Finding Your Family

Holiday took a step backward. "Please, come in. Have a seat on the couch. I'll go tell Lofty you received her letter."

"Sure thing, Holly," said Snap. "And while you're at it, isn't it about time to wake Scootaloo? We need to talk to her."

"Oh, I'm sure she was out late last night. It's probably better if she just rests."

"Nonsense," waved Mane. "After hearing that we've arrived, she'll perk right up!"

"She only just went to bed," scowled Lofty. "Let her rest for a bit. She'll be just as excited this afternoon."

As they spoke, Spike plated the waffles, covering them with a cloche to keep the fruit from being swarmed by flies if Scootaloo had already passed out. He also had her coffee under there, but would remove it as soon as he set down the tray to keep the fruit from steaming.

As he made it to the stairs, he felt a hoof on his shoulder. "Is that for Scootaloo?" asked Snap.

Spike nodded without a word. He'd have brought a talon to his lips to urge them to be quiet, but both hands were holding either side of the tray.

"See? She's already awake!" smiled Mane, pushing past Spike and climbing the stairs. "Scootaloo!"

Lofty planted her hoof on her forehead and chased after her, with Snap following them both up ahead of Spike.

Holiday sighed. "We'll try to keep them out of your horns if we can coax them out of the house. How about we take the kids, too?"

"That'd be great, Holly. I already asked Lofty to watch the kids so I could tend to Scoots."

"Good. Need any help with that tray?"

"Nah. Ponies pushing past me while I was carrying stuff for Twilight gave me lots of training. If you could bring them back downstairs, though, that'd be great."

Holiday rushed upstairs with a nod, careful to avoid bumping Spike to make it easier for him in spite of his assurances.

"Scootaloo?" Mane and Snap were opening the doors, trying to find out what room Scootaloo was in. "Where are you?"

"She's trying to rest," growled Lofty, grabbing Snap by the shoulder. "You're going to wake the kids; come back downstairs so we can talk about this."

"Oh, it's time to wake up, anyway," said Mane, opening Barb's door. "Scootaloo, are you in here?"

By now, they'd opened every door except Scootaloo's, and as Holiday reached for the handle to open it for Spike and only Spike, they pushed past him again to invade the room.

Scootaloo was quite upset by this, holding her pillow against her head hard with her claws. She'd heard the whole thing from when they entered the front door, but her head hurt too much to justify pulling herself out of bed.

"Scootaloo?!" called her dad. "Are you in here?!"

"Out!" she growled, a small torrent of flame spurting from her nostrils.

Lofty and Holiday managed to pull her parents away, and Spike entered, regardless of her warning, closing the door gently with his tail. He set the tray on her nightstand and separated the coffee from everything else.

"Hey," he whispered, placing a claw on her shoulder. "I brought you some breakfast."

"Please, no more shouting," she whined.

Spike gently rubbed her shoulder, just bringing the coffee under her nose so she could smell it. She immediately grabbed it and took a few gulps, draining the cup in seconds.

"There's some waffles and fruit, too. Your aunt insisted on it."

"Thank her for me?" groaned Scootaloo, pushing the empty mug at him.

"I'll set right to it," smiled Spike, kissing her cheek as he took the mug to refill it. "I'll be right back."

As he exited the room, he noted that Scootaloo didn't reach for the food at all. Instead, she pulled up the covers over herself and snuggled into them. He made sure to close the curtains with his tail to reduce the light level in the room.

When he went downstairs, he could hear Lofty arguing with Snap, and thought he should back her up, as well as deliver Scootaloo's thank you, but at the same time, he should endear himself to his in-laws. But first, the coffee.

Or perhaps not, as they walked into the room while he was mixing up another mug. "Hey!" shouted Snap, grabbing Spike's shoulder and nearly spilling the lemon juice. "Where's my daughter?!"

"She's upstairs," answered Spike, trying to calm the mood of the whole room by maintaining a level and calm tone. "And she said she wasn't happy about all the yelling, so if you would calm down a bit, sir, it would make everything a lot easier."

"Not until I see my daughter!"

"Sir, you have seen her. She told you to leave her bedroom, remember?"

"Don't play stupid! That was not my daughter!"

"I gave birth to a pegasus filly!" agreed Mane. "I didn't lay an egg that hatched a dragon, so stop trying to convince me otherwise!"

Spike placed his claws together against his lips. "I never said anything about laying eggs, ma'am."

"Well, dragons don't give live birth," growled Mane. "I'll have you know that I've studied the dragons in passing while I was looking into the viability of the dragon lands as an alternative place to house Equestrians. Dragons lay eggs." She folded her hooves. "One would think you'd know that."

"I do, yes. I was hatched from an egg, and all three of my children were hatched from eggs. And while I was not there, I can safely guess that you did not lay an egg."

"You see?"

"But that dragoness upstairs is Scootaloo."

"Which is exactly what I was trying to tell you," groaned Lofty.

"And she thanks you for the chopped fruit," added Spike.

"She's very welcome," waved Lofty, brushing it aside. "Now do you believe me?"

Snap pushed his jaw forward. "No."

"Then let me ask you this," growled Holiday as she walked in from the hallway, the opposite direction as the others had come because she'd been upstairs prepping the kids for a day out. "How stupid do you think your big sister is?"

Snap didn't answer, looking away.

"If you think this is all some big conspiracy to trick you into thinking that it's time for your daughter to marry, then abandon all respect you have for your big sister, because I believe it wholeheartedly, and you should talk to the one she's marrying, because you're about to be related."

"Fine," grunted Mane. "Where is this stallion, anyway? Shouldn't he be here trying to keep Scootaloo out of trouble?"

Spike picked up the mug and smiled. "On my way."