//------------------------------//
// Deputy to Dragonsitter 
// Story: A Sparky Sprout 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
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Never in all his life was Hitch more relieved than he was now that Sparky was safely back in tow, back where he belonged. Being a dragon daddy was stressful sometimes, especially when your baby dragon was mysteriously dragonnapped. But Hitch wouldn't trade it for the world.

With Sparky resting safely on his back, Hitch trotted back to his office. And only once he had set Sparky down in his usual resting place did the sheriff allow himself to breathe normally. It had been quite a day, he was exhausted. And it seemed Sparky was a bit worn out too since the baby dragon immediately closed his eyes and nodded off.

Hitch watched as the little dragon's tiny body bobbed up and down as he slept, cuddling his favorite blanket for warmth and security. To think that it had only been a few weeks since Hitch had found Sparky when he was just an egg. To think that Sparky could already breath fire and even walk around on his own two legs. Despite having a little experience with babies and baby animals before, Hitch had to admit that none of those experiences compared to what he had to go through with Sparky.

And it was then that the stallion's thoughts began to drift and wander. In particular, he couldn't stop thinking about the events of today: How he had feared the worst when he'd woken up to find Sparky missing. How had he blamed himself when he thought Sparky had merely run away from him rather than being taken by force. And how he had been all but overwhelmed with joy upon being reunited with the baby.

However, Hitch was also thinking back to all the times when he hadn't been able to keep a good eye on Sparky and keep him out of trouble. In particular, he remembered the time he'd left Sparky unattended after the little dragon had accidentally swapped Sunny and Hitch's cutie marks. Come to think of it, there were a lot of times when Hitch had been too busy to take care of Sparky. He'd already let Izzy and Pipp take care of him for a few hours, but that wasn't the same as having somepony designated for whenever he couldn't take care of Sparky.

There was no use denying it. Hitch realized then and there that he needed to get an official, designated dragonsitter for Sparky. Sure, Sparky might not like being away from his daddy for long periods of time, but it was something the baby dragon was just going to have to get used to.

That just left one dilemma in the earth pony stallion's mind, and what a dilemma it was. "Who can I trust to take care of Sparky whenever I can't?" He thought to himself. "Who do I know that Sparky will at least be comfortable with, and will make sure he stays out of trouble? It can't just be anypony."

Just then, the doors to the sheriff's office swung open. And in strolled a bright red coated earth pony stallion about the same size as Hitch. Hitch recognized the stallion in an instant as his former deputy, Sprout. Hitch looked up ever so slowly. "Sprout, what a surprise," He somewhat nervously chuckled (things had never been quite the same between the two ever since Sprout's brief stint as "Emperor of Maretime Bay"). "Can I help you with something?"

Sprout seemed to force himself to smile and say as politely as possible. "Where do I go to lodge a complaint? Who do I have to talk to get a little respect around these parts?"

Hitch sighed. Even if he had let go of his fear of the pegasi and unicorns, Sprout was still Sprout and still had a major attitude problem that wasn't going to be corrected overnight. Looking his former deputy in the eyes he told him. "Sprout, you know we talked about this. Your mother even agreed that you needed to be punished for what you did, and community service was just the thing."

The red coated stallion grumbled and stomped a hoof down, causing faint sparks of glitter to spill out. "But I'm sick and tired of it! Everypony keeps ignoring me or making fun of me! Nopony thinks I'm trustworthy!"

The sheriff did his best to keep a straight face, and he also shushed Sprout. "Not so loud!" He whispered. "You're gonna wake up Sparky! And he's cranky if he's woken up during his nap."

Sprout blinked in confusion. "Sparky? Who's that?"

Hitch gestured a hoof to the sleeping baby dragon off to one side of the office.

"Oh, him. Right." Sprout realized. It was still weird for him to see one of his friends as a parent. But by now it was no secret that Hitch had taken a shine to Sparky and had officially adopted him (being sheriff certainly helped cut through the red tape).

It was then that Hitch leaned back in his chair and lamented. "Look, if you want to make a complaint, you know where the complaint box is. I promise, I will get around to it, Sprout. But if it's not an emergency, please don't bother me now. I'm busy."

"Funny," The former deputy spoke up with a snicker. "You don't seem that busy to me. What? Does Sparky wear you out so much that you don't have time for anything else?"

