Finding Your Family

With the wedding back on, Spike took his entire day off to rush around Ponyville and make sure everypony important was informed of the change in plans. Some of them already knew that the wedding wasn't really cancelled, as Lofty had told them to just act like it was. She and Spike had been working together to design a scenario of how bad Scootaloo's life would be if she was forced to abandon the marriage.

Scootaloo was let in on it, of course. Spike had told her first, then Lofty had made sure to let her know when they moved in. Half of Ponyville was happy to play along if it meant helping the couple out. After all, they were both beloved by the original citizens of the town back when it was a fifth the size.

When it came time to tell Apple Bloom, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy, he ran into Pharynx, who was slamming his body against the barn door.

"What are you doing?!" shouted Spike, grabbing him by the hooves. "Stop, Pharynx!"

"He's in there!" snarled Pharynx back. "That arsehole that poisoned Hemiptera, and now I'm going to show him just what happens when you mess with my hive!" He wrenched his hooves free and slammed into the door hard enough to crack it.

As he wound up again, Spike noted that Pharynx's left front leg was limp, and bleeding. That was the hoof he grabbed this time, prompting a deeply pained yelp from Pharynx.

"Let go!" he shouted, not pulling very hard to remove his leg. "Let me go!"

"Just talk to me," said Spike. "And let me bandage that arm before you break it beyond repair."

Pharynx looked back at the door, and even Spike could see a large yellow eye behind it. "If he flees--"

"I'll hunt him down myself and deliver him to you."

"Twilight said the same thing before we figured it out..." He snorted in frustration, then landed, not taking his eyes off the door. "Do what you must."

Spike began patching up his shoulder as best he could. He was no doctor, and Pharynx definitely needed one after this, but he could at least keep him from bleeding as much. "Now, what's going on?"

"You remember the changeling that turned into Rarity at your party?"

"Yeah?"

"Hemiptera. She's a florist back home. She gives flowers to changelings that will be interacting with ponies, and when the ponies enjoy the flowers, they give love to the changelings, who are fed, and can even bring some of that back to the hive. She's literally farming love."

"Right."

"She's also the one that dressed up as Fluttershy and sent Discord back home."

"Okay."

"When she left, she was fine. When she returned, she was under a chaos mind-control magic."

Spike swallowed. "So, that was..."

"Discord pulling another prank," finished Pharynx. "No one hurts my hive-mates..."

"And now he's hiding behind Applejack's barn door." Spike stood up. "One moment. Keep an eye on him, but stay here." He walked to the farmhouse and came back a few minutes with a compression wrap.

"He's still in there," said Pharynx. "I can see him."

"Not for long," said Spike. "Just wait."

After a brief pause, the doors flew open, and Big Mac came out, carrying a cardboard cutout of Discord.

"He wasn't in there?!" fumed Pharynx.

"Nope," answered Big Mac.

"But I saw him go in there! He was moving around!"

"Eeyup."

"He was in there at some point, but he disappeared."

"I'm going to find him," swore Pharynx. "Mark my words, I will find him!"

As he flew off, Spike returned to his task, going to Fluttershy's cottage. "It's Spike," he called, knocking on the door. "May I come in?"

"One moment!" called Rarity. After a few moments and some clattering, she returned with "Come in!"

Spike pushed the door open, but kept his head outside. "Are you decent, now?"

"Oh, I usually am, darling," smiled Rarity, her mane slightly matted. "We just had to make sure Scootaloo's dress was put away before you came in. Bad luck to see it before the wedding, you know."

"Is it?" asked Spike. "Who decided that?"

"Well..." Rarity shuffled her hooves. "That's a bit of a sore subject. Let's just call it tradition, hm?"

Spike shrugged. "I'll look it up later. It can go into Twilight's notices of historical facts. I promise, if you tell me, though, I won't be hurt by it."

Rarity took a deep breath. "Okay. You want to know? It dates back to when marriages were arranged far more commonly. You see, it was often the case that, when the groom would see the bride for the first time, he would think her to be plain, drab, or even ugly. If he saw her before the wedding, he could call it off. But if they were already married, divorce was almost unheard of."

"Wouldn't he see her at the altar during the ceremony?"

"Not if she's wearing a veil," answered Fluttershy, draping a thick cloth over her head.

"Well, Scootaloo isn't ugly at all," answered Spike. "I don't know if we want to cover her face with a veil. Surely, we can play into her natural beauty, can't we?"

"Well," thought Rarity, bringing her hoof up to her chin. "I was going to have her veil very billowy, as that's very in right now, but I think you're right. Maybe just a crown of flowers? Some horn wraps?"

"I'll let her decide," smiled Spike. "I just don't like the idea of covering up her face so that I can't see her."

"Now." Rarity clapped her hooves together. "On to the real reason we called you out here. Fluttershy?"

"Right."

As Fluttershy dashed into the kitchen, Rarity turned to Spike. "Now, I don't know if Fluttershy told you, but we were working on something for your wedding. We had intended for it to be your gift for the bachelor party, but it wasn't ready. With the big day approaching, it's high time we showed you what it is you're going to be wearing. We're also going to have you try it on to check the fit."

"Here it is!" smiled Fluttershy, pushing a covered mannequin forward. "Are you ready to see it?"

Spike nodded.

"And keep in mind, Spikey-wikey, that if something doesn't fit right, we can fix it." Rarity pulled back the curtain, revealing his suit. "Well, darling? What do you think?"

Spike had to pick his jaw up off the floor. "It's perfect..."