//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Elements of Equestria // by trooper7051 //------------------------------// The Elements of Equestria Part 5         Twilight had finally come around to the idea of going off to find Valiant. She had Spike send a message to Princess Celestia asking for a leave of absence. Big Macintosh told Applejack about his idea for asking Zecora to run the farm with Caramel while they were gone. Applejack was not too keen on the idea but she did have to admit, her brother had chosen the only available individual capable of pulling the feat off. Zecora had a solid knowledge of plants and Applebloom respected her. It was the best solution either sibling could have hoped for. The two farm ponies headed back to Sweet Apple Acres to break the news to Granny Smith and Applebloom. Rarity and Sea Blue had a problem: what to do with Sweetie Belle and Patch? They departed, heading back to Rarity's boutique to try to brainstorm the problem out. Trooper politely asked Twilight if he could stay the night in the Library. Lemon Lime stopped the conversation and had Trooper follow him to the Mayor's office, hoping to catch her before she went home for the day. Dr. Mend and Pinkie Pie headed off to their separate homes for the night, leaving Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy alone with Twilight to talk. The group was supposed to come back together the next morning to sort out the issues and plan out their route.         Rainbow Dash waited until the door closed behind Pinkie Pie before turning to Twilight and Fluttershy, "Girls, I've got a problem."         Twilight sighed silently, but decided to hear her friend out, "We all have problems right now, Rainbow Dash. Do you think we can solve it?"         Rainbow Dash bit her lip pensively, "I uh," she began, "I kind of had a bad run-in with Trooper earlier. He thinks I'm bullying him. He even cussed at me."         Fluttershy cocked her head to the right questioningly, "Why would he think that?"         Rainbow Dash shrugged, "I don't know." she said, then rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof, "Well, maybe he thinks that because of what happened yesterday. See, he was trying to build a cloud house," Rainbow Dash snickered, "He's a total amateur. You should have seen it. It was hilarious. I watched him for a while and he just didn't get it, so I threw him a hint about how to weave clouds. He got all upset and fussed at me for not saying something sooner. How was I supposed to know he wanted help? I always learn things for myself; I thought he'd want to do it too."         Twilight pursed her lips, "How long were you watching him, Rainbow Dash?" "I don't know, a couple of hours, I guess." Dash said shrugging, "Look that's not the point. So he finally gets a good foundation down, finally, and then a bunch of colts and fillies flies right through his foundation. They totally demolished it, there wasn't anything left. I forgot to mention he'd made it in the middle of the practicing area, its common knowledge. Anyway his face was priceless, I couldn't help but laugh. So he gets all upset and storms off." "Hmm, well I can see where the two of you could have had a miscommunication there. Try saying to him about it a little sooner next time." Twilight suggested. "Honestly Twilight," Dash said, "I really don't think there's going to be a next time. Things got worse today. I was watching him try to build another cloud house again today. I forgot about him earlier and cleared out all the clouds above Ponyville. He couldn't find any clouds nearby so he tried to use some from above the Everfree Forrest. I couldn't believe it! He was actually doing it!" Rainbow Dash said, voice rising, "He was using clouds from the Everfree Forrest! I mean how stupid can you get! Those things would have dissipated in a matter of hours and maybe even dropped him right into the forest itself. He was only starting to weave them when I remembered I had to ask Applejack something and by the time I got back he was nowhere to be seen so I just pushed the clouds back over to where they belong. All of a sudden I see him flying back toward them so I stopped him and asked what he was doing. He gets all huffy and charges at me telling me to get out of his way."         Rainbow Dash stopped to take a breath before continuing, "I kept trying to explain about the clouds to him, but he wouldn't listen. He accused me of bullying him and then he goes and dives down into the Everfree Forrest and he keeps flying! I couldn't see him so I flew off and looked around. He comes back out of the trees, so I tackled him to keep him out of there. He's new; he doesn't know how dangerous that place is! So we're wrestling around and he pushes off me. His saddlebags tore when he pushed off, which I totally didn't mean to happen. Then he cusses at me and tells me to leave him alone then he tries to grab the saddle-bags from me. He surprised me and I didn't have time to let go, so we both ended up dropping them into 'you know where'. He flies down into the Everfree Forrest again and stays there. I hung around for a minute or two trying to find him, but the way I figure, if he thinks I'm picking on him he might not come back up until I left, so I left. Then when I see him here, earlier, I tried to explain everything to him, but he just ignored me."         