Sitting up on his hind legs, Spike looked at himself in the mirror. He leaned closer, running a claw across the top of his head.

"How are my spines?" he asked. "Do my spines look straight?"

"They look fine," a raspy, feminine voice answered.

Spike ran his claw over them again, chewing his lip. He then ran the palm down over his head and cheek.

"What about my scales?" he asked. "Do my scales look properly polished?"

There was a small snort of laughter from behind him which caused him to look at the reflection of the orange pegasus in the mirror.

"They're also fine," the pegasus -- Scootaloo -- answered with a smile. "Even if they weren't, you wouldn't have enough time to polish them again, anyways."

"I suppose," Spike sighed, looking at his reflection again. Leaning in closer, he smiled, showing off his teeth. "Do my teeth look okay? Should I grin? I don't want to scare any of our guests."

This time, Scootaloo let out a snicker.

"Your teeth are fine," she told him. "And everypony out there knows you, Spike. They aren't going to intimidated by you showing a little fang." She then chuckled. "The only ones who will be scared are the ones who might mess up the wedding and face your wrath."

A small huff escaped Spike as he turned around. Eyes narrowed, he looked at the pegasus mare and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, what's with you?" he asked.

Scootaloo looked at him and blinked. She put on her most innocent face, a halo practically appearing over her head.

"What do you mean?"

"The entire time I've been getting ready, you've been on the precipice of laughter," he answered. "So, tell me, Scootaloo, what's so funny?"

Scootaloo looked at the dragon a moment longer, trying to keep her innocent face on. As she stared at him with her purple eyes, she finally broke into a grin and started giggling.

"Okay, okay," she said, waving a hoof. "It's just... when I agreed to be your best mare, I was kind of worried that I would miss out on the fun of seeing the bride panic before the wedding. Turns out, I'm not missing anything." Her grinned widened. "If anything, you're probably panicking about it even more than Sweetie Belle."

"Oh, har har," Spike huffed, rolling his eyes. "I am so glad that you could get a laugh out of my anxiety." He turned back to the mirror.

"Oh, calm down there, groom-zilla," Scootaloo said as she moved up to him. "Look, believe me when I say this: none of this matters."

"...what?'

"I know, I know. Not what you expected to hear." Placing a hoof on Spike, Scootaloo turned him to face her and started messing with his bow tie. "Just hear me out. You, Sweetie, Rarity, and Twilight have all been worried about trying to have everything be perfect, right?"

"Yeah?" Spike answered, shifting to look at the mare curiously.

"Well let's be honest," Scootaloo continued, "the chances of everything being perfect are slim to none. Hay, given our track record, there's a pretty good chance that this wedding is going to be attacked by some monster or other... which is either brilliant or stupid considering the sheer number of powerful beings here. Either take them all out in one stroke, leaving a power vacuum that would be a lot easier to fill, or be blasted to dust in two seconds."

"I think you're getting off subject a little here."

"Yeah, but it's still true," Scootaloo stated as she stepped back. "Anyway, whether Luna performs the ceremony or we end up having the mayor perform it, whether the music is played perfectly or ends up off key, whether everything goes peacefully or we get attacked by Queen Insidious, in the end none of that is going to matter."

Moving to stand beside Spike, Scootaloo wrapped a foreleg around the dragon and pointed forward.

"When you see Sweetie Belle in her wedding dress, you will forget everything else," she declared. "None of it will have mattered. All you will think about is how beautiful she is." Her ears dropped as her lipped pursed. "...and how she is going to be with you the rest your lives. In the end, all that will matter is that you two end the day as husband and wife."

The idea brought a smile to Spike's face.

"That's really nice," he said. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the pegasus. "And surprisingly romantic for you. What happened to the filly that gagged and made faces over 'mushy stuff?'"

Pulling her foreleg from around Spike's neck, Scootaloo elbowed him in the side, causing a grunt.

