Chapter 13
Ouch!
After remembering to pick up the book he forgot back on the way to Fluttershy's, he made his way inside to see the same mare zooming left and right and taking care of her animal friends. When she stopped, Fluttershy turned to see her guest walk through the door "Oh, Dr. Faciler, thank goodness you're here! Can you help me feed the animals? I have my hooves tied, and Angel bunny doesn't seem too happy with me right now..." She turned to see the rabbit cross his paws and glare at Dr. Facilier, his eyes slowly narrowing. This was going to be an endeavor for the Shadowcolt, and he needed to take off his clothes ever since he dealt with that verbal fight between him and Zecora. He levitated his suit and hat off of his body, neatly folding the suit and setting it on the couch with the hat sitting on top of it and his borrowed book next to his outfit. The doctor then turned to Fluttershy with a smile on his face, ready to help her with her chores.
"I'm on it, girl, don't you worry.
These animals don't seem the type to scurry..."
He said as he picked up a sack and took a step forward to the nearest bird cage, and as if on reflex, the birds squawked loudly and frantically flapped to the opposite end of the cage, staring at Dr. Facilier with weary eyes. This only made things harder for the doctor 'I should choose my words more carefully...' Fluttershy gave Dr. Facilier a small nuzzle "I appreciate the help, Dr. Facilier. I just KNOW these animals will enjoy your company since you've been with me long enough!" He took a look around and thought otherwise when he saw every single animal in the house glare daggers at him. This was going to be tough. Fluttershy opened the front door to her home "I should hurry and take care of the animals outside. Good luck!" She said as she stormed out with her animals' food. The Shadowcolt looked around, and took a deep breath as he trotted up to a family of squirrels, scooping up some acorns from one of the sacks with his magic and levitating it to them. The squirrels quickly took the acorns and scurried a good distance away from the doctor as they ate with watchful eyes. The doctor grinned at this, thinking this might be easier than he thought, and moved onto the next set of animals with growing confidence.
After taking care of giving each animal in the house their own set of food, he sighed as he went to go back and put on his suit, only to have Fluttershy come back inside, causing him to jump and turn to her in surprise "O-Oh! I'm sorry to startle you, Dr. Facilier...it was just, I forgot to get some worms for the bir-" She looked around to see every animal satisfied with their meals, although still more than hostile around the Shadowcolt's very appearance, and smiled when she gave the doctor a hug "Oh, I knew you could do it! Maybe you can help me outside as well!" The doctor awkwardly looked around while Fluttershy hugged him, then looked down, as she looked up and quickly jumped back, looking away "I-I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable..." Dr. Facilier chuckled and patted Fluttershy on her back, cheering her up with a smile.
"You didn't do nothin' but forget the food.
Now let's get those critters in a better mood..."
Fluttershy smiled up at the doctor as the two began collecting more food for the outdoor animals, preparing for the next task. When outside, the doctor was ready to feed, but not before Fluttershy gave him a heads-up "Now, Dr. Facilier, I know how you enjoy using magic, but I would feel so much better to see you feed the animals using only your hooves. It makes for good bonding and trust forging!" Fluttershy beamed at the doctor with her last sentence, confident in his abilities, whereas the Shadowcolt wanted to abuse his powers more. But he can't upset this one and cause a ruckus, and nodded to her request as he got started. He walked up to a group of bunnies, and then took a carrot in his hoof, extending it to them. He saw one of them hop forward and sniff at it, making him smile to see that this could be easy 'Maybe I should feed animals mor-' CHOMP! The doctor's eyes widened as he looked down and saw the rabbit that sniffed the carrot bite down hard on the hoof that held it, causing him to yell in pain. Fluttershy quickly turned to the doctor's direction after feeding some beavers and galloped to see what happened. Dr. Facilier was hissing in pain as he rubbed his bitten hoof, while the rabbit that bit him was innocently nibbling on a carrot "Did something happened? Is everything alright?" The doctor turned to Fluttershy and gave a forced smile.
"Jus' a little mishap, no biggy at all.
All I did was slip an' fall..."