The earth pony stallion with a light orangish-brown coat did his best to keep from losing his composure. "Come on, Sprout, be serious!" He scolded his fellow earth pony. "You've seen me doing my rounds with and without Sparky. I can balance being his dad and being the sheriff," But then he admitted. "Although, it would be nice if I had somepony I could count on to look after Sparky sometimes. I almost feared I'd lost him forever today. I can't risk another scare like that."

As soon as those words had left Hitch's mouth, the gears in Sprout's mind began to turn as an idea came to him. A way to prove to everypony that he was indeed trustworthy and that the ponies of Maretime Bay shouldn't look down on him. A way to prove that he was more than Sheriff Hitch's disgraced former deputy, or the quickly deposed emperor of Maretime Bay. "So, what, you need somepony to foalsit Sparky for you?"

"Dragonsit, actually," Hitch corrected. And then he seemed to pick up on what Sprout was suggesting. "Are you saying you want to apply for that job? It's not an official job, I'm not paying you."

"Don't need the pay, I make enough bits as it is," Sprout firmly insisted. "Besides, I can always ask my mommy for a loan if I really need one. I just need something that can, you know, convince everypony that I'm not who I used to be. If being a dragonsitter is what it takes to get some respect, then that's what I'll be."

Hitch put a hoof to his chin. "Are you sure you want to do that, Sprout? Sparky is a baby dragon, after all. He's not like a baby pony. And we both know you flunked your foalcare assignment in school."

Sprout immediately argued back! "That was then and this is now! I know it's not gonna be an easy job, but how hard can it really be? I just gotta keep him safe and entertained. It can't be any harder than learning how to control earth pony magic, or learning how to live with pegasi and unicorns."

The sheriff then got an idea of his own. "Well, how about this, Sprout? How about I give you a trial run? If you can prove to me that you can handle Sparky all on your own, I'll make you his official designated dragonsitter."

The former deputy rubbed his hooves together. "It's a deal!" He eagerly agreed. "So, when do I start?"

Looking across to the sleeping baby dragon, Hitch told Sprout as his orange eyes looked into Sprout's green eyes. "Actually, why not right now? I'm sure Sunny and her friends are all saying I need to unwind after what I've been through today. And I could certainly use a little bit of me time."

Sprout's eagerness faded as he suddenly seemed to realize what was being thrust upon him! "Wait! Right now?! Really?! I... I'm not prepared!" He stuttered and stepped back a bit in uncertainty.

Hitch only smiled. "Not to worry, I've got a full list of instructions detailing what to do, what not to do and when to do or not to do things. It's just atop the fridge. And I've even got a video just in case you can't find the list," He gestured a hoof to the television screen near the jail cells. "Just pop it in and the t.v. will do the rest. Or you can use it to watch some cartoons, Sparky loves cartoons."

Hesitantly, Sprout replied. "O-okay, but... when will you be back?"

"Not more than a few hours," The sheriff told his former deputy. "But knowing Pipp, she's sure to insist on giving me the full Mane Melody treatment. Don't worry about doing everything on the list, Izzy and Pipp didn't follow them to the letter and they did just fine. If they can do it, then I'm sure even you can do it if you really put your mind to it. Now, are there any more questions?"

Sprout didn't say anything.

Hitch smiled with satisfaction. "Good. Then I'm officially putting you on dragonsitting duty. Best of luck." And then he departed the sheriff's office, feeling strangely uncertain and yet at peace with himself at the same time.





Almost immediately, the gravity of the situation he'd been thrust into dawned upon the earth pony stallion with a fiery red coat. He had to give himself a mental pep talk to ensure he didn't think of backing out. "Come on, Sprout! You can do this! It's just taking care of a baby for a few hours. This is your big break, your chance to prove yourself to all the neighsayers that you can be trusted. You've come too far to turn back now."

Well, with any luck, Sprout wouldn't have to do a thing. If Sparky just kept on sleeping like he was now and did so until Hitch got back, Sprout would have the best of both worlds.

Alas, any hopes for that possibility were dashed when Sparky slowly stirred awake mere seconds after Hitch had left. The little dragon slowly opened his eyes and removed his blanket, tossing it aside without fanfare. But he seemed to grow worried when he didn't see Hitch anywhere.

