The Green and Pink Rangers, Spike, Sugar Cupcake, Cobalt, and Pinkie, as well as Starlight, had located the brainy Ranger in a jewelry shop like they thought. He was by the counter, looking at all the rings.
Starlight looked over at the clock tower, reading nine o’clock. She knew they had to keep him away from Fluttershy for a full hour. It won’t be easy in her mind.
Hearing the cries for help from the ponies, they wanted to help out. Except they have to deal with this situation first. Plus, Jake knew Argus was searching for his best friend. If they don’t break this spell, he’ll be destroyed by the white pegasus. They knew he would be focusing on someone else, making it easier for the bodyguard to win. Not that he’d ever win. From what the Rangers know, he'd back down after a fierce fight from their friend, only to return some other time.
They went inside the shop. Emma came up to the counter to see the jewelry pony handing the unicorn the ring that has a gold chain on it. She shook her head. “Nope.” She pushed it back. “We believe he needs a better one to give to his bride to be.” She winked at her friends.
Understanding what she meant, the mare placed it back. She began pointing at each diamond.
“No, no, no, no.” Each time the pony showed her a ring, the other one will shake her head. “Too bright. No, too shiny. Do you have anything less shiny?” The shopkeeper placed a black box of a ruby ring containing inside of it. “Nuh, uh. Less shiny.” This annoyed her. Emma ignored it.
With her dealing with rings, the others watched the time on the clock.
Nine ten. They wish they could make the time go faster. They sure need to help out their friends who are dealing with changelings and the henchponies. They saw how the queen is, worried that she’ll do something.
The thought of her doing something, especially to Troy, made Emma worried. Although she cares about all of her friends, he was the first one she noticed when she saw him walk into class back home.
It seems as though she likes him - a lot. He is an attractive guy, no doubt about it. His slicked brown hair, leather jacket, gorgeous eyes, it’s no wonder she developed those feelings for him. She did like how he wanted her to be his plus one for Gala.
Even though it won't be a romantic kind of date, she’s happy she’ll be going with him. No offense to her friends.
“This one looks good.” The mare snapped the pegasus out of her thoughts, showing her a purple jewel. “It isn’t too shiny.”
“It’s per-” Noah began to say when it was shoved back. He glared at Emma.
“Nah, we need a ring that isn’t shiny. The purple jewel has some shine in it.”
The mare on the other side of the counter, sighed. “Very well.” She took the jewel back. “I bet he’s getting married.”
“You can say that…” Emma shifted her eyes towards the others, then turned her body around, going up to them. “How many minutes do we have left? I hate making jewels look bad,” she whispered, making sure the one showing Noah the rings doesn’t hear her.
“We aren’t close enough for it to be a whole hour,” Pinkie whispered back. “Plus, when will the author let us help your friends?”
There was a loud smack coming from the non Element of Harmony. “There’s no ‘author’. Look around you.” She waved her arm in the air. “I don’t see an author and neither does anyone else.”
“Well, Starlight,” Pinkie picked up her voice, “then explain why we’re talking. She’s writing down the story, having us say things - everything you need in a good story. She’s even thinking about doing deleted scenes that never made it in this book, along with shorts and sequels. I’m hoping she’ll do slice of life stories, too. But these will be her stories, she can choose what the story genre is. I’m waiting for the chapter where all of us are going to the Gala. I wanted the chapter to be called Let’s Party, Rangers!.” She placed a hoof on her chin in thought. “I’m hoping she’ll use that name for it. Who knows, maybe she’ll write a chapter when we’re getting ready for it. It should be called Preparing For The Gala.”
She grinned a huge smile. Everyone else can only be baffled at what she said. All they can do is shrug it off. She is Pinkie Pie after all.
The nature loving pegasus can only shake her head, turned around - and gasped. “Where’s Noah?” Everyone turned their directions, seeing she was right, seeing he that he is gone. Jake came up to the counter.
“Yo, where did my best friend go?”
“He made his purchase,” the shop pony told them. “He went back to his…” She cringed. “...shmoopy-shmoo.”
“Augh!” both him and Emma repulsed, the rest of them looking like they wanna throw up.
They stepped out of the store. “He could be heading to the Boutique,” Spike said, flying next to Emma, the others running.
