The Elements of Equestria

by trooper7051

Chapter 2

The Elements of Equestria

Part 2

Caramel bucked away against tree after tree, sweat pouring off him like a waterfall. He didn't mind it in the least, it gave him a chance to think, 'I wonder if Big Macintosh will dismiss me when he gets back? I sure hope not. I like the farm,' he chuckled to himself, 'Who am I kidding; I love the farm,' his thoughts drifted, 'that’s not the only thing I love out here either. It's too soon though; I can't let her know yet. I'll have to work for a long time to be able to afford to pay for a . . . Would she want a house of her own or would she want to live in her family’s generational home?' he shook his head to clear it, 'I never thought I'd be considering anything like this. I've watched her for years, but I've never worked up the courage to say anything. When Big Mac came to me and asked me to help out on the farm I thought I was going to die. I wonder if he knows? He's smart, real smart; I wouldn't put it past him. Why would he be alright with me courting Applejack though? What do I have to give her? I'm clumsy, forgetful, and my job at the post office isn't the most lucrative thing in the world, besides I'm sure she wouldn't want to even think about my medical bills.' he stopped bucking the tree, having noticed that baskets were full.

He picked one up with his teeth and carefully carried it over to the old cart. His coordination had improved significantly since Big Macintosh had left. He had asked Applejack about it, but all she had said was that it was because of all the hard work. Caramel had secretly noticed that his bad luck seemed to be at its height when Applejack was around. He had turned back to go get the other one, when he heard voices coming from the direction of the path which led up to the farmhouse, 'Is he back already?'

Caramel took off at a trot toward the path, hearing the voices coming closer. Caramel listened as closely as he could. His hooves made hearing difficult. He detected Applejack's voice and his heart fell as he picked up her older brother's distinctive drawl. Caramel stopped and listened as the two farm ponies approached.

Applejack's voice was the first one Caramel picked up on,
"Ah know he needs our help, Ah ain't arguin' that. Ah am sayin' that we ain't got no ponies who can run the farm while we're both gone. Havin' you away was manageable, Caramel's been workin' his hooves to the bone out here, but between the two of us it was doable. If both you and Ah left there's no way he could manage it on his own. Besides we ain't got no idea how long we'd be gone for anyhow. There's just nopony else we can ask to help out. Ah mean who'd run the finances? Who knows our rotation ratio? And Heaven forbid there's another stampede, Ponyville would be doomed! Unless we manage to find somepony who is knowledgeable 'bout stuff like that we're stuck here and there's just no way around it. End of story."

"Ah ain't arguin' with you sis. It's one humdinger of a problem and no mistake. Ah'll take a gander around town and see what Ah can come up with. You did forget one thing though. If we do get somepony out here to run things, they'd have to be able to get along with Granny Smith and Applebloom would have to respect 'em enough to listen to 'em." Big Macintosh responded.

Caramel's mind spun, 'Now they're BOTH leaving? I guess I could try running the farm, but Applejack's right, one pony isn't enough, not by any stretch of the imagination. One of the few things I am pretty good with is numbers so I might be able to handle the money side of things. As far as crop rotation goes, I've got nothing; beside Applebloom thinks of me as a friend, not an authority figure. I wonder who could possibly do this with me?"

********************************

"So tell me, why is it that we need guardians in the first place? We seem to do well enough on our own." Twilight asked as she hooked yet another electrode to Lemon Lime's body.

The poor yellow unicorn was still nervous being around Twilight,
"As f . . . far as I know, t . . . the Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Peace a . . . are supposed to c . . . complement each other. The Elements of Harmony are the more powerful of the pair b . . . but they have to be protected w. . . while they focus their power. The example I saw used the example of a family as a good point of reference. The Elements of Peace are the husband side of the equation and the Elements of Harmony are the wife side. According to the book, both sets were created by the Princesses long ago. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made the Elements of Equestria because the alicorns were incapable of harming any living thing and apparently that was what was needed."

Lemon Lime noticed that as he continued to speak he stuttered less and less,
"I have to admit that I'm glad I ended up being paired with you Twilight. At least you're somepony I know."

Twilight's head snapped up sharply,
"I thought I recognized you from somewhere. I just can't place it."

"You were the Librarian when I was attending the University. I was in there all the time. I just never caught your name until now." Lemon Lime admitted softly.

Twilight shrugged,
"If you say so. I sure don't remember you. What were you studying?"