Sensing that his charge was beginning to worry, Sprout trotted up to the baby dragon and locked eyes with him. "Sorry, Sparky," He spoke in as gentle a tone of voice as he could muster up. "Hitch had to step out for a while. But not to worry, he left you in the capable hooves of your Uncle Sprout." Using his hooves, he scooped up the baby dragon and started to rock it back and forth, hoping that it might lull the dragon back to sleep.

But Sparky seemed to be wide awake. It didn't look like he'd be going back to sleep anytime soon. And that made Sprout frown and curse himself mentally for his rotten luck. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Of course Sparky was going to need some actual care while he was with Sprout.

Well, it was a good thing Hitch had left that list above the fridge. Sprout was certain he was going to need all the help he could get if he was going to get through this. "Okay, let's see here," The former deputy said to himself as he took care to keep Sparky in one hoof so that the baby dragon wouldn't fall out of his grasp. "Hitch is always a simple stallion. He probably just left a few detailed instructions for you, Sparky."

But when the fiery red coated stallion grasped the scroll and unfolded it, he was surprised to see that it was a very long list of detailed, step by step instructions about when and how to do what and why. The stallion's green eyes had a hard time keeping up with all of it, let alone reading and re-reading it. "You gotta be kidding me!" He exclaimed with disbelief! "This can't possibly all be necessary! Not for you! You're just a baby for crying out loud."

Sparky just giggled and kicked his little legs, appearing to take delight in his "Uncle Sprout"'s misfortune.

A frustrated, furious and impatient Sprout immediately tossed the list aside without fanfare. "If Hitch's 'friends' don't need to follow those instructions to the letter, then I don't either!" He snorted with jealousy. "What would that 'unicycling' freak and that pop-star princess know about taking care of a baby? They both act childish, and you never hear anypony complaining about them. But I'll show them! I'll be a better dragonsitter than they ever were!"

Sparky only giggled further while clapping his little claws. He probably didn't know what Sprout was saying, he just found it funny for whatever reason. But in this case, the former deputy turned dragonsitter was going to take whatever small victories he could get.

Setting Sparky carefully down on the floor, Sprout sighed and took a deep breath. "Alright. What should we do with you first, little guy?" He asked in a slight coo.

As if to answer the stallion's question, Sparky's stomach began to rumble. It was faint at first but the rumble grew more audible by the second. Even a pony like Sprout knew what that meant. "Guess it's feeding time, huh?" He asked as he scooped the little dragon into his hooves again, then set him down gently on Hitch's desk. "Just stay there, okay? I'll see what Hitch has for you."

The little dragon obeyed, giving Sprout freedom to open the fridge and stick his head in to get a good look. He didn't know what dragons usually ate, but he doubted that's what Hitch had been feeding Sparky all this time. Whatever it was, it obviously kept the baby dragon healthy.

Eventually, after a fair bit of poking around, the earth pony stallion's wandering green eyes caught sight of a small container with a label on it. He pulled it out, smiling when he saw that the label clearly read "Sparky". It was an obvious indicator that whatever was inside was meant for the dragon's consumption.





Sprout brought the container of food over to where he had left Sparky. But in just the short amount of time he had left the baby dragon's side, it seemed that Sparky had already gotten up to mischief. He was busy scattering the papers on Hitch's desk all about, even tossing some onto the floor. And he clapped, giggled and cooed while he did so.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sprout shouted as he frantically rushed over and picked Sparky up, promptly scolding him severely. "Those are important papers for Hitch! They're not to be played with! If you're bored, I'll just get you some toys to play with."

It seemed like Sparky didn't appreciate being told off. Or at least, not in the way Sprout had raised his voice to him. The little dragon suddenly started to cry.

Immediately, the stallion felt guilty. "Aw come on, kid," He pleaded in a sweet tone of voice that he tried to make sound authentic. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I was just trying to make sure you didn't make a mess or destroy something. You have to understand, Hitch really likes his paperwork a certain way, that's all."

Apparently satisfied with Sprout's explanation (or maybe he was just a lot less inclined to be upset now that Sprout wasn't shouting at him), Sparky settled down and started to suckle on one of his claws.

