A week has passed since Spike gave Shooting Star the tour around Ponyville and things happened. Spike started working around the castle again while Twilight got to have fun. They even had a new year's party at Sweet Apple Acres while he cleaned the castle, but once he was done, he invited Shooting Star, Derpy and the Doctor over to spend new years with him.

The Doctor smiled. "Thanks for inviting us Spike. It's nice to be at the castle."

"No problem Doctor." Spike replied with a smile. "Twilight made me clean the castle while she was at her own party with her own friends, but now I have my own party with my own friends."

"Speaking of parties, are you coming to Cranky's and Matilda's wedding tomorrow, Spike? I heard that even the princesses are coming to this wedding." Derpy asked.

"You bet I am. I'm coming even if Twilight makes me stay behind." Spike said.

"Perfect, I'll make sure we get seats for all of us to sit together then. It will be a great day."

As they talked, Shooting Star looked at the clock and saw that it was 15 seconds until midnight. "Guys, It's almost time. 13 seconds."

Then they all started counting down the seconds.

10

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1

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!" all of them shouted at the same time and they started celebrating like crazy, with the Doctor pulling Derpy to him and they kissed. Spike hugged Shooting Star as was tradition to close friends.

After another while, Derpy, Shooting Star and the Doctor left the castle to go home, while Spike went to his room where he got into his bed and went to sleep.

The next morning, Spike woke up to, nothing. No orders for breakfast or for cleaning, just nothing. He's guessing that Twilight was still at Sweet Apple Acres after they had their party which he thought was amazing. So he got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. He decided to make some waffles and he added some blue sapphires into the batter for color, flavor and texture. Once he finished making his waffles, he put his slightly blue breakfast onto a plate. He ate it up and washed his dish and cleaned up a little around the kitchen counter. Wouldn't want Twilight to be angry at him.

He walked to the main hall to get ready for the day and the wedding when he saw a note on the middle of the floor. He walked up to it, grabbed it and read it. It said,

Dear Spike,

I just got word that a bugbear has gone rogue in Ponyville today, so while me and my friends fight it off, I want you to take my place in getting things ready for Cranky's and Matilda's wedding. There should be music, flowers and catering to the wedding. And don't embarrass yourself in the process, the princesses are supposed to be at the wedding too, even Cadence and Shining Armor.

I wish you the best of luck, and sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

Spike sighed in frustration at the last part. Why would he even embarrass himself? He doesn't need to be told that all the time. Spike just shrugged it off and went into town to help the best he can with the wedding.

As he entered the town, he saw Shooting Star looking for him, so he walked up to her and said hi.

"Hi Shooting Star. How are you doing today?" he asked

"It honestly could be better. Derpy is really stressed and sad today and I don't really know why, but I haven't tried asking her yet, so that might be why I don't know."

"Then should we go and ask her why she's like this, if you know where she is?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go find her and ask her what's wrong." and with that, they both walked around Ponyville, hoping to find both her and some answers. After walking for a little bit, they saw a cafe that was familiar to the one Spike ate at on Hearths Warming Eve, and in one of the tables, sat Derpy who was looking sad.

They both walked up to Derpy and Spike said, "Hi Derpy, is everything ok? You look pretty stressed and sad."

Derpy looked at the two and smiled, before frowning and looking down again. "Hi Spike. It's just that I've really messed up on those invitations. I feel just awful."

Spike was confused. "The invitations to the wedding that's today?"

"Yeah. Apparently, the wedding was supposed to be tomorrow but I messed up and changed the date to today. Cranky was pretty angry at me this morning. I tried to offer him muffins, but he just got more angry and walked away.

Just then, a waiter giving out drinks walked by and said, "Hm, perhaps that explains why I never got mine." and then casually walked away.

Derpy then explained, "I told Cranky I could get them printed for cheap, but that meant hiring somepony with no experience using a printing press. The only pony I knew fit the bill was a small colt.

Shooting Star then asked, "So you used a colt to make the invitations?"

"Yeah." Derpy answered. "It may sound bad, I know, but he offered and I desperately needed somepony to help me with them, but now I see that was a mistake. Oh I wish there was a way I could go back in time and fix all of this."

"I have a better idea." Spike, Derpy and Shooting Star looked to whoever said that and discovered that the Doctor was there too. He walked up to them and said, "Derpy dear, I think it's time I show you guys something I never showed anyone before.

"Huh" was the unanimous response from the 3.