Lemon Lime was crestfallen at hearing Twilight dismiss the memory so casually,
"I'm a physical therapist."

Twilight stopped and took a step back looking the little unicorn over carefully,
"You're not exactly built for it. How did you help your patients?"

"I use my magic. I can keep the weight of a full grown pony levitated for up to four hours at a time without any real strain. The longest I've ever gone is seven hours but that was kind of tough and she was a special case." Lemon Lime admitted.

Twilight's eyebrows furrowed together as she cocked her head to the left,
"Four hours? That's not easy. I'm not sure I could do that."

Lemon Lime rubbed the back of his neck nervously,
"From what I heard you're no slouch in the magic department either. You subdued an Ursa Minor all by yourself. If I had that much raw potential the chimera wouldn't have been any kind of real problem at all. Believe me that was no picnic."

Twilight pulled the toggle on her machine. The contraption began beeping and spewing out a long line of readout paper. Lemon Lime had no idea what the thing was for but he was willing to cooperate. Twilight seemed interested and that was enough for him.

The purple unicorn turned her attention back to her subject,
"Alright, try to manifest your Element again."

Lemon Lime swallowed,
"I'll try."

He closed his eyes and began concentrating. He focused on memories of when he had to be patient. They seemed more slippery this time, like they were intentionally trying to be elusive. The yellow physical therapist chased after the memories; one-by-one snaring them into the forefront of his mind. The task was difficult to say the least. Several minutes passed and Lemon Lime began to glow dimly.

A loud explosion and the clank of flying pieces of machinery brought Lemon Lime's concentration to a screeching halt. Upon coming back to himself, his nose filled with smoke and his eyes burned. Lemon Lime couldn't see a thing except the machine in front of him burning brightly, 'What is there to burn inside a machine?' he wondered.

Lemon Lime dropped to the floor and looked around for Twilight. His vision was blurry from tears caused by the smoke. He saw a purple blur backed into the corner of the basement, horn glowing. Out of habit, Lemon Lime analyzed the spell Twilight was casting. The spell had the components of Fire and Destruction, 'She's trying to put out the fire.' he thought. The fire went out almost immediately, but there was still smoke everywhere.

Lemon Lime crawled over to Twilight, who was coughing and hacking from the smoke. He focused his magic into a spell containing the components of Air, Earth, Healing, Controlling, and Sustaining. It was a spontaneous spell he developed on the spot from his imagination. The spell's purpose was to filter out the air around he and Twilight which would stay active for a long duration without him having to concentrate to maintain it. The spell fell into place and Twilight ceased coughing almost immediately.

Twilight looked around at the small sphere of clean air around her and Lemon Lime, analyzing the other unicorn's spell. She closed her eyes and cast another spell of her own. Lemon Lime analyzed it and realized Twilight was effectively casting the spell he had, just on a much larger scale. She was casting it on the whole basement.

The smoke cleared out in a matter of seconds. Lemon Lime was impressed. Twilight's spell would have been a fair bit outside his own power limitations, 'She didn't use Sustaining in the spell so she had to maintain it. The lack of Sustaining made it easier to cast, she just had to keep using her magic to maintain it. Very clever.'

Twilight rose to her hooves and walked over to the eviscerated machine,
"Well this thing's a complete loss. The data readout is just ash now."

Lemon Lime walked up next to the disappointed unicorn,
"Maybe some things aren't meant to be analyzed and understood."

Twilight just rolled her eyes,
"Yeah," she sighed, "I guess I should have learned that when I tried to analyze Pinkie Pie's 'Pinkie Sense'.

"Pinkie Sense?" Lemon Lime asked.

"It's a long story." Twilight replied.

Lemon Lime shrugged,
"I don't exactly have a whole lot else to do right now. We can't leave until Applejack and Big Mac figure out what to do about the farm."

Lemon Lime felt distinctly disappointed, 'I'd been hoping she would be glad to see me. She doesn't even seem to care.'