Sprout didn't bother to correct the behavior even though he was sure Hitch would've. What harm was there in letting the little one suck his claw for a little bit? Besides, it meant the baby dragon was content and happy as Sprout carried him over to a small table, promptly placing the little one down on it. Then he retrieved a small plastic spoon, before taking the lid off the container and dipping the spoon into the oddly colored mush. "Okay, Sparky, here comes the aeroplane." He cooed while making a wide circling gesture.

But Sparky just turned his head, apparently not interested in what Sprout was trying to feed him.

Sprout trotted closer, practically pushing the spoon up against Sparky's face. "Okay, you don't like aeroplanes," He replied in a somewhat nervous tone of voice. "How about trains?" And he made some funny noises. "Choo choo! Here comes the trolly!" The stallion carefully brought the spoon towards Sparky's mouth.

Still, Sparky wouldn't cooperate. He kept his lips sealed shut.

The earth pony stallion fast found himself losing all patience. "Come on already! Open up!" He demanded! "I know you're hungry! I'm sure you eat this stuff all the time for Hitch!" Then he got an idea. "Look, I'll prove to you that it's not poison or anything!" Gulping, he brought the spoonful of mush towards his mouth. He let the spoon's contents be deposited onto his tongue and immediately swallowed hard. The taste was overwhelming and he nearly gagged! "Gah!" But trying to save face in front of Sparky he then said. "I mean... Gah-reat! This food is great! See? If I like it then you like it, right?"

The baby dragon appeared to be satisifed, more so with Sprout's reactions than anything else. He accepted the next spoonful without hesitation, and the spoonful after that, and the one after that and the one after that one. Soon, the container was half empty and Sparky was satisfied.

However, the former deputy frowned anew when he saw the traces of goop splattered all over his charge's face. Leave it to a baby dragon to be a messy eater. Sighing deeply at the realization that a baby dragon was still a baby, the stallion retrieved a wet rag and went to clean Sparky's face. A task easier said than done when Sparky seemed intent on fighting against it, wiggling about and moving his head every which way.

"Are you gonna be like this the whole time you're in my care?" Sprout questioned as he nevertheless eventually managed to get Sparky's face cleaned up. "I bet you never give Hitch a hard time when he does things like this. I'm starting to think maybe I was wrong, maybe I can't handle the likes of you." But he knew he was stuck with the assignment until Hitch got back. So for now, he just had to grin and bear it.





With feeding time over, Sprout decided it best to pass the time by doing what Hitch had suggested with the television: Watch some cartoons. Sprout remembered how much he'd enjoyed doing that as a foal, it was probably one of the only activities he'd done with Sunny where he wasn't arguing with her about pegasi and unicorns.

Sprout made sure to keep Sparky close at hoof, cradling him with one hoof while using another hoof to scroll through the various t.v. channels with the remote. "Come on, come on!" He grumbled to himself as he flicked through the channels. "Where are the cartoons?! No way they got rid of them all!" At last, however, he spotted colorful images in a colorful background and realized in an instant they were on the right track.

"Hello friends." A strangely familiar looking purple colored cartoon pony on the screen greeted. And soon, five other technicolored cartoon ponies joined her.

The red coated stallion realized in an instant who those ponies were. He couldn't believe his eyes. Of course they were a cartoon series now. What better way to get the youngest to accept the new status quo than to use those ancient ponies Sunny's dad had been studying?

But when the stallion's green eyes looked down, he saw that Sparky's eyes were drawn to the bright and cheerful images flashing across the television. So he sighed and shrugged his hooves. A cartoon was a cartoon, no matter how cheesy it was. As long as it kept Sparky content and out of trouble, Sprout wouldn't complain, much.

Pony and dragon watched the cartoon as it progressed from one scene to another, showing the six colorful ponies as they traveled across their magical, enchanted land and had adventures together. Everything was so bright and cheerful, and the way the characters acted and spoke it was clear that "historical accuracy" as Sunny might have put it was not the key. Still, even Sprout had to admit it was charming in its own way. If he still were just a little colt, he might have even become fascinated by it. Part of him wondered if he should tell Sunny about this, or if she already knew that this cartoon existed.

The episode ended soon enough, but the cartoon did not. It must've been a marathon or something. But if it meant that Sparky would continue to focus on it, Sprout didn't mind. He wasn't sure where he might find other cartoons and didn't want to waste his time with more channel surfing to find them.