"I have a secret lab where I work on top secret inventions. I can show you it, but I need you to promise me to not tell anypony about it. Do you promise?" They all nodded.

So they followed the Doctor into his and Derpy's house and entered a secret passage right by a painting on the wall, they entered and were greeted by another door. The doctor entered while saying,

"Going back in time is, old thinking my friends. I was working on a cutting edge theory, making time come forward to us." He looked around and saw that Spike, Derpy and Shooting Star weren't in sight. He then saw Derpy in an oval shaped basket with wings and a tail, with Spike and Shooting Star looking at it, mesmerized. He pulled a lever next to him and lowered it down.

"My life's work. Decades of research and experimentation and I nearly had it cracked, but it turns out there's already a magic spell for it." He then turned around and saw Shooting Star touching an electrical orb thing with her mane and tail rising and falling with every touch.

He walked over and said, "Yet there are somethings magic can't explain. Where science and mathematics are the real magic."

"Like these?" he heard Spike ask. He saw Spike looking at glowing things in a tank that looked a lot like flowers. "They look beautiful."

"Those are my flameless fireworks. never could figure out how to get them to ignite."

Derpy walked up to them and asked. "How could you even make all of this stuff anyway."

The Doctor smiled and said, "I have been studying science my whole life. Ever since a traumatic experience, I used it make the world around me make sense. It gives us explanations to the unexplainable, things we never thought were possible."

Then the doctor turned serious. "Now for the reason we're here, you sent invitations with the wrong date, so... Oh no, I need to get my suit tailored." With that, he ran out of the room.

After they all walked out, Spike began thinking. "Should we get something to wear for the wedding?"

Shooting Star replied with, "How about we just wear our necklaces that we got on Hearths Warming after defeating Timor."

"That's a good idea. You go back in and get yours, while I run to the castle and get mine." So they parted ways for the moment as Spike began running to the castle. While he was running however, he saw a crowd talking about something. He walked up to the crowd and saw what they were looking at. It was Twilight and her friends huddling up for something. He heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders talking about whether it was a friendship problem or a monster attack and he also heard another pony known as Octavia complaining that she can't figure out what to play at the wedding, especially with a monster attack. Then they heard buzzing, they all turned around and saw a massive bugbear twice the size of big mac beginning it's attack. It swooped down and hit the ground, then Twilight shot a bolt of magic at it, but Spike didn't care to see the rest as he continued running to the castle to get his necklace.

He entered the castle and ran up to his room, where his elements of harmony necklace was tucked away in his drawer. He put it on and ran back into Ponyville. The attack was still continuing, but he didn't care, he continued running until he saw Shooting Star with her necklace on. Spike had to admire the necklace she was wearing. She looked more beautiful with it on... Wait, what? Nevermind. He ran up to her and smiled.

"Now that we have out necklaces on, what do we do now?" he asked.

"I say we save some seats for the four of us for the wedding. It's supposed to be in the town hall." Shooting Star said. Spike nodded and went on their way to town hall. On the way there, they saw Derpy with a few other ponies that worked for the flower shop fainting and screaming, "It's awful" or "THE HORROR, THE HORROR!!" But they didn't care and continued to town hall. When they got inside, they saw Lyra and Bon Bon decorating the place. They were talking about things and other things, but Spike and Shooting Star didn't eavesdrop. they went up to some appropriate seats and began discussing.

"So, how would you like it to be seated? I was thinking, Derpy, the Doctor, then you, then me." Spike suggested.

"I was thinking it should be me, the Doctor, Derpy, and then you." she suggested.

"How about we compromise then. Let's be seated like this. You, then me, then Derpy, and then the Doctor."

Shooting Star smiled. "Perfect." Then they hoof/clawbumped. It was then that they heard, "Fine, BUT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THIS LATER."

Spike walked up to Lyra and asked, "Hey Lyra, is everything ok?"

Lyra turned around and said, "Hey buddy, I just found out that my marefriend was lying to me."

"I'm sorry about that. What did she lie to you about?"

"She lied to me about being part of a secret organization that Princess Celestia disbanded because of a bugbear that escaped tartaurus a few years back."

"Oh, that sounds scary. Anyway, see you at the wedding Lyra." Spike waved goodbye as he left town hall.

"Bye buddy" Lyra waved back.

As they left town hall, Spike and Shooting Star saw Derpy looking downtrodden. They walked up to her and asked, "Is everything ok Derpy?"

"No, the flower ponies couldn't get the flowers ready soon enough for the wedding. I don't know what to do. There may not be any flowers for the wedding.