*******************************

Fluttershy and Rarity watched Patch in the Mayor's reception area while Sea Blue was discussing buying one of the houses for sale in town with the Mayor herself. Rarity was still trying to cope with the fact that Sea Blue was supposed to be her 'guardian', 'The last thing I need is some strange stallion following me around all the time. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. It's not as if we go gallivanting off into danger all the time. The dragon was a single isolated incident. I'm sure if the stallions had been there they would have done like Rainbow Dash and tried to attack him instead of trying to reason with him. What was Princess Celestia thinking? He seems like a prankster like Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. He doesn't seem to have a single bit of refinement to him, unlike that Trooper. If only Trooper were a unicorn, we would be a perfect match. With Sea Blue . . . What kind of a name is that for a unicorn who is obviously turquoise anyway? We have not a single interest in common. What would a fabulous fashion designed have in common with a psychologist? Oh I hope he finds a house for he and Patch. Patch, now there's a filly with some spirit, and I have to admit, a fair eye for fashion too. Missing eye or no, she definitely has good taste in color matching. I wonder what the story behind her and Sea Blue is?'

Fluttershy had been getting to know Patch while Rarity was thinking,
"So what do you like to do, Patch? What's your favorite thing in the world?" the custard colored pegasus asked softly.

Patch sat next to Fluttershy explaining sadly,
"My most favorite thing is playing with my friends, but I don't have any here. I had to leave them all behind in Canterlot. I don't even know why we had to come here. Daddy and the other stallions talked about it a lot. They said they had ‘an obliteration’, whatever that means. Daddy says I'll be safe here so I don't get foalnapped again. That unicorn lady was scary."

Fluttershy covered her heart with her hoof at hearing the little pink unicorn's statement,
"Oh my! That must have been really scary! How did that happen?"

Rarity's attention was piqued; she listened as Patch explained,
"Daddy and I were walking home from the park. It was really dark but we know all the alleys between our house and the park. Daddy had me memorize them so I could find my way home if I ever got lost. Anyway I guess Daddy heard something behind us. He stopped and told me to stay quiet. He kept staring into the shadows for a long time. He cast a really bright spell and we saw the unicorn lady standing just a couple of paces away. She was scary looking. She had this cape thing that covered her head. Daddy told me to run, but I couldn't leave him. The unicorn lady used her horn to hurt Daddy and he couldn't move. She came up to me and looked at my eye then she yelled some mean things to Daddy. Her horn glowed and she teleported us somewhere really dark. She kept me there for a long time. Eventually Daddy and the other nice stallions came to rescue me. Daddy had to help Live Wire and Trooper and Dr. Mend and Big Macintosh and Valiant fight the scary unicorn lady so he had miss Evening Star fly me to see Dr. Mend's friend Dr. Avalon. Daddy came and got me later."

Fluttershy gave Patch a big hug,
"Poor thing. You were really brave. I'll bet your Father's really proud of you."

"Um Patch," Rarity addressed, "Are you comfortable talking about your eye darling?"

"Sure." Patch responded seemingly not bothered in the least, "Some of the fillies and colts at school used to tease me about it. They stopped after I bucked one colt's teeth out. I got in a lot of trouble for that. Daddy was upset but he understood. He talked with the teacher about it. After that it never happened again."

"Well, I think you should have dealt with it differently darling. Words are one thing but that poor colt lost his teeth." Rarity said.

Patch shook her head,
"Daddy says words are really powerful miss Rarity. He says that we carry life and death in our words, so we should be careful about what we say. He has this saying, 'Stick and stones may break your bones, but words can hurt you even more'. Daddy says that if more ponies were careful with their words there would be less misunderstandings and less fighting. Well, that and he thinks everypony should have more fun and be less serious."

"I'm sorry darling. What I meant to ask, if you're comfortable with it, is what happened to your other eye? Did you have an accident?" Rarity asked more bluntly than she intended.

Patch shook her head once again,
"I was born this way. I only have one eye. Miss Morning Glory at the orphanage said I had to have surgery otherwise I would have to wear an eye patch all the time. That's how I got my name."

Fluttershy and Rarity exchanged a surprised look, Rarity spoke first,
"You mean Sea Blue adopted you darling? I thought he had been married."

"Nope, it's just him and me. Daddy talks about getting me a Mommy someday though. I hope she's nice like you miss Fluttershy." Patch said.

The sound of a door closing, caught the attention of the two mares and filly. The Mayor walked out first followed by Sea Blue. Sea Blue was levitating a piece of parchment in the air in front of him. The two ponies shook hooves smiling. Sea Blue turned toward his daughter and winked with his left eye. Patch scrunched the skin of her missing eye, seemingly winking back at him.

Sea Blue motioned for Patch to join him in front of the Mayor,
"Patch, I would like you to meet the Mayor of Ponyville. She just sold us our new home and for a very reasonable price."