"You can't spend your time around Rarity and not pick up something," she stated. "Besides, I may not do any sort of big, mushy, romantic gesture to show how much I love Babs, but I would like to give her some idea."

This time, it was Spike who snickered.

"Watch," he said. "I bet that now you said that, you're going to have to do something big." He looked in the mirror, making sure the bow tie was straight. "Like... she's going to be ponynapped, and you're going to have to go on an epic adventure to fight an evil monster and save her, or something."

"That... sounds kind of cool, actually."

Standing up on her hind legs, Scootaloo flared her wings out as wide.

"Scootaloo, The Fearless Knight!" she shouted. "Facing monsters and rescuing damsels in distress. All while looking totally awesome!"

"All in the name of love," a voice said from the doorway, causing the pair to jump. Standing there, giggling at the pair was a familiar looking pink alicorn.

"Cadance," Spike said, running over to give her a hug. "Glad to see you." He then pulled back. "What are you doing here, though?"

"I'm the princess of love, and your sister-in-law," Cadance -- Princess Mi Amore Cadenza -- said, "and you're a hero to The Crystal Empire. So I felt it was my duty to check on you before the ceremony and make sure everything was okay." Grinning, she turned to look at Scootaloo. "Although it seems I don't need to, seeing as Scootaloo, The Fearless Knight, is here." She gave the other mare a wink.

A blush formed over Scootaloo's face as she took a step back, looking at anywhere but the princess.

"Well I'm glad to see you," Spike said. "Is Shining Armor here too?"

"Here at the wedding, yes," she answered. "His little brother's getting married. No way he's going to miss it." She smiled gently. "I had him stay at the staging area though. You know how he gets at weddings. I didn't think it would be a good idea for you to show up in a tear-soaked tuxedo."

"Yeah," the dragon said softly as he looked down at his outfit.

"Well you look handsome," Cadance stated, "and everything seems to be under control." She looked at Scootaloo. "By the way, I could always use a student of my own. How does 'Scootaloo, Apprentice of Love' sound?"

Scootaloo's ears pinned back as her blush grew brighter.

"I'm only teasing." She then turned back to Spike. "Anyway, good luck." Leaning up, she gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you at the altar." Stepping away, she headed for the door again.

After watching her go, Spike turned to Scootaloo.

"So, oh Apprentice of Love," he said with a smirk, "is there anything left that I'm forgetting before heading out?"

Scootaloo turned to face him, glaring.

"Go ahead and laugh it up, scaly," she growled out.

Snickering, he brought a claw up to his chin, tapping it as he looked up at the ceiling.

"I wonder what kind of letters you would write as her student." His eyes widened, as did his grin. "Positions, maybe?" With a chuckle, he pantomimed having a scroll and quill. "Dear Princess Cadance, thank you for your suggestions. Last night, Babs and I tried the one called--"

"Boutonniere!" Scootaloo blurted out. "You don't have your boutonniere on."

Looking down at the pocket of his jacket, Spike noticed that there was a lack of flowers on it. Before he could even ask, Scootaloo appeared in front of him with the boutonniere, pinning it to the pocket of the jacket. She managed to point it out and have it ready pretty fast. Almost too fast. Spike could not help but feel a little suspicious.

"Did you have that with you the whole time?" he asked. "Were going to hide it from me and watch me panic?"

"Would I do something like that?"

"Yes."

Scootaloo looked up at him, putting a hurt expression on. In less than a second, it broke into a smirk as she gave a shake of her head.

"Okay," she relented. "You got me. Sort of. I did have it on me to hide. I actually wanted to see how long it would take you to realize it was missing though. I would have shown it to you as soon as you asked." She stepped back. "Or after the first couple drawers were rummaged. No more than three... or four."

Spike let out a sigh and gave a shake of his head.

"Such a supportive friend," he grumbled.

"Hey, you need somepony to keep you from getting too swelled a head," Scootaloo declared. She then gave Spike a pat on the shoulder. "Now you're ready. Go out there, and get married."

"Yeah!" Spike cried out before heading for the door.