Rainbow Dash specifically didn't mention Trooper's absent cutie-mark. She had seen it as clear as day, but she didn't feel right spreading the news around. She wasn't that insensitive. "He was out of line with the cussing, that's for sure." Twilight said, "But he should have been willing to listen to you. If he's going to be like that, just ignore him. He's being immature and foalish. When he feels like being mature about everything, he'll come and talk to you. Until then you'll just be wasting your time." "Yeah, I'd thought about that, but I really don't want him to have the wrong idea about me." Rainbow Dash admitted.         Fluttershy picked up something out of place, "Why is his opinion of you so important?" "It's not." Rainbow Dash said dismissively, "It's not like I need his approval or anything. It's just that we're supposedly linked by our Elements. I figure we're supposed to get along and everything, right?"         Twilight rolled her eyes, "Not necessarily. Lemon Lime and I don't get along particularly well. He's definitely not well-built and he is . . . a little . . . well, little. He looks like he might be worth something in his armor, but he's really annoying and he never shuts up. He talks so much I can’t hear myself think half the time. Honestly, I can stand him, but just barely. I pretty much ignore him most of the time. He's supposed to be the Element of Patience but I sure don't see it. He's probably the most impatient pony I've ever met." "I think they're nice." Fluttershy said.         Her two friends looked at her like she was crazy, but she continued, "We already know Dr. Mend and Big Macintosh are nice, right? Rarity seems to be getting along with Sea Blue well enough and we all got along with Valiant. Maybe we just need time to get to know them. Maybe they're just rough around the edges like Valiant was when we first met him." "Speaking of which, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, "Isn't it kind of weird having a stallion staying with you? Doesn't it get awkward having him in the Library at night?" "No. Why would it? As I said, I just ignore him." Twilight said obliviously. "Um, don't you know Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "Don't I know what? What are you girls getting at?" Twilight asked confused. "Lemon Lime's sweet on you, Twilight. It's in his eyes every time he looks at you. He totally adores you." Rainbow Dash said, "You two are all alone here at night, I'm surprised he hasn't tried making any moves on you." "I think it's kind of sweet." Fluttershy added, "He probably hasn't said anything because he doesn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. He seems like a nice stallion though."         Twilight was about to respond when she heard a knock on her door, "Come in." she called.         Lemon Lime opened the door and entered, Trooper followed him, "The Mayor's office was closed. I'll have to try tomorrow. Hey Twilight, do you happen to know which houses are for sale? I'd like to get a look before I buy one. I need a big house so I can run my appointments out of it, but it needs to be close to the center of town so my patients don't have to go too far either. Would you be willing to show me which ones are for sale? I'd really, really, really, really appreciate it if you would. I know I'm new and everything but I could really use the help from somepony who has lived here for a while. I completely understand if you have something else you have to do, but if you have the time I'd really like to." Lemon Lime machine- gunned.         Spike belched loudly from his bed upstairs. A few moments later, the baby dragon wobbled down the stairs and handed the scroll off to Twilight, then went back upstairs to bed.         Twilight levitated the scroll with her magic and read the message out loud, "My most faithful student,         You have my full permission to go search for Valiant. This might be a valuable lesson in the magic of friendship. Write me back with any problems you or your friends may have in regard to your absences and I will see to it that everything is taken care of. Princess Celestia."         Twilight telekinetically rolled the scroll back up and rose to her hooves levitating it in front of her. She walked over to her writing podium and levitated a piece of parchment and ink vial over. She used her magic and dipped the quill into the ink.         Keeping her head facing forward, she addressed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, "Fluttershy, do you have anypony to take care of your animals while you're gone?" "No Twilight, I don't. I'm not sure I could trust anypony to care for them either. They wouldn't know about all the specific things I do for them. Each one is a special case. A regular veterinarian wouldn't know where to even begin with Angel Bunny." Fluttershy admitted.         Twilight blew out a quiet breath, "You can trust that Princess Celestia will have her best vet out here caring for the animals while you're gone. She has to have somepony look after Philomena, even you didn't know how to do that. I’m sure the pony she sends will be just fine."         Fluttershy lowered her head, "Oh, alright. If you think so, I trust you." "What about you Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, "Do you have somepony to take care of the weather while you're gone?" "No problem." Rainbow Dash replied, "I already asked Cloud Kicker to take care of it."         