Patch looked up at the older mare in eye large,
"Thank you for our new house. Are you like the Princess for Ponyville?"

The Mayor laughed at the silly question,
"No dear, I just make sure things in Ponyville run smoothly so the Princess doesn't have to worry about us down here. Now go on and see your new home."

Sea Blue inclined his head to the Mayor once more,
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, thank you."

The Mayor waved a hoof in his direction,
"Think nothing of it. That house has been empty for absolute ages. It needed to go to a good family. Your neighbors are our mail-mare Ditzy Doo, and the school teacher Cheerilee. The house may need a little bit of work but I'm sure you'll love it. I hope I don't seem rude but with winter coming there's a lot to plan for. Have a good day Sea Blue. You too Patch."

The Mayor headed back into her office, closing the door behind her. Fluttershy and Rarity rose to their hooves expectantly. Sea Blue ushered Patch out of the reception area and out the front doors with Fluttershy and Rarity in their wake.

Once outside, Sea Blue turned to the two mares,
"Thank you for keeping an eye on Patch for me. I don't want to keep you from whatever you need to be doing, but you can come with us if you want. I wouldn't mind the company, and I'm sure Patch wouldn't mind either."

"I'll come with you." Fluttershy volunteered, "I've already fed all the animals so they should be fine until tonight."

Sea Blue hitched himself up to the cart as Patch peppered Fluttershy with questions,
"What kind of animals do you take care of? Do you have any opossums?"

Patch and Fluttershy discussed the pegasus' animals while they walked alongside the cart. Sea Blue noticed that Rarity was being very quiet. As was his nature, he began noting every little detail about her, trying to piece together a solid mental image of what she might be thinking, 'Hmm, she's being quiet; that means she's obviously deep in thought. Her ears and drooping just a little bit, she feels bad for something, maybe guilty? She keeps stealing glances at Patch and occasionally at me when she thinks I'm not looking. So she feels a little bad about something that has to do with Patch and I and she's giving it a lot of thought. Her interest in Patch could be an indicator that she feels for her because of her eyes, except she's not focusing on her eye. The two of them don't seem to have hit it off unusually well . . . Maybe Rarity has a daughter she's thinking about, perhaps a little brother or sister. Alright then, time to do some subtle probing.'

Sea Blue cleared his throat,
"Hey Rarity, do you think Patch will have any trouble making friends and fitting in at school? I'm asking your opinion because you seem to be a pony who would have a solid knowledge of how things go around here."

Rarity looked up, startled,
"Oh um, no I don't think she'll have any trouble at all. Unless of course somepony is mean enough to tease her about her eye. She mentioned what happened the last time that occurred. Did that colt need surgery?"

Sea Blue laughed,
"Hehehehehehe, no he didn't. He sure learned his lesson though. I had a little talk with Patch's teacher. She assured me, there would not be a repeat performance. The colt's parents wanted to press charges but, I managed to talk them out of it. Words are a powerful thing in their own right, if used correctly."

Rarity nodded,
"I whole-heartedly agree. Violence is never the answer."

Sea Blue pursed his lips,
"I mostly agree with you. I would say that violence is rarely the answer. There are some, and thankfully rare, occurrences where you have no other option except to get physical. Sometimes a pony just won't listen to reason, like what happened with Trixie. She wasn't thinking clearly, she had an excuse. Some ponies however won't listen to any other voice than their own, those are the dangerous ones. I find that sometimes a good solid poke in the nose is just what the doctor ordered, maybe knock some sense into them."

Sea Blue noticed that Rarity was not smiling at his joke,
"I was only kidding, by the way. I don't actually make it a regular practice of mine to go around striking other ponies who are being bull-headed." a thought suddenly struck Sea Blue, 'I wonder why I feel the need to have her accept me? Is it because I have to protect both her and Patch now, or is it something more? Good grief, I REALLY hope I'm not attracted to HER! Erg, what a thought! She's way to shallow for me to even be thinking THAT! Besides she's probably way too young for me. She looks like she's only in her mid teens.'

"I have to admit, Rarity, I'm impressed that you own your own business. You must have a real talent for what you do. By the way, you wouldn't happen to be the same Rarity that Hoity-Toity has featured in all his shows recently would you?" Sea Blue asked.

Rarity batted her long eyelashes at Sea Blue,
"Why yes I am. I just happen to be the next up-and-coming fashion designer. I would never have guessed you had an interest in fashion. Most stallions don't go for things like that."