“I’ll call Gia.” Taking out her morpher, she flipped the top part up in order to call her best friend. “Gia, Noah left the jewelry shop. He could be heading to the Boutique,” she talked to her morpher, speaking into it. The Yellow Ranger answered her back.
“Got it. Though, you guys need to make sure he doesn’t get here.”
“We'll do our best.” Putting the morpher away, Emma rubbed her face. “We have to make sure he doesn’t get there.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Jake asked, looking for his friend.
“Hmm…” A bright idea came from the Pink Ranger. “I know! We can-”
A loud explosion came. They heard ponies crying out for help when they saw the evil pegasus slowly walking. His eyes aren’t fixated on them, they were on the heroes. He noticed most of them were missing, aside from the princess, the leader of the Rangers, the Silver Ranger, and two Power Ponies fighting off the insect-like creatures and x-borgs and bruisers of all kinds.
Jake and everyone else got into a defending stance, almost forgetting about what they were doing when they saw a familiar brown unicorn hopping past them.
“Wait, where did he-” Sugar began to say, confused for she thought he was ahead of them, until they saw the villain's eyes landing on the blue hero.
A sneer formed on him. He drew out his sword. He brushed past the ponies and the dragon. He began stalking up to him, stopped, raising his sword. “Solar Slash Energized!” Calling out his attack, he created his X mark, sending it to the person he’s been battling with.
“Super Mega Mode!”
Out of nowhere, a green flash came. Jake, who is in his Super Mega spandex, got in the attack’s way, blasting it away.
Argus let out a deep snarl. “You puny…”
“Go! Make sure my best friend doesn’t get to the Boutique.” The athletic stallion cast a hard look on the bad pony in front of him. “I’ll keep him busy.” He took out his Saber.
“How strange… Wait, not strange. You and some of your friends had worked on defeating me. Heh, well, one pony or not, no one can destroy me!” he boasted, him and the green one walking in circles. “If you weren’t in my attack’s line of fire, it would’ve got rid of your friend.”
“Nobody hurts him. Nobody hurts anyone,” Jake answered gravelly. “It doesn’t matter if my pal gets rid of you. It doesn’t matter if all of us can get rid of you. We can all deal with someone like you.”
“Blue and I have always been dueling,” he spoke menacingly, running his hoof on the blade. It seemed to shine from the winter sun. “I’ll be nice to let you pass so I can get to him. With him distracted on Fluttershy, I sure will get him destroyed. I have a sense he likes her. Haha!”
“Hmph, I’ll never let you get to him. You’re dealing with me. You are correct about him liking her.”
“Hm, then how come Blue never said anything? Is he too scared to do so?”
“My friend isn’t afraid of anything - even you!” The earth pony pointed his sword at him. “He isn’t the type to be scared of anything.” He glanced at the time. Nine twenty. “With the love poison they took from the queen, it doesn’t count when they want each other to be their special somepony. They shouldn’t need to be forced to tell one another to reveal their feelings.”
“Like they need to take their time,” the bad guy snarked, rolling his eyes. “Pathetic.”
“It isn’t pathetic,” he argued, about to punch this thing in the face. “Now fight me or back down. Go ahead, pick one,” he challenged.
“Fight me or back down. Gee, I have no idea what to pick.”
He’s doing this on purpose, Jake knew. He’s stalling for time. “Here, I’ll help you choose.” Yelling out, he charged at the winged pony.
In a quick motion, his Saber was blocked by the sword, then brought down when Argus pulled his hoof back, knocking the Ranger back with one punch in the chest.
Jake flung back, landing on his side. He went to get up when he was pulled back down. Looking down, a strong hoof was on his tail. Glaring to whom is stepping on it, he tried to pull it out from underneath the hoof.
Laughing at his struggle, Argus raised his sword, then started to go for the Ranger’s throat.
Like his reflexes kicked in, the green one got his Blaster out, blasting the bad pony in the chest.
The shots forced him off, getting him to hover in the air. The flapping of his feathers gave little wind at the Ranger as he got back up.
The two charged at each other again. Argus went to swipe at Jake’s head, only for Jake to hit the ground, ducking out of the way. He stood up, shooting at the bodyguard.