Twilight nodded, "Good to hear. Now I just need to finish this off and send it." "Live Wire?" Trooper asked, "Are we staying here tonight?" "I'm not sure." the smaller unicorn stallion responded, "I'll ask Twilight if it's alright after she's done with the letter. I don't want to be a distraction while she's doing something . . .”         Lemon Lime trailed off as Twilight shot him a look that plainly said he was already being a distraction. The little therapist clammed up as quickly as he could. He felt bad, he hadn't meant to be a distraction, but he always seemed to upset Twilight, 'Why can't I do anything right? I hate being a problem. Maybe she'll like me if I just shut up. Then maybe she'll actually talk to me instead of ignoring me all the time.' he thought, 'Starting right now, no more rambling. Simple questions, simple answers. I've just got to get her to talk to me. She's so smart! There's so much we could talk about and she's so pretty! Arg! This is torture! Why can't I just tell her how I feel? I know why, because she won't even say two words to me unless she's using me for an experiment. Why can't she see me as a pony and not a ' test subject'? I just have to stay quiet, and then maybe she'll notice me. Obviously being myself doesn't work, new tactic.'         Trooper's mind was likewise working, 'Yes, Rainbow Dash, I know I am a freak. Yes, Rainbow Dash, I know you are there. You can stop sneaking looks at me. I see you quite well. Simply ignore me and we will get along just fine.' he thought petulantly, 'Would you please stop looking at me. I do not know what you are thinking, but I am certain it does not require you to stare at me. I have just as much right to be here as you do, thank you very much, and I will not be intimidated by your body language, so you can just stop it.'         Rainbow Dash had her own thought pattern, 'I wonder what it's like to grow up without your cutie-mark? Is that why he's so moody all the time? Because he doesn't know what his special talent is? He's supposed to be the Element of Perseverance? He sure did give up talking to me pretty quick. Maybe Twilight's right, maybe I should just ignore him and let him come to me first.'         Fluttershy's mind was working on a totally different pattern, 'Oh I hope Valiant's alright. He's been gone for over a week now. I wonder how far away Haysburg is? Is it dangerous there? I hope he's safe.'         Twilight was having trouble concentrating on the letter, 'He's got a crush on me? Great,' she thought sarcastically, 'Just what I need. Some short, wimpy, chatterbox staring at me with stars in his eyes. And he's been sleeping in the Library with me too. I hope he doesn't watch me sleep. That's just too creepy. I'm not interested in romance and even if I was, I'm sure I could do better than HIM. He doesn't even look old enough to have a job yet.' Twilight thought back to her experience with being judgmental, 'It's not like with Zecora where looks don't matter. It's not that at all,' she was trying to convince herself more than anything else, 'It's just that he's so annoying. It's like he's socially deprived or something.' ******************************************************************************         Rarity had been surprised to see Sweetie Belle awake when she arrived back at the boutique. The little unicorn filly was overjoyed upon hearing about the new filly at school, but became more than a little hesitant when she saw Patch's eye, or more specifically, her lack thereof. Patch, on the other hoof, had woken up and been ecstatic when she saw Sweetie Belle. Sea Blue and Rarity sat down discussing possible arrangements while Patch and Sweetie Belle were on the floor.         Patch decided to be the bold one and started the introductions, "I'm Patch. What's your name?" she asked sitting right in front of Sweetie Belle. "Your name is Patch?" Sweetie Belle asked, disbelieving. "Yep! What's your name?" the pink filly asked again. "I'm Sweetie Belle. What's with your eye?" the little white unicorn asked bluntly. "I'm a pirate! Arrrr!" Patch said playfully, "Sorry," she giggled, "It's just the way I was born." "Does it hurt?" Sweetie Belle asked.         Patch shook her head, "Nope, it just looks funny, that's all." "It looks kind of gross." Sweetie Belle said. "Yeah, it really does! It doesn't feel gross though. Want to touch it?" Patch offered.         Sweetie Belle was grossed out but curious, "Won't I hurt you if I do?"         Patch responded by stuffing her left forehoof into the socket and rubbing it around, "Hmm, nope. Not unless you really press hard."         Sweetie Belle stood up and slowly inched her hoof toward Patch's blank eye. Patch held still as the white unicorn filly touched the skin hesitantly at first, "Hey, you're right. It doesn't feel gross!" an idea struck her and she smiled mischievously, "Hey Patch, do you ever have to deal with bullies?" "Sometimes, why?" Patch asked. "There's this really mean pair of bullies at school who are always picking on Scootaloo, Applebloom, and me because we don't have out cutie-marks yet. I was just thinking, we could really gross them out if you wore an eye patch to school the first day then took it off and touched it in front of them." Sweetie Belle said.         Patch's eye lit up, "You don't have your cutie-mark either?" AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve taken a look and made the corrections I believe necessary. Sorry to all my fans. I now understand why yall hated it.