It was good to know he can lie to Fluttershy without Applejack around, but didn't expect Fluttershy to speed over and take his injured hoof "Oh, you poor dear! We should probably get this patched up!" There was nothing major about his injured hoof other than a small trickle of blood from the rabbit's bite. The doctor rolled his eyes in disregard to Fluttershy's care, thinking she's worrying too much as he drew back his hoof and reassured her with a smile.
"Don' worry, Flutters, I'll be jus' fine.
I should go back and make sure that these critters can dine."
Fluttershy, still worried about Dr. Facilier's minor injury, decided to let him go, since he felt it best to carry out Fluttershy's duty "Well...I-If you say so, Dr. Facilier...I won't stop you if you really want to help me that much." He picked up more food and went back to work, hoping the same thing wouldn't happen twice.
...And he could never be more wrong...
For every animal he went to, there was a pained scream, trailing with Fluttershy wondering why he screamed, and another white lie so he could continue. He was beginning to consider himself an idiot for letting the process repeat itself, because he was to the point where he knew that every animal in Fluttershy's stead hated his very guts. He took bites from rabbits and chipmunks, needles from porcupines, merciless pecking from birds, rammings from goats, and he almost got his flank served to him on a platter after dealing with a bear, were Fluttershy not to intervene with her surprising method of massaging it.
When the work was done, the sun began to set as the two sat inside of the house. Fluttershy smiled, though looked worried as she turned to her guest "W-Well...although, there were a good amount of mistakes on your part...you did a very good job, Dr. Facilier. Every animal has been accounted for and fed properly, and Angel bunny is so much happier now!" She beamed at her friend "I cannot thank you enough for your help today!" While she was happy, the poor stallion was quietly grumbling as he laid on the couch with bandages all over his body, sporting a black eye and a neck cast. While she didn't see Angel and one of his rabbit friends give each other a paw bump with sly expressions on their faces, Fluttershy looked sad to see him in such a condition, but decided to try and cheer him up "How about a bath? I could get it started for you, and maybe it's all you need to help you relax and heal those cuts..." She smiled, and the doctor shrugged his shoulder, though both twitched in small bits of pain.
"While I've endure enough of this day's wrath,
I guess it's good to take a bath..."
Fluttershy smiled as she trotted to her bathroom "I'll let you know when it's ready, you just stay put. Please don't hurt yourself. I would feel so bad if you ever fell off of the couch and made more injuries!" After the bath was prepared, Fluttershy helped him into the bath and left to give him time alone. She looked back at the animals, each one sound asleep with a smile on their faces. She was happy to know that they were all happy to be fed again, but something told her that they were happy about something else. When time passed, Fluttershy noticed Dr. Facilier stumbling into the living room, and weakly made his way to the couch and laying on it, his eyes ready to drop.
"I guess that little bath was all I needed...
Looks like your method has once more succeeded..."
With a small yawn, he slowly drifted into sleep, though twitched in pain with his small wounds. Fluttershy watched, and then smiled as she pulled out a quilt she made one day, gently covering the doctor's body with it as he snored a little. She watched him sleep and was moved to see him slumber so peacefully while having to deal with so many injuries, wondering if he ever dealt with this kind of pain where he came from. Knowing that she, too, needed to go to bed, she gave Dr. Facilier one last look before retiring, but not before she gave him a small peck on his forehead and trotted upstairs to her room.
Meanwhile, at Zecora's hut, the troubled zebra mare couldn't sleep, worried to how Dr. Facilier might cause more problems if he ever gained the trust of every resident in Ponyville. She could just kick herself for not noticing how sneaky the Shadowcolt could be when they exchanged words of hidden spite. She paced back and forth in thought, wondering how she would at least cripple his motives and make sure he doesn't make her friends suffer, especially Fluttershy. She even took the time to meditate by balancing herself upside down on a tall bamboo stick, centering herself to focus on a good solution.
"That stallion shouldn't have that kind of power...
It is growing more, and by the hour...
There has to be a certain way
To place his goals in disarray..."
She meditated, but then opened her eyes in realization as she hopped down and landed on all fours. She looked outside and noticed a patch of blue flowers that were a good distance away from her hut, and slowly began to smile as she found the perfect plan to make sure Dr. Facilier doesn't do things entirely his way. All she had to do was prepare for tomorrow as she went back to her room and thought long and hard on her bed.
End of Chapter 13