Spike thought for a second, before coming up with an ingenious idea. "How about the flameless fireworks from the Doctor's secret lab. They look a lot like flowers and they glow too, and if we can get them to fire off, we could be in for an amazing firework's show."

Derpy's eyes beamed at the idea. "That's an amazing idea. Shooting Star, go get the fireworks from the lab and be sure to be careful with them. I'll go explain our idea to the Doctor. I think he's at a bowling alley for some reason. Spike, if you haven't bought them a wedding gift, now is the perfect time to buy it.

Everyone nodded and they each went to do their respective thing to do.

Spike POV

As Spike entered the market, he wondered what Cranky and Matilda would like. He saw many stands, some for food, some for toys, even one for expired newspaper. He thought that since they were old, they might like a lot of expired newspaper either to read, or do other things with it.

He walked up to the stand where the pony behind the counter smiled at him kindly. "Hi there buddy, what can I get you today?"

"Can I have 6 rolls of expired newspaper please?" Spike asked.

"Sure. That will be 3 bits." Spike paid the 3 bits and got all of his rolls of newspapers. "And if this is for the wedding today, here's a green present box with gold bows to put them in, and don't worry, the box is on the house. Also, I really love your necklace. Where did you get it."

Spike beamed a smile at him and said, "Thank you sir, that is very kind of you. Also, I got my necklace on Hearths Warming, but I'm not gonna say anything else. I want to keep its origins a secret." And with that, he lifted the lid off, put the rolls of newspaper in, and went back to the center of town.

Shooting Star POV

Shooting Star went back into Derpy's and the Doctor's house where she entered the secret passage and into the secret lab. She went up to the tank that held the flowers and started wondering.

"How am I going to get this tank open?' She asked herself. Then she saw a wheel at the bottom of the tank, so she turned it and it the water drained from it. Once the water was drained, she tried another way to open it. She saw what looked like a button right next to the wheel, so she tried to push it, but to no avail.

She then saw the lid on top of the tank and got an idea. She flew up so she could get on top of the tank and with all her might, tried to pry the lid off. The first few tries were fruitless, but on her next try, the lid popped off and the tank shook.

What happened next was this. The tank started tipping over. Shooting Star tried to stop the tank from falling, but to no avail. The tank toppled over on her, so she closed her eyes and braced for an impact. She heard a thud and when she opened her eyes, she saw something surprising.

The tank was toppled over, but nothing broke. Better yet, the flameless fireworks were easy to get out of the tank now. So Shooting Star grabbed as many as she could into 2 baskets and then left the secret lab to get to the center of town where she was certain the others would be waiting.

Soon after, Spike and Shooting Star were back in the center of town. They saw each other and walked up to each other.

"It looks like you got the flameless fireworks." Spike said as he smiled. "They really do look beautiful."

"Thanks Spike. I also see that you got them a gift." Shooting Star said as she looked at the gift and became curious. "Tell me Spike, what did you get Cranky and Matilda?"

"Well, seeing as they're old, I got them expired newspaper." Spike smiled sheepishly.

"Ok. Now we should look for Derpy and- No need to find me." Spike and Shooting Star turned around and saw Derpy there with them.

"Great job everyone." Derpy smiled at them. "Now let's get these stuff over to the town hall and... wait, what's that."

Spike and Shooting Star looked to where Derpy was looking. It was then that they heard hip hop music. They saw a giant sound boosts with Vinyl and Octavia on it. It also had a couch and other ponies on the couch. It kept picking up other ponies wherever it went until it was a giant ball of ponies. That was when they saw it coming towards them. They tried to run, but it was no use since it already hit them and now they were on the sound boost thing with the other ponies and couch. They then saw Matilda, Ms. Cake, Mr. Cake and the cake twins carrying a cake to town hall, and they got picked up by the new abomination. They were about to hit Cranky, but somehow, he managed to dodge them just in time, while losing his toupee in the process. However, the wheels caught onto a staff that looked like Twilight and everything just flew into the air. When they landed, they landed inside the town hall, where everyone got their own seats, including Spike, Shooting Star and Derpy. The music players, Vinyl and Octavia were in their respective place, the cake wasn't harmed and was put on the cake pedastal, and the flameless fireworks were put on either side of the altar where Cranky and Matilda would exchange their vows.

Spike go up from his chair to place the gift on the gift table, when he got there, he saw Princess Celestia and Luna bickering about something. When he got closer, he realized that they were fighting about forgetting a gift.