Argus dodged out of the way, sweeping in the air from left to right. “Too slow.” Jake fired another shot. “Ha, missed.” Again, he moved out of range of fire, leaving the Green Ranger to get frustrated. “Shoot me again,” he dared in triumph.
“Come down to the ground!” Jake commanded, gritting his teeth together. “I don’t have wings, you know.”
“Too bad. It’s more fun this way,” he smirked.
“Get on the ground!” the Green Ranger thundered. “You can’t be flying since not all of us can fly.”
“Us? It’s only you and I, Green,” Argus basically replied.
“Don’t smart talk back to me. Come down here. It has to be a fair fight.”
“Bad guys don’t fight fair. Fighting fair are you, Rangers, weakness.” He laughed. “Now, I should get to the Blue-”
“Legendary Ranger Mode - Dino Thunder! Power Up!” In an instant, Jake morphed. “Black Dino Thunder Ranger!” he declared. “Brachio Staff - Wind Strike!”
With his Legendary weapon, he used it to create his move. The wind picked up, catching Argus off guard.
“Fire Strike!” Flames shot out of the weapon, directly in the villain's face.
“I can’t see!” Argus had to shut his one eye from the scorching heat. The fire forced him on the ground. Squinting his eye, he called out his attack. “Solar Slash Energized!”
“Whoa!” Flinging back, the Ranger landed on his back. The attack got him out of Legendary Mode. “Ah!” In a quick instant, he used his Saber to block the incoming sword.
From fighting Argus, his powers are starting to weaken. He glanced at the clock.
Nine forty-seven.
He’d wish time wasn’t slow. He wanted it to be quick. He knows Noah can deal with him, whether or not he can defeat him. Part of him wanted his best friend to deal with Chrysalis for once after tricking him and the girl he likes into drinking the poison.
If the queen doesn’t feed off the love Noah has for Fluttershy, that is.
Applejack tossed Fluttershy a dress. “Here, try this on.” She and Rainbow shoved her into the dressing room. Then gave her the whole rack of wedding dresses. Afterwards, they used Rarity’s furniture to keep her in there.
Rarity doesn’t seem to like that considering it was her home. Mythic had to explain to her for it was Fluttershy’s own good in order to keep her eyes off of the Blue Ranger, ending up to get her to agree with the Power Pony.
When they got the call from Emma, about the Blue Ranger heading to the Boutique, her best friend told her back on the morpher to make sure he doesn’t get here.
It won’t be easy, and so after Gia instructed those who are dealing with Noah, Hazel suggested they dig a hole in the ground, just in case he isn’t stopped.
Ice Crystal thought it was a great idea, grabbing a shovel from the closet. She wanted Mythic and Rarity to help her out.
Due to their similarities, they refuse. “How about you have Applejack help you?” Rarity suggested, pointing her horn at the farm gal. “She gets dirty all the time when working on her apple orchard and around the farm. I bet she never showers.”
“Excuse me,” the farm pony turned and proclaimed. “I do take showers, Rare.”
“Really? Then how come I can smell you from here?” The fashionable unicorn waved her hoof in front of her.
“I wash my hair and tail every night,” she argued with a snort.
“Girls, we cannot be fighting now,” Gia intervened, getting another shovel out of the closet. “I’ll help her dig the hole.”
The Power Pony and Ranger walked out the door just after Ice Crystal used her magic to get an old mattress from the closet.
Outside, they began digging a square shape hole. Thanks to Ice, the two managed to get the hole big enough. It was also big enough to put the mattress in. And just in time, too, because they heard the sounds of bouncing.
Turning their attention, they saw Noah, who was making the noises. They saw Emma, Starlight, Spike, Cobalt, Pinkie, and Sugar Cupcake, going after him. The youngest Power Pony jumped up, biting down on the Blue Ranger’s tail.
Due to being a colt, he wasn’t strong enough to keep this adult pony in place, literally being hopped along with him.
The unicorn's tail slipped out of his teeth when he lost his grip on it. Noah doesn’t seem to notice.
Emma managed to get in front of him, placing her front hooves on his chest to keep him from going into the dress shop.
It stopped him from bouncing, for now he was trotting.
