug it off his shoulders. But the mare is stuck in his head. Finishing up their muffins, they headed back to Dash’s home to chill out. Reaching her Cloudominium, they entered inside her cloud home. They sat around the living room, chatting about things. Orion was still thinking about that mare during one of the conversations they’re having. The morning day turned into afternoon. Gai and Twister decided to head out to hang with their friends. Rainbow and Orion decided to hang here. With two ponies out of the cloud-made house, the Ranger and the Wonderbolt sat at the kitchen table, playing a board game. “Your move, Silvy,” she told him after taking her turn, handing him the dice. They were playing Rainbows And Storms. The dice has rainbows and storm clouds on it. If they get storm clouds, they go down. For rainbows, they go up. He made his move. He got a rainbow. He was about to make his move when the two heard a knock on the door. “I’ll go see who it is.” Getting off the chair, the alien went to the front of the house, swinging the front door open. He went to say hello, when he couldn’t. It was like the word was stuck in his chest. All he could do was gaze at the pony who was at the open door. She got saddlebags on each side of her. “Nice to meet you, too, Orion,” Lightning Dust greeted, seeing his face turning red. “Uh...hi?” he returned awkwardly, feeling his blush going away. “Hold on sec.” He glanced away from her. “Dash, someone’s at the door,” he called over. “Who is it?” He saw her come over. She stopped when she saw who it was. “You!?” From what Orion can tell, she wasn’t happy. “Yes, me, Rainbow Doofus,” Dust said in exclamation. “How do you know where I live?” Dash boldly asked. “Duh. I asked the ponies in Ponyville,” she hotly stated. “I came here to tell Orion that we should, oh I don’t know, hang out.” “Hang...out?” The other mare doesn’t seem to like the idea. “Uh huh.” the second mare gave a nod. “You want him-” She pointed a hoof at her Ranger buddy. “-to hang out with you?" “It’s what I said.” “He isn’t going to hang out with somepony like you. You’re too...reckless. I already stated that no stallion will want to be with you.” “I don’t care what you say; I want him and I to hang out at the Shireville Restaurant.” “He’s not hanging out with you.” “Rainbow?” Orion called to her. “Yes?” she answered, glancing away from Dust. “We need to talk.” There was seriousness in his voice. “Now,” he added, keeping the tone. “We’ll be right back,” he said to the other pegasus. “I’ll be waiting,” she replied, seeing the two going into the kitchen. With her out of earshot, Dash went first. “You shouldn’t hang out with her.” “And why not?” he frowned, not liking what she was saying to him. “Because she’s reckless,” she pressed out. “I understand that,” he said, the frown not going away, eyes hard on her. “But there’s gotta be another reason why you don’t want me to hang out with her besides endangering everyone else's lives.” “There’s no other reason.” This time, she gave him hard eyes. “She and I are rivals. I told you before.” “I remember. But Dash, you shouldn’t tell me who I can or cannot hang out with,” he reasoned with her. “How would you feel if I told you that you shouldn’t hang with the Soarin guy you keep yapping about?” he questioned. She doesn’t answer. “You won’t be happy,” he answered for her. “I get what you’re saying, Orion, but she’s a bad influence. She put my little sister in danger.” She looked away from him, her ears slightly down. “You don’t know what it’s like to see someone - like your sibling - in danger of someone else.” His frown softened. “I know what it's like, Rainbow Dash. When I was living on Andresia, my brothers and sisters were in danger when the Armada came. I lost everyone there, including my parents.” “You did mention that on the train…” she recalled, then shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean you should be around her.” “It doesn’t mean anything,” he almost bickered. Rainbow stomped a hoof. “It does mean anything!” “Rainbow Dash, Dust and I gonna hang out; it’s what she wants!” he raised his voice. “She wants her and I to hang out at the Shireville Restaurant. We’re basically gonna eat there.” “Bu- Oh, fine!” she surrendered in defeat. “Go ahead, hang out with her. Go eat at the place she mentioned. I hope she gets food poisoning,” she dreamed with an uncaring heart. “Glad to hear you wish something like that.” She didn’t like his sarcastic answer. It made her more furious. Orion turned, walking out of the kitchen. “Okay, Dust,” he authorized, coming back to the girl. “We’ll hang out together. I’m guessing the Shireville Restaurant is in Shireville.” “You got it,” she beamed happily, her mood different. “Let’s go!” She gestured for him to follow her. “We can fly there. I flew here to come get you.” “Alright. Just for the afternoon, right?” “Right.” Opening up their wings, the two soared over to the Shireville Restaurant. Dash watched them leave, before slamming the door shut in fury. Praying for her enemy to get food poisoning - or Orion to leave her. To call this hang out off. She stormed up to her room, shutting the door in the process. The prince watched the Silver Ranger leave the cloud house with a different pony he doesn’t recognize. However, he discovered that the amber mane pony is a reckless being, lending him an idea. “I want the army to get that pony!” “You aren’t mad anymore for Salamandam being destroyed?” Damaras asked, coming up to him. “Never mention him again!” Yep, he’s still ticked about what happened last night. It was bad to the point where he damaged a wall. “He was a failure for our kind,” he said. “And I want the army of ours to get whoever the Silver Ranger is with.” “Why?” Argus wanted to know. “Never question the royal prince!” Vekar got an angry look. “Never give me mad eyes,” he went on. “Also, you’re an idiot for bringing us here,” he reminded, like the hundredth time. “Stop saying that!” he shouted, getting tired of it. “No.” Their boss gave him an attitude. “I’ll keep reminding you as long as I want. Also, I’m letting Damaras to get her. In fact, I can come with you.” His servants looked at one another, until the warrior spoke up. “It’s best for you to stay here, sire.” “I am unable to take the advice of yours,” he stubbornly refused. “I’m going - to watch Shiny Ranger go down and watch our army catch whoever he’s with.” Seeing he has no other choice, he let out a sigh. He told Grogar to teleport them to where the two ponies are heading to. The ram did just that, the army following the changelings in their ships since they knew where the place was at.