"The designs seem to indicate a mature sense of style as opposed to a filly's love of short-term fads and flashy nonsense, yet you still look to be a filly yourself. How can such a young pony have the kind of fashion sense you seem to have cultured?" Sea Blue asked, 'Little does she know, I used to be Hoity-Toity’s psychologist. Heh, I must have shocked the snot out of her with that one. That poor stallion. I never would have guessed the fashion world was so high-stress and such a cut-throat business.'

Rarity blushed with pleasure at the compliment,
"I'm not as young as I look. This beauty comes from weekly sessions at the local spa and hours upon hours of delicate work every morning plus a strict diet and a rigorous exercise regimen. I certainly don't look twenty-two now do I?"

Sea Blue smiled,
"Not a day over sixteen."

'Hook, line, and sinker. Zing!' Sea Blue laughed to himself, 'She's so self-absorbed! That was too easy! How in the world can SHE of all ponies be the Element of Generosity? I hope Patch never becomes that vain. A little bit of humility now and again wouldn't hurt you know RARITY. Oh well, I have my responsibility. If she needs to be protected then I'll do it. I don't like it, but I'll do it.'

Sea Blue used his magic to unroll the parchment he still levitated in front of him, which was also the deed the house,
"Let's see here. 67 Baker Street . . . " he paused as he looked around and realized they had almost reached it, "Next house on the right!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Patch ran up next to him looking where her father pointed, her face fell,
"Eew! What kind of a pony paints their house candy apple red? And with lime green shutters too! Blech!"

The house was a spacious two story affair with, unfortunately, candy apple red siding and lime green shutters.

Sea Blue chuckled at the cute statement,
"Well then we'll just have to paint over it. It'll be good practice. You can 'brush up' on your magic."

Patch pursed her lips and turned to face her father,
"Bad pun Daddy." she said flatly.

Sea Blue smiled sheepishly,
"Sorry sweetie. I thought it was funny." Sea Blue turned toward Rarity and Fluttershy probing yet again, "Didn't you two think it was funny? Or am I really that bad with jokes?"

Fluttershy hid partially behind her mane,
"It was . . . nice." she responded vaguely.

Rarity, on the other hoof, seemed to put some real thought into her answer,
"It wasn't too bad. At least Patch didn't give you the old 'brush off' so to speak."

Sea Blue chuckled at Rarity's counter pun,
"It's a good thing I have two fashionable ponies with me. I'm terrible with colors . . . "

"Is that a family trait?" Rarity interrupted playfully.

The joke on his coloring as opposed to his name was not lost on Sea Blue,
"If it is, then I'm sure glad that it seems to have missed my daughter." Sea Blue said smiling.

Sea Blue still didn’t particularly like Rarity but he had to admit, at least she had a sense of humor and a sharp whit.

He pulled the cart up to the curb in front of the house and noticed the lawn was in dire need of maintenance,
"Stay out of the grass Patch. I don't want you to get lost in there. This stuff is nearly as tall as I am!"

Sea Blue slipped the front door key from its place, taped the back of the deed and headed toward the invisible front door,
"Patch, stay with Rarity and Fluttershy. I'll be right back."

Sea Blue made his way through the tall grass until he bumped, literally, into the front door. He levitated the key into the hole and turned it. The door swung open smoothly and Sea Blue was greeted with the first glance at the inside of his new house. Sea Blue walked around inside, inspecting every little detail his eyes found. There was plenty of dust and more than a few cob webs, but no signs of vermin habitation, insect or mammal. The walls, doors and counters all looked to be in good condition and thankfully absent of rust. It had three regular bedrooms upstairs which all shared a bathroom plus a master bedroom with its own private bathroom. Sea Blue specifically looked for any signs of water damage on the ceiling. There were none. All-in-all a sturdy and functional, if ugly, house.

"Well," Sea Blue said to himself, "Time to move in."

********************************************

Trooper was not having a good day. Having discovered that Rainbow Dash was the Element of Loyalty, and thereby under his protection, set his teeth on edge. She did not like him in the least, and the sentiment was more than returned in kind. Trooper, being a pegasus, had very few personal possessions, a family trait that had been passed on to him by his mother. Being effectively poor and having no vocation either, he had no way of affording a home on the ground so he opted to build himself a simple cloud house like Rainbow Dash had done.