Suddenly, midway through the second episode, Sparky appeared to stand up. And he had the most unusual look upon his face. It looked as if he realized something was wrong, and was worried about it. He started making a lot of weird noises.

"What's wrong now?" Sprout wondered as he looked at the baby dragon. "Do you not like the cartoon or something? I thought you liked cheesy, happy-go-lucky stuff like this," But then suddenly it dawned on him what his charge was trying to tell him as he noticed a familiar crossed legs stance. Immediately, a look of horror flashed in Sprout's green eyes as he rushed to hastily scoop up the baby dragon! "Oh no, no, no! Don't do that, not here!"

But Sparky didn't seem to want to leave the cartoon, seeing as he pointed a claw towards the screen and looked like he was about to start tearing up again.

The former deputy sighed, using a hoof to grab the remote and pause the image on the television. Thank hoofness for the television remote and its buttons. "There, it's paused. We can come back to it later," He told the baby dragon. "Now come on! Let's take care of this little emergency!" And he rushed off to the bathroom!





A short time later, Sprout was breathing a much needed sigh of relief as he helped Sparky to wash his claws in the bathroom sink. "That was too close," He exclaimed as he ran the faucet, making sure the water wasn't too hot or too cold. "Can't believe Hitch doesn't make you wear diapers. But then again, we probably don't have any diapers in your size. And you'd probably rip them to shreds with your claws."

Sparky only giggled, then let out a burp as a tiny, bright green flame escaped his mouth.

"And you can breathe fire too," Sprout commented as he noticed something that he realized he should've expected from a dragon. "Of course you can, why would I ever think otherwise? You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

The baby dragon just giggled before burping some more, shooting out more flames.

Suddenly, the stallion with a fiery red coat sniffed the air as a familiar scent seemed to reach his nostrils. "Hey, is something burning?" But he needn't have asked, because as soon as he looked in the bathroom mirror he saw that his straw colored mane was burning ever so slightly! It had no doubt been set alight by Sparky's flame breath, or whatever you called it. "AH!" He screamed at the top of his lungs! In his panic, he forgot all about Sparky and ran about for a bit! That is, until he realized he could easily put out the flames by dipping his burning mane into the running water, which is exactly what he did.

Sprout kept his mane under the faucet until he was certain the flames had been extinguished. He then looked back up to see a small but noticeable charred black spot right in the middle of his beautiful mane. "Oh, you think that's funny, kid?!" He snapped as he turned around, ready to give the baby dragon a piece of his mind (and probably a time out too for good measure, hoofness only knows his mother would have punished him for less).

Yet as Sprout looked around the bathroom, he saw that Sparky was nowhere to be seen. It was as if the baby dragon had up and vanished. Come to think of it, it had to have been almost a minute since Sprout had more or less forgotten about him. He could only just remember setting the baby dragon down before the stallion's thoughts had turned to more urgent matters (in his mind, anyway). "Kid?" He called, hoping for even the faintest of a reply. But there wasn't one. "Sparky?" He called again as panic started to creep into his tone of voice.

The stallion exited the bathroom, trying to look around for any sign or trace of Sparky. "Sparky?" He called once again. "You-who! Sparky!" But when he didn't see the baby dragon back by the television, waiting for the cartoon to be unpaused and resume playing, the former deputy started to panic! Was this what Hitch had gone through when he and his friends had been turning Maretime Bay upside down earlier today?

Well, the good news was that with the doors to the sheriff's office locked tight, there was very little chance that Sparky could've snuck out and into town. But the office was still a big place, there were all sorts of places for a little one to hide. And Sprout was sure the baby dragon knew the office's interior better than Sprout himself. Still, he kept on calling. "Come on, Sparky! Come to Uncle Sprout! He's not mad with you anymore!" Alas, his calls went unanswered.

Now Sprout was becoming frantic! He ran all about the office, searching high, low and everywhere in-between for any trace of the little dragon he'd been tasked with dragonsitting! But his search was turning up no results!

After minutes of searching, Sprout still hadn't found Sparky and by now he feared the worst! Somehow, he'd caused the baby dragon to disappear to somewhere! Maybe some evil unicorn had managed to slip in and steal Sparky in the amount of time Sprout had been distracted! Oh, if Hitch found out he was going to kill Sprout for sure!