Celestia started asking, "What do you mean you left it on the counter?"

"I thought you were bringing it." Luna replied

Spike saw that this is getting heated, but they stopped arguing and made way for him so he could put the gift onto the table.

Celestia looked at Spike's necklace and smiled. "That was a nice necklace Spike is wearing."

On the way back however, Spike heard crying from one of the rows behind him. He looked at who was crying and saw that it was Shining Armor, with Cadence trying to get him to calm down.

Cadence looked at the others and said, "It's alright, he always cries at weddings. Usually it's not until the wedding starts." Shining Armor started crying even more.

Spike looked at Cadence and Shining Armor and started to feel a bit sad as certain thoughts started going through his head.

"They didn't even invite me to celebrate Hearths Warming with them and the rest of the family at the Crystal Empire. Do they even see me as a friend or family member, or just a dragon?" Spike thought to himself. Spike pushed away those thoughts as he put on a smile and went back to sit with Shooting Star and Derpy.

When he sat back down with them, Derpy started admiring the flameless fireworks. "Those flameless fireworks look even better than flowers guys. Hehehe."

Just then, the door burst open and Bon Bon entered. "Attention everypony, Our friends have done it. They defeated the bugbear." And with that, everyone started cheering, Bon Bon sat down with Lyra, with them having a conversation until the wedding started.

Derpy got up from her chair with a frown. "Now where is the doctor, he's running late." So she walked to the door and looked outside.

She then heard, "There you are." Derpy saw the Doctor running up to the building with a big scarf around his neck. He slowed down and said, "Sorry I'm late dear, but my suit has vanished and this scarf was the only thing left in my closet. How do I look?"

Derpy wrapped a hoof around him and nuzzled him before saying, "Like a million bits."

The Doctor then shook his head, saying, "Great wickering Stallions. Look at the time. We'd better get inside. Allons-y." before walking inside and sitting with Spike and Shooting Star.

Cranky and Matilda walked up to the altar where Mayor Mare was waiting. "So, is everypony here?"

Derpy looked out the door and saw Twilight and her friends running to the building. She glared, remembering the things they did to her dragon friend, so she shut the doors and locked it. "All set mayor." she said before walking back to her seat.

Mayor Mare began her speech. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these 2 in matrimony. As I look around this room, I can only imagine how... uncomfortable Cranky must be." That caused everyone in the room to laugh. "But I also see so many ponies from all trots of life, brought together by love. Cranky searched all across this great land of ours to find Matilda, and no matter what obstacles kept them apart, love would finally bring them together. Just as it has brought all of us together now. It's remarkable to me how a story like Cranky's search for Matilda could fill this room with suck a unique collection of ponies. It makes you realize that everypony is the star of their own story. And it's not just the main characters in our stories that make our lives so rich, but rather, it's everypony. It's those who play big parts and those who play small parts. If it weren't for everypony in this room, and many more who couldn't be here today, Cranky's and Matilda's lives wouldn't be as full and vibrant as they are."

Then they heard crying. Spike turned around and saw that the water creature knows as Steven Magnet was crying.

Then Mayor Mare continued her speech. "And so, in front of all these loved ones, Cranky, do you take this donkey to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Cranky answered with, "You bet I do."

Then Mayor Mare turned to Matilda. "And do you, Matilda, take this donkey to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Matilda answered with, "I do."

"Then I'm proud to say, I now pronounce you, Jack and Jenny." And with that, Cranky and Matilda kissed and the entire building erupted in applause. It was also then that the flowers started glowing and levitating, before creating a spectacular fireworks show.

Everyone was mesmerized by the fireworks, and the Doctor was ecstatic. "OF COURSE. THEY NEED LOVE TO IGNITE. HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED IT."

While the Doctor was gawking at the fireworks igniting, Spike asked Derpy something that was on his mind throughout the entire wedding. "Derpy, where do you think Twilight and her friends are. I thought they would be here and sitting next to Princess Celestia and Luna."

"To tell you the truth Spike, I saw them running to the building, but I remembered what they did you you, so I closed the doors and locked them out, so they wouldn't get in."

Spike smirked at that. "I like the way you think Derpy. Let's see how they like it when they're not invited to something." With that, they looked back up and continued watching the fireworks show and being mesmerized by it.

Author's Note

If you guys think this is slow or getting boring, don't worry guys. Things will get interesting soon.

Also, I'm going on vacation starting the 5th, so don't expect me to upload a chapter every single day. until sometime in July.