Unfortunately Trooper had no idea where to begin. He had never learned how to mold clouds into a permanent, cohesive shape. His first attempt ended with an accidental downpour over Ponyville Park. His second attempt ended with the clouds being blown away by an errant breeze. He finally managed to get a solid, if only just, floor for a foundation on his third attempt. He walked around on it several times and even braved a couple of jumps. The cloud was flimsy as a green twig but it held all the same.

Trooper was feeling pretty good about himself until a brash voice called to him from above,
"What, are you kidding? THAT's what you call a floor? That thing's going to evaporate the second the sunlight hits it directly."

As if on cue, the clouds above Trooper cleared, letting the sunlight through
"I would have shown you sooner but this is just too much fun to watch, plus we're scheduled for a storm later today." Rainbow Dash laughed.

The cloud beneath his hooves began evaporating slowly in the sunlight. Trooper drew in a deep breath to calm his rising ire, 'Mom always said I had too much of a temper for my own good. Just ignore her and hopefully she will become bored and go away.' he thought. Trooper was beginning to feel fatigued. He still carried his saddle-bags on his sides. He didn't want to leave them on the ground where somepony might go rummaging through them. They were heavy and hovering in place was not as easy as soaring through the air a high speeds with updrafts to help keep you aloft. Trooper was perspiring from the effort. The basics of how to make a cloud house, he knew, the actual execution of such he didn't. There seemed to be quite a number of little details he was missing and Rainbow dash's heckling was not helping matters any.

Trooper tried again, 'Alright now, gather the clouds carefully. Now weave the wisps together like a braid. Not too thick, you do not want another downpour and not too thin or else it will just blow away. Hmm, what if I added a second layer of clouds to the first and interweaved them all to each other like a multi-layered quilt, just like the tailor showed me when I worked there.' Trooper brought in a second layer of clouds and weaved them together carefully. It was tedious work, but the result seemed solid enough, even if it took him an additional hour.

By the time Trooper had finished weaving the second layer with the first, Rainbow Dash had another comment for him,
"You know, you could have saved yourself some time by tripling the weave and just made the clouds thicker. Then you wouldn't have a floor that's SO thick. I mean, look at that thing! It looks like one of Pinkie Pie's triple-decker cakes!" she chortled.

Trooper's anger flashed, but he held it at bay, barely, 'She could have told me sooner and saved me the time in the first place! It may not look pretty but I need someplace to sleep tonight. This will have to do for now. All I need are walls and a roof and I can call it quits for the day, it is getting late anyway. I wonder how long ago it was that I last ate something.' he wondered.

Trooper ignored his empty stomach and decided to take Rainbow Dash's belated advice and put it to use on the walls and roof. The work was exhausting but Trooper had to admit the walls and roof were just as sturdy as the floor, if not more so. He put the finishing touches on and attached the roof to the rest of the house. He flew back several dozen paces and admired his work. It wasn't pretty but it was functional. Trooper smiled to himself and lazily flew up to the door of his new house, just as a flight of pegasi blasted through his house demolishing it completely.

Rainbow Dash laughed so hard she almost fell off her cloud,
"You know," she said as soon as she could form a coherent sentence, "It's generally a good idea to build your house somewhere other than the very middle of the 'Open Air Colt and Filly Practicing Zone'. It tends to have a more staying power anyway!"

Trooper was absolutely furious; he couldn't take any more,
"You venomous wretch!" Trooper was so angry he actually trilled the 'r' sound in wretch, "Would it have been so terribly difficult to warn me BEFORE my house was demolished? Nine hours of work for NOTHING! Now it is far too late in the day to attempt to build a second one. I shall have to go door-to-door begging for a place to stay! Good day to you!"

Rainbow Dash called out after Trooper's descending form,
"Hey! Don't be like that! If you wanted help you should have asked for it!"

Trooper spun in mid air, his face was a thunderhead,
"Were you so inclined to assist, one would imagine you would have had the decency to offer it as such instead of laughing at me for my ignorance! So for the last time today, I say to you: GOOD DAY!"

Rainbow Dash called after him again, but Trooper wasn't interested in hearing it. He had other things on his mind, 'I do so hope Rarity has some room in her home. I hate to be a burden, but my options, at the moment' are limited.'

Trooper flew off muttering darkly to himself,
“How in Equestria am I ever supposed to be able to respect somepony like Rainbow Dash. Guardian? Bah! What she needs is a good sound spanking and one heaping portion of humility!”