Finding Your Family

"Sorry I'm late," huffed Spike, walking into the dining room. "I had to walk here today."

Twilight looked up from her pancakes. "Why? Did you hurt your wing?"

"No, but I was asked to bring Scoots's dad along with me today, and he can't fly. So instead of going in a straight line, we had to weave through the buildings."

Snap walked in as Spike mentioned him. "So, this is the castle, eh? Seems pretty cushy."

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Spike, can I talk to you in private?" she asked.

"Of course." Spike knew she wasn't asking, but telling him that they needed to talk alone, and he was pretty sure he knew why. He'd told Scootaloo that this was a bad idea.

"Why didn't you ask me first?!" shouted Twilight as soon as they were sealed in a bubble of silence. "I haven't even brushed my mane today!"

"It just sort of happened!" answered Spike. "I didn't ask him to tag along, but I can't send him back now!"

"Why is he here, though?!"

Spike took a deep breath. "So, you know I'm marrying Scootaloo."

"Right."

"This is her dad."

"I'm aware."

"And he doesn't like me."

"Oh, stop being ridiculous," waved Twilight. "Why wouldn't he like you?"

"Because I'm marrying his daughter without his permission."

Twilight shook her head. "Scootaloo's an adult by Equestrian standards. And since she's living in Equestria now, those are the practises she has to follow. She doesn't need parental consent for marriage."

"I know that," growled Spike. "And she wants this marriage to go through. She's happier now than she's been in years, and I want her to stay that way. But yesterday, her parents showed up and started listing off ways that I wasn't good enough for their daughter, and that I'd forced her to change to meet my standard of beauty, and all of that."

Twilight shook her head. "They just don't know you very well. You're a great dragon, Spike. Anypony can see that."

"Anypony but Scootaloo's parents," he sighed. "When they showed up again this morning, Scootaloo was insisting that I spend some time with them. At first, I declined, citing that I had to come to the castle, but she insisted. I think seeing me providing for her and the kids will change their opinion of me, is her thought process."

"Well, I can't argue with her logic," sighed Twilight. "Look, I have a few important meetings today with sensitive information." She leaned down and whispered "and right after breakfast, the first one is with Thorax."

"You know he can't hear us inside this bubble, right?"

Twilight glanced around. "Right..."

"So you and your coltfriend want some time alone. I understand. Just give me something that looks hard to do so I can look busy?"

Twilight put her hoof to her chin, then moved it to her forehead. "I'll tell you what. I was going to have you reorganize the library in a few days to make sure it was done properly. Why don't you take care of that this morning?"

Spike furrowed his brow. "Are you mad?"

"No, I'm just trying to look like I'm mad," she said, waving her hoof at him and scowling. "If I make it seem like you messed up by bringing him into the castle without my permission, maybe he'll feel bad about imposing on you like this. He should already feel bad about imposing on me."

"Okay," sighed Spike, dropping his shoulders. "Thanks, Twilight."

"You're welcome." She dropped the bubble and pointed to the door. "And make sure you do it right this time!"

"Yes, ma'am," saluted Spike, rushing out of the room with Snap following behind him.

Spike rushed to the library and started pulling books off the shelf one by one to check if they were, first and foremost, in the right section, second, on the right shelf, and third, alphabetised. The information was printed not on the spine, but under the front cover.

He worked very quickly, and often just put the book right back where he'd picked it up from. Twilight was the primary user of this library, and Thorax was usually pretty close when putting books back, or he asked Spike for help if he'd forgotten where they went. That left the biggest offender of misplaced books just being on the return table, which Spike usually tended to every Monday and Thursday.

Snap didn't really help, not being a librarian. As a researcher, his job was to record the information, not organise it. His reports were reviewed and edited long before being categorised, and when they went on the shelves, so many hooves had handled the information that it may have gone in a new direction than when he had originally filed his report. He wasn't trained as a librarian.

Even if he had been, Spike had spent a lot of time doing this, and the first book he didn't put back just went onto the return table after only ten minutes.

"What's wrong with that one?" asked Snap.

"Card's full-up," answered Spike. "Also, there's no return stamp, so I have to send a notice that it was not listed as returned to the guard who borrowed it. Then I have to ask her when it was returned so it can be recorded."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"It happens sometimes," answered Spike. "Most of the time, it means that the guards who borrow the book are trying to be helpful and put the book back on the shelf for whoever reads it next. Puts it back in circulation faster. But it's like sending out a dish that's not fully cooked."

"Could it have just been unstamped by a librarian who wasn't paying attention?"

"It's possible," nodded Spike. "Or maybe they couldn't find the stamp, or the stamp was out of ink, or a few other reasons. All kinds of things could have led to this small mistake. I just have to make sure that it's corrected by stamping it as returned. It's more important that the problem is corrected so that we don't repeat it."

"So, why do you think it wasn't stamped?"

"The librarian probably missed it."

In actuality, the return card had been marked as returned. The stamp was missing one of its rollers that changed the date, so the return information was printed in pen on the back. This had been two weeks ago, and a new stamp had already been purchased to replace the broken one.

"The librarian missed it," repeated Snap. "Do you often miss things like that? Is that why Princess Twilight said you messed up last time?"