Finding Your Family

"You still missed a few," called Snap. "There are still books on this table."

"I am aware," said Spike, placing a stack of books on the cart that didn't quite fit. There were a lot of books that needed to be returned to their shelves, now that the shelves were properly organized, and Spike had already overloaded the return cart twice today. What would normally be five trips, he'd made four, with only half a cart or so remaining after this third run. "I'll come back for them."

Spike had organised the books on the table before loading them up onto the cart, something he regularly had help from Twilight for. She'd have them organized the night before and stacked up, and all he had to do was return them to their shelves. After all, Twilight was better at it, and her magic specialized in organisation. Twilight could, and had, done this just for fun. But right now, Spike had to prove himself, and Twilight was going to let him do what he needed to in order to be impressive.

But it wasn't working. Even if Spike was working harder and more efficiently at a task that was usually done by now with help, Snap wasn't having it. Then again, Spike could have guessed this. Having never been a librarian, Snap was ill-suited to be amazed with how smoothly and soundly Spike was working. Based on his arrival in Ponyville ten years ago, Spike would have to wrestle a cragodile. And unfortunately, Ponyville wasn't in crisis right now.

Thankfully, a crisis did arrive. Not a large-scale, city-destroying crisis. It was one guard hobbling in on three hooves. "Oh, thank Celestia you're here, Spike. I need your help."

"Gladly," answered Spike, puffing out his chest. "What do you need?"

"Oh, no," interjected Snap. "The princess gave him a job to do, and he has to finish up. But I can help you. What do you need?"

The guard turned her hoof forward, showing two puncture wounds. "I need to find out what kind of snake just bit me."

"Why did you come to the library?" Snap scowled. "Why didn't you go to a hospital?"

"I needed to find out what kind of snake it was!" she answered back. "If it's poisonous, I need to know what it was so they can give me the right antidote!"

"Venomous," corrected Snap. "The snake would have to be venomous, not poisonous. If the snake was poisonous, that means you would have to have bitten it, not it having bitten you. If it was a poisonous snake that bit you, you don't need any antivenom, just antiseptic and a bandage."

"No, I've seen what happens to ponies bitten by poisonous snakes. It turns bad quickly."

"If the snake is venomous, it can turn bad very quickly."

"What colour?" asked Spike, opening up a book.

"Black, with a red-orange underbelly."

Spike started flipping through the book.

"Sounds like the south Saddle Arabian king viper," answered Snap. "There's no cure for that bite."

As the mare began to turn pale, Spike turned the page. "They don't live anywhere near here, so unless you brought one in without declaring it at a customs office, we shouldn't have any." Spike looked up at Snap. "Did you bring a venomous snake into Equestria without permission?"

"Just what are you accusing me of?"

"Of what am I accusing you," corrected Spike, "and the answer is nothing. Just trying to figure out if the snake that bit her is one that lives on this continent." He turned to the guard. "How long was it? Twenty centimetres?"

"Twenty-five, more like."

"Collar around the neck?"

"Yeah?"

"dark brown collar?"

"no, it was bright red-orange."

Spike flipped to the next page. "Did it look like this?" He turned the book around and pointed to a picture.

"Yes! Exactly that!"

"Diadophis Punctatus Punctatus. Ring-necked snake. It's not very venomous. You'll be fine, just go see the royal physician."

"Okay. Thanks, Spike!"

As the guard left, Spike closed the book and set it on the table before resuming putting away the others.

"You know, you could have killed her if you picked the wrong snake," snarled Snap. "What made you so sure you had the right one?"

"It can't have been the Saddle Arabian king viper," answered Spike. "That's a seven-metre-long reptile that likes burrowing in warm sand. I looked for something local, then started asking further questions until I was sure, then had her confirm. Even if I'm wrong, the fact that I didn't see the snake means I'm not really liable. All I can say for certain is that she described what seemed to be a ring-necked snake, and those are decently common around here. She almost described the red-bellied snake, too, but that's why I asked another follow-up question. If I made the mistake, it was just as likely that anypony else would."

"But you're supposed to be an authority..."

"I'm trained as a librarian. I know how to organise, compile and locate information at a moment's notice. It's far more likely that she was bitten by something that lives nearby than something that would have to swim across the Sparkling Sea."

"But it could have been that red-bellied snake you mentioned." warned Snap. "What if you're wrong?"

Spike turned around. "If you're right, then she was just bitten by the smallest Saddle Arabian king viper to ever exist, and she's probably still safe, because it would have literally just hatched, and hasn't produced nearly enough venom to be deadly yet. If she lied to me and said the collar was a different colour than what it was, then she'll notice symptoms, and the first thing a doctor would do is check if there are similar-looking snakes nearby, and that doctor will find that red-bellied snakes also live nearby and are a close match."

"Well, maybe you're right about this, but you could be wrong about other things."

"Like Scootaloo?" Spike locked eyes with Snap.

"I didn't say that."

"You were thinking it."

Both were silent for a minute or two, just glaring at each other.

"Why are you bound and determined to make it seem like I'm a bad choice?"

"I'm just concerned that my daughter isn't living up to her full potential," answered Snap. "She has an adventurous spirit, and you have a humdrum job as a librarian's assistant. How can she reach any lofty goals if you're anchoring her to this place?"

Spike took a moment to breathe. He could argue that he wasn't holding her down, that he was trying to elevate her beyond what she could do alone, but to what end? Snap still wouldn't believe him, no matter what he said. He'd already made up his mind about Spike, and it had taken this long for Spike to realise that this argument would be unwinnable.

"Fine," he said. "You win. Consider your daughter to be released from my bonds."