His trotting caused the Pink Ranger to fall on the ground, face first. Spitting the dirt and hair out of her mouth, she saw Sugar and Pinkie taking her place in order to stop this love poisoned up stallion.
Pinkie pulled out one piece of party streamer, creating a lasso. After watching her fourth cousin twice removed by a fifth cousin, which is exactly like a sister, though more of a cousin, who is Applejack, using a lasso, she knew what to do, even though this pony is a baker and not a farm pony like her cousin.
With the ribbon in her mouth, she began twirling it, the loop going around and around. With a quick toss of her head, the loop went around the geek’s midsection. Planting her hooves firmly on the ground, and with the help of Sugar, Emma, Spike, Starlight, and Cobalt, they managed to stop him.
Well, sort of. Noah was walking, but wasn’t going anywhere. He pulled hard. Gia hollered out.
“Let him go!”
“He’ll get to her,” Emma feared, the streamer locked between her teeth.
“Let him go!” Ice repeated, waving her arms.
Seeing no other choice, they released him. The streamer was still around his torso, the end of it being dragged behind him. “Shmoopy-doo- Whoa!” Not seeing the hole, he fell in there, landing safely on the mattress.
The ones who were outside looked down. Gia sighed with relief. “Good thing we dug up this hole.” Upon saying this, the clock tower chimed. “One more minute and the spell will be broken.”
“Schmoopy-doo!” Calling out desperately, Noah tried to get out of the hole. He planted both hooves on the dirt wall, trying to scramble out. He managed to reach the top when Ice’s horn shot out an electric beam. The beam forced him back in the hole. Though it hadn’t stopped him from calling out to Fluttershy. “Schmoopy-doo!”
That’s when the front part of the Boutique bust opened, the front part of the building now having a big hole, much to Rarity’s impulse. “Sweet Celestia! How am I gonna clean this mess up!?” Her horn sparked.
“Forget about your shop and help us keep her away from Noah,” Rainbow grunted after she grabbed the pegasus’s tail.
It wasn’t difficult. Fluttershy isn’t the type of pony to have a lot of strength.
The ponies and dragon glanced at the clock, ignoring the desperate cries from the timid pony and the brainy Ranger.
Ten...nine…
The arrow moved, the clock ticking.
...eight...seven...six…
Everyone can only look at the clock, sweat trickling down their foreheads.
...five...four…
They all held their breaths.
...three...two…
Their bodies stiffened, waiting for the arrow to get to the number twelve.
...one…
The clock chimed, the arrow finally getting to twelve, reading ten o’clock.
“Please be normal, please be normal,” Emma prayed. She, Gia, Sugar, Spike, Starlight, Cobalt, Ice, and Pinkie, looked down at the trapped Ranger, while Applejack, Hazel, Rainbow, Rarity, and Mythic kept holding onto Fluttershy.
“Uh, guys? Why am I in a hole?” a confused Noah asked, getting lots of relieved breaths.
Fluttershy was also confused. “And why am I being held back?” Then her eyes went upwards. “Am I...wearing a wedding veil?” On her was indeed a wedding veil.
“Long story short, Chrysalis gave you love poison,” Starlight explained as she helped Noah out the hole. Rarity used her magic to get the bits of dirt out of his mane.
“Love...poison?” He was still confused.
“Uh, huh,” the Yellow Ranger nodded her head.
“Yep. The stuff made you say...sappy things,” her best friend commented.
Fluttershy looked at Noah, then back at the others. “Like what?” she asked, wanting to know.
“Like… smartie-heartie lovie-kins,” Emma said.
The two of them couldn’t help but be shocked. One, because they never knew they said sappy things. And two, they couldn’t help but to make gagging noises. Even though Noah likes this timid pony, he knew that the stuff he and Fluttershy took doesn’t count.
He felt a bit angry how he never revealed his true feelings for her. Fluttershy felt the same. More disappointed than angry.
Also, speaking of count, the Blue Ranger noticed a few of his allies are missing. “Where’s Troy, Lighting Twister, Orion, Lacy, Twilight, and Jake at?”
“Troy, Twilight, Lighting Twister, Lacy, and Orion are fighting off the changelings and the prince’s army. Jake is dealing with Argus,” Emma reported. “We need to help them - now.”
After that, they all raced to the scene of the crime.