By now, the stallion was on the verge of breaking down as he dropped to the floor of the office and started to sob to himself. "Why does it have to be so hard?! I just wanted to prove to everypony, to myself, that I could do something without messing it up for once! But I can't even take care of a baby dragon for a few hours! No wonder nopony trusts me! Who could ever trust a screw up like myself?!"

The earth pony stallion kept on crying for a while, feeling very sorry for himself. The water works didn't stop until suddenly he felt something rubbery be inserted into his mouth. He blinked and opened his eyes as he ceased in his crying, seeing that a small, purple colored pacifier had been placed in his mouth. And to his surprise, Sparky was standing beside him and babbling something. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

Blushing a bit, Sprout spat out the pacifier that was much too small for him and sniffled. "You... you came back!" He exclaimed in disbelief! "Even after I yelled at you! I'm really sorry about that, Sparky. I know you didn't mean to set my mane on fire. I just... just..." He couldn't bring himself to say what was on his mind.

Sparky just waddled close and nuzzled into Sprout, hugging him. 

When the little dragon did so, Sprout found that he felt strangely warm and fuzzy inside, like he'd felt when his mom had convinced him to step up and be sheriff in Hitch's absence. But this time, Sprout felt warm and fuzzy in a good way, in a nice way. He felt like everything would be okay. "You forgive me?" He asked Sparky, and received more babbling in reply. "I'll take that as a yes," The stallion replied as he dried his eyes. "Guess there's still a lot about you I don't know. But I'm sure I'll learn eventually."

Sparky just smiled and clapped his claws.

Sprout then stood up, and once again picked up his charge while patting him gently on the forehead. "You're a good kid, Sparky. Now come on, let's go back and finish your cartoon. Our cartoon." He couldn't help but giggle at that thought. Whether he'd admit it or not, he was becoming quite attached to the little dragon.





A few hours later, a well rested, refreshed and pampered Hitch returned to the sheriff's office. It was getting late, and he needed to put Sparky to bed for the night. He wasn't sure how well Sprout had managed, but knew that he would soon find out as he pushed open the doors to his office.

What Hitch saw was enough to make his heart melt. It was the last sight he would've expected to see.

There was Sparky, curled up next to Sprout, his favorite blankie by his side. And the baby dragon had his purple pacifier in his mouth, it bobbing up and down with every breath. Sparky's eyes were shut tight, indicating he was in the middle of a deep sleep.

And Sprout was fast asleep too, the two having dozed off on the couch next to the television that had been switched off. Aside from the former deputy's mane and tail looking a tad bit frazzled (and the mane having a slight singe mark in the center), there were no signs of any injuries or outward displays of stress.

The office in its entirety was almost spotless, just the way Hitch remembered leaving it. Even his paperwork had been loosely sorted, there were no papers laying scattered on the floor or in the wastebasket. In short, it seemed that Sprout had done a good job.

Hitch smiled as a few happy tears came into his eyes. Sprout and Sparky looked so peaceful and innocent sleeping together. And Hitch knew that Sparky never slept next to anypony unless he was really attached to them.

So that meant there was only one thing to do. Hitch carefully pulled out his cellphone, and made sure the volume wasn't on too high. He didn't want to disturb Sprout or Sparky while they were sleeping. He then quickly scrolled down to his list of contacts, until he found the number he wanted to dial. The sheriff pressed a button, and soon his phone began to dial up the number he had chosen.

"Hello?" Came a familiar female voice on the other end of the line a few seconds later.

His smile growing brighter by the second, Hitch gently whispered into the phone. "Yes, Mrs. Cloverleaf? It's me, Sheriff Hitch. I'm just calling to let you know that if you're worried about your son, you needn't be. He's right here at my office, safe and sound and fast asleep. I just wanted to make sure it was okay with you if I let him spend the night here."

The voice of Phyllis immediately replied. "Fine with me. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, Mrs. Cloverleaf," Hitch nodded before he then asked. "And I'll need to talk things over with Sprout tomorrow, but do you think it could be possible to have him come by my office more often? Like say, once a week? Let's just say I have a job in mind for him that I think he'll be well suited for."